Kenya Election (2013) Update

In my last post I asked for prayer for the nation and the people of Kenya who on March 4 this week, underwent their first national election since 2007.  After the election results were announced in 2007, horrendous violence broke out.  About 1200 people were murdered and countless people became internal refugees as clashes broke out over ethnic rivalries and Presidential election outcomes. It took a lot of negotiations, diplomatic interventions and Constitutional reform to try to bring hope to the ordinary citizen of Kenya.

National elections again took place on March 4, 2013.  One of the candidates vying for Presidency (Uhuru Kenyatta) and his running mate (William Ruto), face crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) of the Hague.  Uhuru Kenyatta's trial  at the ICC was to begin in April but as of March 8th his trial date has been set for July 9, 2013.  Generally in courts, one is deemed to be innocent until proven guilty, but the ICC and many Kenyans, and indeed even foreign governments, have so far acted as if these individuals are presumed guilty until proven innocent. Many people base their feelings and opinions about the individuals charged, based on their ethnic or tribal affiliation and the history of the political divisions in Kenya.  Often political leadership determines patronage for the best jobs and contracts or ensure that particular tribes wield a lot of influence. It is difficult for a foreigner to understand why and how this happens unless they understand the colonial history of the country, the transition of the country to democracy and the "tradition" of corruption that has flourished in the country since the transition.  Most ordinary citizens of the country have not benefitted from post-colonial democracy and most just want to have equal opportunity to education and a livelihood. Most also want good and affordable health care and better infrastructure. None of this is really possible as long as the country remains divided along tribal or ethnic lines.  There are many examples of how this kind of co-existence can lead to devastating impacts on a country.

Nairobi, Kenya's Capital

During Monday's election some people died.  I'm not sure the exact number but the reason seems to be attacks on the electorate by members of a separatist party.  For the most part, the elections were conducted peacefully although the fact that many workers did not return to work and have been anxious about the election outcomes give one a good idea of the state of tensions in the country.

An overwhelming turnout of 70% of the registered voters (14.3 million people) queued in line for hours upon hours to cast their votes. The people have been sitting on tenterhooks since Monday, as they still do not have final results of the elections.  To give you some idea of the massive scope of this election process (and hopefully some idea of the logistics, monetary investment & time required to conduct it and to tally the votes, there are 290 polling stations with 10,000+ candidates.  They are vying not only for the position of President, but also Governors, Senators, Members of Parliament and Women's Representatives.

Kibera Slum, near Nakuru, Kenya.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission  (IEBC) of Kenya is responsible for tallying the election results.  Legally they have 7 days to do it.  Kenyan voter expectations were high and they expected results on Tuesday because the initial tabulation and transmission of voter results was to be done electronically.  The electronic system failed and the IEBC has had to alter it's process and rely on manual tallying.  They have been giving updates about their process and giving new forecasts as to when they expect to announce final and official elections results.  But tensions rise each day.  Each day of delay leads people to think that something is amiss and that the process is being rigged.  This is what happened in the 2007 elections which ultimately ended in violence.

Look out along the Nairobi-Nakuru Hwy. overlooking the Great Rift Valley.

All returning officers from all parts of Kenya, including some very isolated areas of the country, have now made their way to Nairobi.  As of Wednesday they are all together undergoing the tallying of the votes. The Chairman of the IEBC, Isaack Hassan, has appealed for patience among his countrymen.  He has appealed to Kenyans to await the official results has tried to reassure them that given the security of the tabulation system, it is not subject to vote rigging.  Now however, one of the Presidential candidates, Raila Odinga (as reported in at least one paper), and his running mate (Kilonzo Musyoka) have called into question the credibility of the tallying process.  It is this kind of talk that stirs up the emotions of people  although the running mate did specifically appeal for calm and for the tallying process to be halted and started anew.  Raila Odinga was also a Presidential candidate in the 2007 elections and so it is understandable why and his running mate feel frustrated by the issues with vote tallying. It is also difficult for people at the grassroots to remain calm precisely because they felt cheated in the last election.  Some people, including me, think, it would have been more prudent for the political candidates to wait until after official results are announced before determining what interventions are needed. In fact, I believe the new Constitution of Kenya would not permit the IEBC to halt tallying in the midst of it.  They must return an official count within 7 days.  I believe that those that have standing to dispute the results can then file a claim in court.  The courts have apparently geared up to ensure that such claims are dealt with expeditiously.

A busy street on one of Kenya's busy cities. I cannot remember where but I think it is in Nakuru.

Schools are still closed for the protection of the children.  Government offices have remained closed as Kenyans anxiously await the announcement of final presidential results.  Today (Thursday) civil servants were ordered to return to work by 8:00 a.m. Friday.  The private sector also appealed to workers to return to work. I've heard that street vendors are back on the streets selling their wares.  They are too poor to miss work and prices for food stuffs have tripled over the past few days. My guess is because most stores are closed  there is a small  opportunity for poor vendors to try and make some money. There are also probably not as many customers on the streets as people sit at home waiting for election results.

Street vendors along a busy highway.  The cabbages in Kenya are huge.

