Polls: Ex-Ethiopia president Teshome to lead Igad observer team

Former Ethiopian president Mulatu Teshome has arrived in the country ahead of the August 9 polls as part of a regional election observation team.

Dr Teshome will head the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) Election Observers Mission (IGADEOM).

He is expected to hold meetings with senior officials, key national and international stakeholders as well as heads of other election observation missions.

“The objective of the Igad Election Observation Mission is to make an independent, objective and impartial assessment of the 9 August 2022 general elections in the Republic of Kenya in accordance with the national, regional and international standards for democratic elections,” Igad said in a statement.

Mandate

Its mandate is to promote good governance, democracy, human rights and rule of law in the region.

IGADEOM is composed of seven core staff and 24 short-term observers. The short-term observers include representatives of electoral bodies and other public institutions as well as diplomats drawn from six Igad member states of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.

A joint pre-election assessment mission preceded the observation mission.

Igad conducted the assessment mission alongside the African Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the East African Community to the Republic of Kenya from June 25 to July 25, 2022. The assessment mission appraised the level of election preparedness in the country with the intention to provide support for a peaceful, free, and credible election.

The exercise will allow Igad to make an independent, objective and impartial assessment of the coming polls.