Elections were credible and met many key benchmarks for democratic elections
Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma today released the Final Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group on the March 2013 General Elections in Kenya.
In issuing the report, Mr Sharma said: "The Commonwealth Observer Group found that despite some shortcomings the 2013 General Elections in Kenya were credible and met many of the benchmarks for democratic elections to which Kenya is committed.”
The Secretary-General added: “The elections, held on 4 March, were Kenya’s first General Elections under the new Constitution and a series of new laws governing the elections. They represent an important step in Kenya’s reform and devolution process. The elections were competitive and provided for freedom of association and participation. Further, the election campaign was largely peaceful, and on the day of the polls, voters turned out in very large numbers.”
However, the Secretary-General also noted concerns raised by the observers: “The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission faced a challenging task in organising the elections and, overall, managed the pre-election preparations in a transparent and effective manner. But concerns were raised with regard to weaknesses in the legal framework and shortcomings in the management of the results transmission process.”
The Final Report offers a series of recommendations to help improve aspects of the process. These include: the need to ensure that electoral timelines are established in a manner that facilitates the timely and effective administration of the election, and the need to implement the provision in the Constitution for a gender quota to provide for gender balance in the parliament.
Mr Sharma stressed that: “The Commonwealth stands ready to assist Kenya in further strengthening its democratic process.”
Note to Editors: The Report was completed and signed by all members of the Commonwealth Observer Group prior to their departure from Kenya. It was presented to the Commonwealth Secretary-General by the Chair of the Group, Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana. It has subsequently been distributed to the Government of Kenya, political parties, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and all other Commonwealth governments.
