Probe 2022 election before 2027 cycle, IEBC told
By Roy.Lumbe, January 17, 2023
An intensive assessment of the 2022 General Election should be carried out by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to inform the conduct of the next polls cycle.
Council of Governors (COG) chairperson Anne Waiguru adds that there is a need to look at what worked, what failed, and the lessons learned to come up with recommendations that will inform the strategies to be employed to make the 2027 election a success.
Speaking during a Post-Election Evaluation forum hosted by IEBC on Monday, Waiguru, while congratulating the IEBC for conducting free and fair elections, said the evaluation would mark the end of one electoral cycle and the beginning of another one. “This assessment is based on the commission’s Strategic Plan, Election Operations Plan, and international best practices in election management,” she said.
Waiguru, who is also the Governor of Kirinyaga County, said that governors — being agents of peace — had lived to their pre-election pledges of fully supporting IEBC and other agencies throughout the electioneering period.
She noted that the evaluation that has been concluded is expected to build on the 2017 evaluation and is expected to outline the lessons learned, the findings, recommendations and how they informed the 2022 elections.
The governor called on all the stakeholders to take stock of what happened in the previous elections, and most importantly in the just-concluded one, to improve the conduct of the next polls.
“It is often not comfortable to subject oneself to scrutiny but it is the only way that one can grow. Remaining transparent and accountable is key and, indeed, the hallmark of good governance and the foundation of the Constitution of Kenya,” Waiguru told the commission.
The forum was attended by Chief Justice Martha Koome, Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula, Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi, Attorney General Justin Muturi, and other dignitaries, including high commissioners and heads of various institutions.