On 11^th May 2022, the Mkenya Daima Initiative held a consultative meeting with institutions charged with managing elections at the Nairobi Serena Hotel. The forum provided an opportunity for a collaborative review of the institutions’ preparedness while at the same time looking into ways the Initiative can provide support and reinforcement to ensure the smooth running of the forthcoming elections.

Present during the event were Mkenya Daima Steering Committee members led by the Chairman Dr. Vimal Shah; Mr. Suba Churchill – Coordinator, National Civil Society Congress; Mr. Daniel Juma – Executive Director, Globe Peace Foundation; Mr. Duncan Mochama – Africa Youth Leadership Foundation; Dr. Elizabeth Wala – KEPSA Director in charge of Health & Social Sectors; Ms. Annette Kimitei – KEPSA Security Sector Board Chair; Mr. Hassan Ole Naado – Deputy Secretary-General, Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM); Ms. Daisy Amdany – Executive Director, Community Advocacy and Awareness (CRAWN) Trust; Mr. Kenneth Njiru – CEO, Uungwana Institute; Mr. Otieno Ombok – Peace Building and Governance expert; Mr. Japh Olende – Regional Director, The Alpha Group; Mr. Francis Munywoki – MMG International; and Ms. Martha Cheruto – KEPSA Deputy CEO – Foundation.

Representatives from the constitutional institutions included Mr. Rasi Masudi – Director, Voter Education, Partnerships & Communications at Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC); Ms. Ann Nderitu – Registrar of Political Parties, Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP); Mr. Derrick Kaisha – Ethics and Leadership Directorate at Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC); and Ms. Anne Makori – Chairperson, Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).

Ms. Martha Cheruto – KEPSA Deputy CEO – Foundation said that the forum was one of many that the Mkenya Daima plans to have with stakeholders to share the Mkenya Daima vision and goals. The initiative, she said, has already met the two presidential aspirants with plans to meet all other aspirants as they declare their candidature. She added that Mkenya Daima has as well met university students and the Civil Society among other stakeholders. “After the 9^th of August, we still have a country to run, we still have businesses to run, we still have communities to advance, laws to reform as well as our people to shepherd. What is our roadmap as stakeholders mandated with this heavy task even as we think through that and celebrate the positives of this country?” She posed.

In his introductory remarks, Dr. Vimal Shah encouraged the constitutional offices charged with managing the elections to be steadfast to achieve the best results as per their electoral mandates. “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. The relationship between the election and the economy is quite crucial. A stable and encouraging political and macro-economic environment is what we want to see even as we engage in high-level politics as Kenyans,” He noted. He added that all these institutions should strive to speak in one coordinated voice on matters arising and issue still plaguing the electoral process to assure the masses that they are up to the task of managing the general elections.

The main issues that were raised during the forum revolved around IEBC credibility (systems and cybersecurity), enforcement of Chapter 6 of the Constitution on leadership and integrity, public participation, voter education and IEBC communication, littering and environmental concerns (campaign posters), documentation and prosecution of election violence, preparedness around security in polling stations and counterterrorism, budgetary independence of the IEBC among others. “It is critical that as we plan for the elections, we also focus on grounding the citizens in our national values to continue supporting these constitutional bodies in meeting their mandate because we know the technical aspects of elections are important, but the current negative perception people have of the institutions charged with elections must be addressed to create trust and encourage voter turnout,” Noted Mr. Ken Njiru.

In terms of election preparedness, Ms. Anne Makori stated that the National Police Service with other stakeholders in April launched a roadmap developed with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, for monitoring and enforcing security provisions before, during, and after the elections. She said that IPOA was working to ensure the adoption of a policing approach that is sensitive to human rights across the country. She gave an example of the Police P3 form that was previously not gendered to accurately accommodate women, noting that now the form is inclusive, which is just one of the signs of the progress made in the service. “IPOA was created to help members of the National Police Service to become more professional, more accountable, more transparent, and to be more conscious of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as they do their work of enforcing the law,” Said Ms. Makori.

The EACC representative Mr. Derrick Kaisha said the Commission had in place sufficient mechanisms for the operation of integrity verification of political candidates through an automated process to determine their integrity status once the IEBC produces the final list of all the candidates across the country. “Even today, we continue to receive complaints of corruption and unethical conduct against state and public offices that need to be investigated. This is one of our constitutional mandates, so on all matters arising whether before, during, or after the election process, we shall continue to carry out this mandate within the provision of the law,” He noted.

On her part, the Registrar of Political Parties reiterated the organization’s mandate as the regulation and coordination of political party activities and administering the political parties’ fund with the most important task for the ORPP currently being to push forward the necessary legal reforms governing the conduct of political parties in Kenya. Ms. Nderitu said “We are trying to correct what went wrong with the previous general elections to ensure structures around transparency, party histories, member recruitment, and participation are put in place in facilitating political parties to actively play their democratic roles within the law.

Ms. Nderitu noted that ORPP had already hired 355 election monitors across the country to monitor the activities of political parties with regard to the political parties’ code of conduct. ORPP together with the IEBC, she said, would this week meet with all the secretaries-general of all political parties on accountability and expected reforms in their internal party processes. A challenge she expressed was that with over 7,000 declared independent candidates alongside 46 presidential aspirants. There were areas of law that are still yet to be defined, meaning the 2022 elections would also set new precedents such as security, travel, protocol, and related provisions that would need to be carefully handled by the ORPP and which would need to be explored further and adopted in law where applicable into the future.

Mr. Rasi Masudi expressed concern that although political party primaries are perhaps the most important process of elections, the process still records very low turnouts and engagement, especially among young people. “If we say that we want to have good leaders on the ballot, why are we not joining political parties? This is a question we must answer especially if we understand that party primaries account for at least 85 to 90 per cent of the electoral process,” He noted. Mr. Masudi also lauded Mkenya Daima Initiative noting that it was a great thing to engage and look for solutions and ways to support institutions because Kenya is for all Kenyans.

The main outcomes of the forum included;

• Mkenya Daima committed to collaborate and raise a voice in support of institutions charged with managing elections
• IEBC and ORPP committed to form a special committee with private sector participation in collaboration with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to monitor the progress of clean-up of campaign posters
• The meeting agreed to form a multi-sectoral and multi-agency forum to collaborate on addressing identified issues.