Please continue to pray for the election outcomes, the protection of the Kenyan people and their beautiful country. It is Friday tomorrow and the expected day of official election results though the IEBC tecnically has a few more days if required. Updated March 8: 2:25 p.m. Kenya time:  The race is down to the last moments with the top candidate, Uhuru Kenyatta hovering near 50 percent.  To win the Presidency, a candidate must get 50% +1 vote to win, otherwise the country will face a run-off in April.  Groups of security forces are starting to appear in the streets of the cities to ensure they are ready for any potential eruptions.

On my side of the world it is wee hours of the morning and I need to get some shut eye. I will learn of the new President on Friday my time.  Update March 8: 11:27 p.m. Kenya time:    There is still no clear winner but with 271 out of 291 constituency votes tallied, it appears that the leader of the Jubilee Party, Uhuru Kenyatta, is set to win on the first round.  Update March 9: 12:04 a.m. Kenya time:  A representative of the IEBC has just announced that final and official election results will not be announced until 11:00 a.m. He also announced that this was to maintain the integrity of the process which includes an audit of the final tallies, and the presence of representatives of all the political parties. Update March 9: 6:54 a.m. Kenya time:  The media is reporting that the IEBC quietly announced Uhuru Kenyatta as the new President of Kenya at about 2:00 a.m. local time.  The margin of victory is slim.  I believe the IEBC will still make an official announcement at 11:00 a.m. as planned. Raila Odinga,  the other lead Presidential candidate, is expected to make a statement sometime on Saturday morning.  Update March 9: Approximately 2:45 p.m. Kenya time - James Oswego, CEO of the IEBC and Isaack Hassan announced the official results of the election and declared Uhuru Kenyatta the new President-Elect. They also handed him one of 3 certificates with the official results as they are bound by law to do.  There are two other certificates of the official election results, one for the sitting President, Mwai Kibaki ,and the other for the Chief Justice of Kenya, William Mutunga.  Results - Uhuru Kenyatta 6,173,433 (50.07%); Raila Odinga 5,340,546 (43.31%).  Both Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga give speeches to their countrymen.  Uhuru Kenyatta gave an excellent Presidential type speech and thanked everyone who ran for office and ensured a robust democratic process.  He thanked the people of Kenya and pledged to work with all presidential candidates to move Kenya forward.  His Vice-President-Elect, William Ruto, introduced him and moved me to tears and laughter with his praise to God for the miracle of their election victory, and his anecdote about when he first met Mzee Kenyatta.  The Honourable Raila Odinga, gave a speech in a different location and indicated that he will contest the electoral outcomes in the Supreme Court, which is his legal option.  He also appealed to Kenyans to remain peaceful while he undertakes the legal challenge.

Many people seemed jubilant about the election outcomes despite the long and tiring process of the elections.  Media houses showed revellers in different cities across the nation.  One especially moving clip I saw was when a group of Kenyans marched along the streets of Nairobi chanting and singing.  They came to a stop at Jomo Kenyatta's mausoleum, knelt on the sidewalk, raised their hands and prayed to God. Jomo Kenyatta was the first Prime Minister, and later President of Kenya, and he also happens to be the father of the new President-Elect,  Uhuru Kenyatta.  Kenya has turned a new chapter in it's political development and has matured and taken another step forward in it's democratic development.

I thank those of you who prayed for Kenya and her people. I thank God that the Kenyan leaders also pray and look to God for his wisdom and help.  I pray that God would continue to lead them and guide them as they continue to grow their democracy. God bless Kenya!

Once things have settled down, I hope at last to post about my giveaway.  For now it seems inappropriate as I wait for the outcome along with my friends who live so far away.

God bless.

 Pray without ceasing.

1 Thess. 5:17

Pray For Kenya

Dear friends,

Kenya is having a national election on Monday, March 4, 2013.  For those of us in the western Hemisphere, it will still be Sunday evening while Kenyans are out voting.

The last Kenyan national elections were held December 27, 2007. It was a violent time. Kenyans and their supporters abroad don't want a repeat of this.

Please keep Kenya in your prayers for a peaceful outcome to their elections on Monday, March 4, 2013, and for God's hand to be involved in leadership selection.

Have a great weekend and may God bless your leadership too.

Taxes, Retirement & Condo Living

I'm happy this week is almost over and I've managed to complete my tax returns for another year. I've  actually completed them just over a month early but can't file just yet. I have to wait for one final receipt and it will be at least another two weeks before I get it in the mail.  So I will just have to wait.

I dread tax filing every year.  I always want to have oodles of time to work on the taxes and just do it all in a leisurely way.  So I often put it off and in the meantime the task hovers over my conscience like a bad dream.

I  usually have to hunt around for receipts that come in during the year.  Though I do keep the paperwork in a bit of order, there always seems to at least once receipt that comes in much later than the others or doesn't arrive at all so it isn't only a question of when I want to work on the return. It is often a question on waiting on others.  I'm not so patient when it comes to these things.

