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Uganda’s National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, and Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) are in the country ahead of Tuesday, August 9’s polls.
Bobi Wine said in a social media post on Sunday that he and Besigye, both of who are former presidential contenders in Uganda, are in Kenya as part of the Africa observation team.
“As part of our mission to observe the #KenyaDecides2022 this Tuesday, I was glad 2 meet & interact w/ Presidential Candidate Rt. Hon. @RailaOdinga. Another part of our team met w/ Candidate @WilliamsRuto. Wishing the great ppl of Kenya a free, fair, credible and peaceful election [sic],” wrote Bobi Wine on Twitter.
Ahead of Tuesday’s General Election, a number of international observers have been deployed across various regions in Kenya to monitor the exercise.
On Sunday, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) deployed 24 election observers across 11 counties for the observation mission.
The observes include representatives of electoral bodies and diplomats from six IGAD member states and will be stationed in Nairobi, Nyeri, Uasin Gishu, Nakuru, Kajiado, Kisumu, Kisii, Kakamega, Machakos and Mombasa.
Likewise, the Elections Observation Group (ELOG) on Saturday announced that it will deploy 5,108 observers to tallying centres across the country to assess the integrity and general conduct of the electoral process.
ELOG said 3,050 of these will be general observers while 1,000 Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) observers will assume the role of stationery observers on election day.
The African Union (AU) and the Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa (COMESA) have similarly formally commissioned a joint election observation committee whose main role will be reviewing how the General Election will be held.
This is in line with the regional bodies’ mandate to promote free and fair democratic elections across the African continent.
Some 90 observers, picked from various governments, Member States, the Pan African Parliament, the Civil Society Organisations, Academia and Election Management Bodies in Africa, make up the joint mission.
Another team of 20 members of the Commonwealth Group observing the polls is already in the country at the invitation of the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland QC.
The East African Community has also deployed 52 election observers led by former Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete.
Kenyans will be heading to the ballot to elect 290 Members of the National Assembly, 1,450 Members of County Assembly, 47 senators, governors and woman representatives, as well as President Uhuru Kenyatta’s successor.
