Less than a month before the elections in Kenya, the actors want to avoid the scenario of 2017, when the Kenyan Supreme Court invalidated the elections, for ” irregularities “. A second ballot had to be organised, largely boycotted by the opposition. For the election on August 9, several organizations have already announced the deployment of observers, in particular the European Union which officially launched its observation mission on Saturday July 26.
With our correspondent in Nairobi, Albane Thirouard
The European mission will deploy 180 observers to polling stations on August 9, 48 of whom have already arrived in Kenya, along with 12 election experts. The total cost amounts to approximately 8 million euros.
” We have started to observe the election campaign, we will follow the process until after the electionsexplained to the press Ivan Stefanec, chief observer of the mission. On election day, we will observe the opening of the polling stations, the voting, as well as the transmission of the results. We believe that the electoral process will be credible, transparent and will take place in peace. »
Several Vigilant point have already been identified by the European Union (EU), according to Beata Martin-Rozumilowicz, the mission’s deputy chief observer:
We will pay attention to all the stages of the process that Kenyans are worried about. It goes from respecting the legal framework, to voter registration or even the campaign. We will also monitor the role of media and social networks, as well as more specific elements, such as the use of technology for elections or the role of women and disadvantaged populations.
For the first time in Kenya, the EU has appointed an analyst dedicated to the use of technology and another in charge of observing social networks: the mission thus recognizes their increased role in the electoral process. But their use is also a source of concern: Kenyan civil society has notably alerted on several occasions to the proliferation of fake news and hate speech.
The EU mission complements Kenyan initiatives: Elog, an election observation group from civil society, intends to deploy 5,000 observers on election day. The African Union and Igad (the regional authority for development) have also already announced that they will send their own observation mission to the country for the August 9 election.
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