IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati on June 8, 2022 briefs journalists on the preparedness for the August 9 elections.
By: Dennis Wendo
Worth Noting:
- To build and win the trust and confidence of the electorates, the commission should be well prepared, equipped and aware of the pending huge task in delivering free, fair, credible and verifiable elections.
- The commission should confidently and concretely address emerging concerns such as ; the alleged conflict of interest in ballot papers printing, workability of KIEMS technology and results transmission, accountability in loading voter register into KIEMS, clearance of independent candidates locked out of nominations, polling stations gazettement and connectivity, ethnic imbalance in recruitment of poll officers, failure to publish KPMG voter register and the disparity in clearance of candidates with integrity queries.
The call for national unity and cohesion is a collective culpability and should not be a bully of a few in the society. Campaign and electioneering sessions in Kenya have always provoked violence, destruction of property, ethnic profiling of communities, circulation of hatred and threatening messages.
The sad effects of the disputed 2007 general election and its subsequent post-election crisis which resulted in huge social-economic and political setbacks should not be comfortably obliterated. A lot of unnecessary killings, intimidations, humiliation, looting, raping, displacements and gross human right violation were witnessed, aggravating the nation’s stability.
With a few days to August, 2022 general elections, NCIC through its early warning mechanisms that include cohesion monitors deployed in various counties has pin-pointed pockets of heightened localized political tension between competing political party supporters, inflammatory statements from politicians and their supporters directed toward opponents, increased physical attacks on opponent supporters, vandalism of campaign materials, increased misinformation and disinformation on social media and proliferation of organized criminal gangs in various counties. This is volatile and needs to be tamed inclusively and exhaustively.
The pronouncements from the political class; directed to IEBC are worrisome and of substantial impact in uniting or disuniting the nation ahead of the polls. The general election process is robust, strenuous, and requires pressure-free timelines for the commission to set up the general required infrastructure and laws that guarantee free, fair, and credible results. Tail-end funding towards IEBC and late push to amend electoral laws is a morbid pattern.
Article 88(4) of the Kenyan Constitution stipulates the role and functions of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in Kenya. The Commission is responsible for conducting or supervising referenda and elections to any elective body or office established by the Constitution, and any other elections as prescribed by an Act of Parliament.
Article 250(4) of the Constitution and the provisions of the IEBC Act defines the membership and eligibility of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commissioners.
To build and win the trust and confidence of the electorates, the commission should be well prepared, equipped and aware of the pending huge task in delivering free, fair, credible and verifiable elections. The commission should confidently and concretely address emerging concerns such as ; the alleged conflict of interest in ballot papers printing, workability of KIEMS technology and results transmission, accountability in loading voter register into KIEMS, clearance of independent candidates locked out of nominations, polling stations gazettement and connectivity, ethnic imbalance in recruitment of poll officers, failure to publish KPMG voter register and the disparity in clearance of candidates with integrity queries.
Electoral related challenges should be addressed soberly devoid of ultimatums, intimidations and pre-determined agenda and narratives. The legislatures have a constitutional mandate of representation, legislation and oversight ; the electorate’s trust, believe and look upon them for direction and guidance; if they advance messages of peace, unity, and cohesion, the citizens out rightly follow, if they advance messages of boycotts, animosity, victimization, propaganda, tribalism, and violence, die-hards and followers equally adopt and put into exercise.
Kenyans should not be gullible and partakers of election malpractices at the dangle of a carrot but learn to embrace and respect constitutional offices. The world is watching Kenya and anticipates peaceful elections and subsequent transfer of power that is devoid of violence.
Dennis Wendo
Founder- Integrated Development Network
Email: dambehi@gmail.com
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