NAIROBI — The results of last month's Kenyan presidential election were "pre-determined", said a new report on Friday, January 18, issued by a group of Kenyan NGOs as the opposition threatened an economic boycott of government-linked companies.

The accounts "expose what can only be termed a resolve among electoral officials — including commissioners and staff — to obtain a pre-determined outcome, whether supported by fact or not," said the report by a coalition of leading Kenyan human rights, legal and non-governmental organizations, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The report, based on statements from four of the five domestic election observers allowed into the Electoral Commission of Kenya's verification process, listed a series of malpractices and irregularities that marred the vote counting.

It said that results for one constituency — Dagoretti in Nairobi — were announced while the vote tallying was still going on.

Provisional vote totals were sometimes declared as official, despite only being received by telephone, it said.

In other cases, original documents were replaced by photocopies or did not have official stamps — leaving ample opportunity for potential fraud, it said.

The report said that voter turnout in some places was more than 100 percent but officials allowed returning officers to "correct" results to more realistic figures.

"It is clear that the electoral anomalies and malpractices experienced during the counting and tallying of our electoral process were so grave as to alter its outcomes.

"Some of those electoral anomalies and malpractices were, in addition, illegal - thus rendering the supposed presidential outcome not only illegitimate but also illegal. We therefore consider Mwai Kibaki to be in office on his first term."

Kenya has been gripped by violence since Mwai Kibaki was announced winner of last month's presidential elections.

Raila Odinga, the leader and candidate of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), has accused the government of tampering with the tallying process to give Kibaki a second five-year term.

More than 700 people have been killed in the ensuing political and ethnic violence.

Boycott

The Kenyan opposition threatened Friday to launch an economic boycott of companies linked to the government.

"We are now moving on to a new phase of the struggle and this will include initiating (an) economic boycott by consumers of large companies owned by hardliners around Mr Kibaki," said ODM spokesman Salim Lone.

The opposition said that the economic boycott would target Kibaki's closest allies.

Among those targeted are Brookside Dairies — a large company owned by Local Government Minister Uhuru Kenyatta — as well as the Citi Hoppa public transport company, Kenya Bus Services and Equity Bank.

All the companies are owned by leading members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, which has dominated the country's political and economic life for years.

The opposition ended on Friday three-day nationwide protests, which left up to 24 people killed and dozens wounded.

"Today is the last day of demonstrations," said Lone.

"We have seen a lot of suffering caused by reckless police action against peaceful protestors," he added.

The post-election violence, which took a tribal dimension, has triggered fears that Kenya could disintegrating into two states one run by Kibaki's major Kikuyu tribe and a second by Odinga's Luos.

Mediation efforts between the two camps, led by top US Africa envoy Jendayi Frazer and African Union Chairman John Kufuor, have failed.

Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan will go to Kenya Tuesday, January 22, in a bid to reach a half way house.

Source: Kenya Polls Predetermined Jan 19, 2008