More than 18,000 election observers and hundreds of international journalists are in the country to monitor the elections, signalling the huge attention Tuesday’s poll has attracted globally.
The number is more than the 16,098 candidates — with four gunning for the presidency — cleared to vie for the 290 parliamentary slots, 47 Senate, 47 governor and 1,450 Member of County Assembly (MCA) positions.
With three days to the election, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) yesterday said it had accredited 10,000 observers and was working round the clock to give the nod to another 8,000 applicants.
IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati said 1,300 international observers will help to assess the pre-electoral environment, polling, counting and tabulation as well as announcement of results.
Part of electoral process
“We have the duty and responsibility to ensure observation missions are part of our electoral process. We welcome all accredited participants on observer missions to play their part as Kenyans exercise their democratic right. Your being here adds credibility to the process that we are undertaking,” Mr Chebukati said.
In the 2017 polls, there were more than 5,000 election observers and international journalists monitoring the elections.
Commonwealth Observer Groups are independent and autonomous and are normally chaired by a former head of government or senior political figure. Former Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding is leading the team.
An advance group arrived in the country on July 16, 2022, and is expected to table their findings and update the main team before they are deployed in small teams to selected counties on August 7.
Former Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai will be leading the joint African Union and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa election observation mission.
While officially launching the mission that has brought together 90 observers from the various African countries yesterday, President Bai said the election is a very important exercise and it behoves everyone involved to ensure the process was free, fair and credible.
Former Tanzania President Dr Jakaya Kikwete is in charge of the EAC Election Observation Mission to the election.
The EAC mission comprises 60 members. Dr Kikwete announced the arrival of 52 election observers from EAC partner states on Tuesday.
The European Union Election Observation Mission has also deployed a delegation to observe the polls. This will be the fifth time the EU will be sending observers for Kenyan elections.
As is the tradition, the European body sends observers at election time after which the team compiles a report on whether it was free and fair or whether there were irregularities.
IEBC guidelines bind the observers in a code of conduct that requires them to be neutral and not to interfere with the elections.
