Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said Monday Kenya is committed to working closely with the United Nations and other key stakeholders to ensure a transparent, credible, free, fair, and peaceful general election in 2027.
Speaking when he met with East Africa Division’s Principal Electoral Advisor, United Nations Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) Akinyemi Adegbola and his delegation in his Railways office, Mudavadi appreciated their mandate to objectively assess the political and electoral context and provide recommendations on the scope and modalities of UN support.
“This is a critical step in ensuring that Kenya continues to consolidate democratic gains and uphold the integrity of its electoral system, and Kenya will continue to uphold its obligations to foster democratic governance and safeguard the credibility of electoral processes,” said Mudavadi also Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs.
He said the government was systematically making the electoral process better, and as we do so, as the government, but its engagement will not interfere with their independence, and will know its limits and boundaries so that the integrity of IEBC is kept intact.
“It is our desire that the 2027 general election be successful and will earn us stability and allow Kenya to continue being a benchmark election in the region and on the continent,” said Mudavadi.
Mudavadi said as they planned to do their assessment, he asked the delegation to also consider the influence of technology, social media, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and acknowledge its possible impact on the polls.
NAM delegation is in the country following the request of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) through a letter by the chairman nominating Dr. Erastus Ethekon a month ago.
Mudavadi assured the team that the government will not interfere with the operation of the IEBC and instead give them full support to ensure that the polls are successful.
He said he wanted to see IEBC officials, security personnel, and all the stakeholders in the election process well prepared and ready before the election.
“We also want to have Faith-Based organisations, the civil society and the judiciary, and many other actors play a proactive role during the electioneering period,” said Mudavadi.
Adegbola said they will take the request for assessment seriously and will begin the assignment soon.
“We always approach the request with a sense of modesty. We always have a paradox of where do we draw the line on where we engage on politics in politics to ensure that our assessment is responsive to the real issues,” said Adegbola.
Adegbola said in Kenya some areas of need have evolved over a period of time and have progressively been narrowing to needs in particular areas.”
He noted that less and less they were not involved into the logistics of the elections.
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