The probability that the National Dialogue Committee will come up with a report aligned to Kenya’s national and public interests despite the high-octane environment is very high.
The National Dialogue Committee is making good progress despite committee members' varied and divergent interests.
Citizens and partners should be worried if committee members and presenters are singing from same hymn sheet.
In fact, members' divergent interests has created an environment for ideas cross-pollination and inspired confidence in the process.
The National Dialogue Committee enjoys national goodwill and has received a good number of high quality presentations.
The key success factor is for electoral reforms to buttress existing electoral frameworks and remove any threat to successful conduct and declaration of presidential results.
Attempts to compromise presidential elections and manipulating citizens in case unhappy with presidential elections results that have been sanctioned by competent authorities constitute a threat to national security.
Article 238, inter Alia, states that national security is the protection against internal and external threats to Kenya’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, its people, their rights, freedoms, property, peace,stability and prosperity, and other national interests.
Presidential candidates must respect IEBC presidential results declaration and if unhappy, seek the Supreme Court’s intervention. The talks must immunise Kenya from any extra-judicial interventions.
Candidates who manipulate citizens after competent constitutional authorities have pronounced themselves are an internal threat to national security.
Electoral reforms must penalise folks who manipulate elections process and outcomes by enhancing individual responsibility on candidates and IEBC staffers/commissioners. Folks who attempt to frustrate Moraa’s will must suffer pecuniary and criminal penalties.
It maybe useful for the committee to come up with an agile human capital policy for IEBC commissioners and staffers.
IEBC should attract and retain top talent at commission level. Taking up an IEBC role shouldn’t be professional suicide.
Catfights before and after presidential elections revealed that some commissioners did not have capacity nor competence. They demonstrated challenges in basic leadership skills and arithmetic.
Partners and citizens must support the National Dialogue Committee despite varied interests and biases.
Writer is a Nairobi-based political risk analyst
