• "This is a step further towards embedding democracy in Kenya through the conduct of free, fair and credible elections,” Commissioner Abdi Guliye.
• The forum is supported by UNDP, the European Union, and the embassies of German, Ireland, Italy and the UK.
Image: IEBC/TWITTER
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is holding a post-election evaluation forum to take stock of the hits and misses in the August polls.
The commission said the Post-Election Evaluation (PEE) Stakeholders Dialogue Forum will look at what worked and what failed during the elections and use the scorecard to guide the development of an Elections Operation Plan for the 2022-27 election cycle.
"This is a step further towards embedding democracy in Kenya through the conduct of free, fair and credible elections,” Commissioner Abdi Guliye who spoke on behalf of chairman Wafula Chebukati said.
He said the Post-Election Evaluation is not only an international best practice but is also anchored in Kenya's Constitution as a core mandate of the IEBC to observe, monitor and evaluate elections in line with Article 88 (4)(h).
The forum is supported by UNDP, the European Union, and the embassies of German, Ireland, Italy and the UK.
"The Commission is alive to the significant role played by stakeholders in the electoral process. I want to appeal to you as our development partners to continue extending your support to the Commission for us to undertake the election process," Guliye said.
IEBC Deputy CEO Obadiah Keitany echoed the sentiments saying the commission appreciates the support from development partners in helping IEBC deliver on its Constitutional mandate.
"Your support in voter education, electoral operations, legal reforms, ICT and communication helped us deliver the 2022 general election," Keitany said.
The 2022 election process started with the conclusion of the 2017 election evaluation exercise.
The commission said it was from the evaluation that it drew its findings and recommendations on its systems and operations.
The lessons learnt from the 2017 polls were incorporated in the Strategic Plan 2020-2024, Elections Operations Plan (EOP) and the general preparations for 2022 polls.
Keitany said IEBC will use the 2022 evaluation report to document experiences and evaluate lessons learnt from the elections, propose areas for improvement to inform future Commission policy direction and strategic planning alongside identifying key priority areas for funding to improve the electoral processes.
"I request the development partners to be candid and bold to suggest recommendations that will be used to guide our formulation of IEBC Kenya Strategic Plan and policy direction."
During the forum, UNDP pledged to continue supporting IEBC in electoral assistance within the context of deepening democracy.
Commissioner Guliye commended the commission for the successful delivery of the August polls but said taking stock of the misses was imperative.
"It is time to relive our individual and collective experiences of the 9th August general election and in retrospect have an assessment of the electoral cycle activities,” he said.
The IEBC was chided by the opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition for what it termed as overseeing irregular polls.
The coalition in particular singled out Chebukati for making unilateral decisions on issues that were pertinent to the outcome of the elections.
The Supreme Court indicted the chair over the accusations but said the court could not overturn the election on the basis of boardroom fallouts.
This was after four commissioners, three of whom have since resigned, disowned the presidential results saying the final phase of their verification was vague.