Some receipts are only available on line, some are only receivable by mail and others are available on line and/or through the mail.  Each year there are also countless medical receipts that have to be kept, sorted and tallied to see if they can be used as a tax deduction.  Despite a lot of money being spent on prescriptions and dental work, it never seems to add up to enough to be useful on the tax return.  Likewise with charitable receipts.  Much of my giving is to grassroots charities in other countries.  Our government does not recognize these as charitable donations and only accepts donations from charities registered in Canada.

Then there are receipts for contributions to registered retirement savings plans. This is tricky because one has to have enough contributions to make sure you don't over contribute, or under contribute, such that you owe more taxes. I do save throughout the year for these contributions but it never seems to be enough.  So I have to try and find the funds in my budget to do a top up before the deadline.  Overall, as you can see, I get a lot of receipts.  Though it is time consuming to deal with all the receipts and keep on top of it all, it isn't actually that complicated to prepare the tax returns.  Especially if one has the right on-line tools for tax preparation..

In addition to these financial challenges, this is the time of year when our Strata has it's Annual General Meeting.  Like clock work, there is an inevitable increase in the overall budget of the Strata.  We usually have increases of up to 20% and it is a bit ridiculous.  These  increases to the Strata budget means increases to the personal budgets of each and every owner to cover the Strata's budget plan.  I have ever yet to receive a 20% increase in pay to compensate for these kinds of increases.  This is one thing I detest about living in a condo.  The complete inability to limit the expenses related to the overall condominium structure or limit the fees I have to pay every month.  On the other hand, I do not like the idea of living in a fully detached home (house) and all that that entails.

About 3 months ago a  long time neighbour who lives down the hall told me he was trying to sell his apartment.  He was going to take his condo unit off of the market because he was having difficulty selling.   Today he told me that he sold his unit and is moving in two weeks time back to the city where he grew up.  He also told me that 3 other owners on my floor have sold their properties and are moving!  Actually, it is more like two owners moving out because one of them simply sold his unit to move to a larger one on my floor.

Over the years I've heard many resident owners say they will not be able to retire and continue living in the suites in my building if the monthly condo fees keep going up.  This might explain the reason for so many owners moving now or they may have other reasons like retirement, job changes, growing families, etc.  Though I've thoroughly enjoyed living where I am,  I too have begun to consider the possibilities of moving on. Especially now that I know the Strata Council will be levying large fees next year to cover the cost of  re-piping the other half of the building.  Owners just paid multiple thousands each for re-piping the half of the building where I live the year before last. To be honest, I've lost track of the countless numbers of special assessments over the past decade. That is why I'm starting to think of the possibility of moving.  Also, my property taxes go up each and every year.  Even though property values went down in 2012 in my city, my property taxes still went up. That is what I call a fraud.  For now, I don't have definite plans of moving.  I will still enjoy the convenience of where I live and the beautiful mountains I get to see almost every day.

It wasn't my intention to write a complaint post but I'm being real. I'm saying just how much I find this time of year challenging, especially falling so closely on Christmas.  Dealing with financial matters and financial planning and trying to stay ahead of things is a never ending task for most of us.  Personally I find it a chore and it isn't my favourite thing but it must be done.

I'm just grateful that I have the capability to use my mind and skills to do what needs to be done.  The ability to use the computer and computer software for this purpose is another huge help and blessing. I know many who still are not able to take advantage of these helps like a few of my senior women friends.  When I started using an on line tax preparation program several years ago, my spending decreased from $130 Canadian a year (to get someone else to prepare my taxes), to $15.95 a year.  It sounds like a small thing.  But for all the increases in bills annually, one has to find savings somewhere.  These days, I also have the ability to minimize taxes by using the on line program to forecast taxes owing or refundable, based on the level of retirement savings contributions I make.  That is something I could not do when I went to an outside tax preparer.  I am more empowered now that I handle all these tasks myself.

 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

How about your dear reader?  How do you cope with taxes and retirement planning? Do you enjoy the number crunching or not?



 I need to take some photos concerning my giveaway before I can post the details.  I hope you will all join in.  Stay tuned!

A Blessing

Hello friends, soon I shall be announcing a giveaway but not just quite yet. This week is a busy week of appointments, tax filings and errands and then I can get to the giveaway details. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you this wonderful South African blessing I came across on line here. 

South African Blessing*

Walk tall, walk well, walk safe, walk free
And may harm never come to thee.

Walk wise, walk good, walk proud, walk true
And may the sun always smile on you.

Walk prayer, walk hope, walk faith, walk light
And may peace always guide you right.

Walk joy, walk brave, walk love, walk strong
And may life always give you song.

*Author, Patricia Schonstein.

February Sky

I've felt that we've had a lot of gray skies and too much rain this winter. It might be a poor memory but that is how it seems to me. Once in a blue moon we got some clear skies and bit of sun.

Early in February I captured these photos. I hope you enjoy the photos. I hope to see you again soon as I am hosting a giveaway and will be posting all the details here on  my blog. Enjoy your weekend.

Please join others from around the globe who share their sky photos with us every week. Thanks to Sandy who hosted this meme for many years and to Yogi our new host and Sylvia, his co-host.