European Union ambassador
to Kenya Henriette Geiger and a
network of election observers have
raised the alarm at the slow-paced
preparations for the 2027 elections,
less than two-and-half years away.
Geiger said that while the Independent
Electoral and Boundaries Commission that conducted the 2022 election took office late but delivered
the assignment, they worked under
strained time with much pressure,
and that the same should not be repeated this time around.
She spoke when she opened a
seminar of election observers bring ing together electoral experts from
all over the continent in Nairobi.
The seminar is hosted by the Election Observer Group.
“There is enough concern at the
rate of preparation for the 2027
election given the short time before
it. Though the commission was able
to pull it off last time, the prudent
principle is having enough time for
adequate preparation to secure the
democratic process and ensure stability of the country,” she said.
The head of the EU diplomatic
delegation said with no IEBC commissioners in office, boundary delimitation has not been done and a
number of by-elections are pending,
meaning that a huge population of
Kenya is not represented in national decision-making, marginalising
them.
“Boundaries delimitation has not
been done and a handful by-elections have not been done, among
other key milestones that the commission needs to do as custodian of
a democratic process,” she said.
Head of Elog Mulle Musau said
the new commissioners to be appointed to IEBC will have the immediate task of building public
confidence in the agency to give assurance to the public that they will
do an impartial job.
“For me, the most pressing task
for the new commission is to build
back public confidence in its processes and capacity to deliver a
credible election, starting with the
pending by-elections that have had
millions of Kenya unrepresented,”
Musau said.
He said part of the confidence-building drive by the commission
should be cleaning the voter register to allay any speculations about the credibility of the register used in
past and future elections.
“All the concerns recently raised
by SK Macharia on the register of
voters have been consistently raised
by Elog since 2012 but no one pays
attention,” he said.
“We want the new commission to
start by cleaning the current register
and put up a new one that is above
board, available for inspection and
can guarantee a credible and predictable process but an unpredictable outcome.”
At the same time, election observers have raised concern over
non-implementation of their recommendations, making their work in
vain yet they churn out rich reports
that can improve the electoral process in every cycle.
“We have noted that observers
tend to make similar recommendations from time to time because
they are not acted upon and hence
no one pays attention in organising
the polls. Kenyans should know that
observers are their eyes and ears in
the process and should be supported
and have their voices heard,” Musau
said.
