KENYA | POLLS | EAC | OBSERVER

Jakaya Kikwete, the former President of Tanzania who is also the head of the East African Community (EAC) election observation mission in Kenya, has described the August 9 general elections as “peaceful” and “transparent”. 

In his Thursday (August 11) address at the Nairobi Serena Hotel, Kikwete said: “The use of technology for voter identification and transmission of results has increased transparency in the election." Challenges with the Kenya Integrated Elections Management (KIEMs) kit, should be addressed, but the mission was pleased generally." 

Due to the KIEMs kit-related challenges, the Roots Party presidential candidate, George Wajackoyah, failed to cast his vote in Indangalasia, Matungu, Kakamega County after the kit failed to identify him using his fingerprint. 

Despite the minor challenges, Kikwete said that: “Polling agents displayed high levels of competency and professionalism." Poll officials were well trained. The mission commends IEBC for involving young people, specifically young women.” 

In his preliminary observer mission report, Kikwete added that campaigns were conducted in a calm and peaceful atmosphere. 

“Parties and candidates were allowed to stage rallies,” he said, adding that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) should in future take collective measures to ensure that challenges such as opening polling stations late are cured. 

“The issues of misinformation and disinformation, as well as hate speech, were rampant on social media, something that needs to be addressed in the next elections,” Kikwete said. 

“We had engagements with all four presidential candidates and several government ministries regarding this election,” he added. 

The situation in Kenya remains tense as results continue to trickle in. 

Provisional results from various outlets, including independent media tallies, suggest a tight presidential race between two rivals, the Deputy President, William Ruto, and former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga. 

With more than 98% of declaration forms already posted on the IEBC portal, celebrations have already started as both the Ruto and Odinga camps claim victory. 

Although the IEBC had not yet disclosed any tallied results for presidential elections by press time yesterday, various media houses in Kenya had instituted independent tally centers and had posted results using declaration forms that the IEBC had downloaded on its online platform.  

The other contenders in the presidential race are David Mwaure and George Wajackoya. 

IEBC said the turnout was 65.4% of the 22.1 million registered voters, compared to over 80% in the last election in 2017. 

“Voter turnout stands at 65.4% before the inclusion of data from manual registers,” IEBC chairperson, Chebukati, said. 

To win the presidential race in the first round, a candidate needs more than half of all the votes cast across the country. This means the winning candidate must get 50% plus one vote. 

IEBC has a 7-day window to announce final results from the date of voting. This means the next Kenyan president will be announced before August 16.