Samuel Kivuitu served as the head of the now-defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya, a position to which he was reappointed by President Mwai Kibaki ahead of the 2007 general election. He had already overseen Kenya’s general elections in 1996, 2002, and a constitutional referendum in 2005.
Kivuitu passed away on February 25, 2013, at MP Shah Hospital after a prolonged battle with throat cancer. Despite his significant role in Kenya’s electoral history, his death did not garner immediate media attention, which was surprising given his stature.
Kivuitu had earned the trust and respect of Kenyans for his fairness and competence in managing elections. His leadership during the 2002 General Election and the 2005 constitutional referendum stood out. It was widely known that former President Daniel arap Moi had hoped to return to power through Uhuru Kenyatta in 2002. However, three key factors prevented this from happening. The first was the overwhelming wave of support for the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), which left little room for undemocratic manipulation. The second was the strong position of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), where commissioners nominated by various political parties under the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) pact acted as a check on one another.
Numerous attempts to manipulate the election results had been uncovered and either reported to the authorities—who were, ironically, often part of the schemes—or dealt with outside the legal framework. One such attempt involved a plan to deploy Administration Police officers disguised as civilians to polling stations in areas strongholded by the opposition party, ODM. Whistleblowers revealed that these officers were tasked with disrupting the elections and intimidating voters, with the aim of lowering voter turnout.
Kivuitu made a shocking admission regarding the announcement of the results of the highly contested 2007 presidential election. Under intense pressure, he confessed that he was uncertain whether President Kibaki had won. His candid statement—“I do not know whether Kibaki won the election”—further undermined the credibility of the election and contributed to the eruption of post-election violence on an unprecedented scale. Kivuitu also revealed that he had been threatened with the confiscation of the presidential election winner’s certificate, despite being legally mandated to deliver it. When he took the certificate to State House in Nairobi, he found the Chief Justice there, already prepared to swear in Kibaki.
