POLITICS-KENYA: Foreign Observers Will Not Monitor Elections

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

NAIROBI, Dec 8 1997 (IPS) - Foreign-based observers will not monitor the forthcoming general elections in Kenya as they did during the 1992 controversial multi-party polls, election officials here have said.

“There will be no international presence of substantial degree this time,” said Walter Kamba, a Zimbabwean legal expert who works with the University of Namibia School of Law.

Kamba, who is a member of an international pre-election delegation organised by the Washington-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), told journalists at the weekend that some 27,000 Kenyans would monitor the Dec. 29 polls.

Emphasising the role of local observers, Kamba, who is a former international member of South Africa’s Independent Election Commission (IEC), said foreigners had little role to play in Kenya’s elections. “The success of this election depends on Kenyans. What outsiders can do is only support the Kenyan efforts,” he said.

The local observers will be joined by observers from 22 foreign embassies here, according to the chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya, Samuel Kivuitu.

According to Kivuitu, the diplomats will observe the nominations in various constituencies between Dec. 8 and Dec. 9, and the elections on Dec. 29 respectively.

This is in contrast to the 1992 elections when hundreds of foreign observers were sent here by the Commonwealth and the Washington-based International Republic Institute. Others came from the European Union (EU), Canada, Japan, Scandinavia, Germany and Egypt.

Patrick Merleo of the NDI said that there was no widespread enthusiasm among the Europeans and in the Commonwealth to send observers to Kenya for the December polls.

“I think that’s because it costs a lot of money to send observers to Kenya. And also, because in the beginning of the year, not many thought that a lot of parties would take part in the elections,” Merleo said.

“But after the constitutional reforms (adopted on Sep.11), things have changed. And maybe it’s now too late for some of those organisations to send a team here,” he added.

NDI, which established an office here in June, said it has provided assistance to domestic, nonpartisan organisations involved with election observing in more than 35 countries around the world. The institute also has organised international election observers to more than 40 countries.

“We are impressed by the enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism of the Kenyan nonpartisan election observer organisations,” said Merleo.

These organisations include the Institute for Education in Democracy, Kenya Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, National Council of Churches of Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Bureau of Electoral Education Research and Monitoring.

“These organisations are monitoring the pre-election period by observing and reporting on matters such as media coverage, electoral violence and security issues and the overall campaign environment,” Merleo said.

“They are also preparing a nationwide effort to observe the voting, counting and tabulation processes, as well as the processing of electoral complaints,” Merleo added.

NDI said that the Kenyan organisations are much more upbeat about the 1997 elections, due to the expansion of the Electoral Commission to include members put forth by opposition parties, and an improved ability of candidates to organise meetings and rallies, as well as to travel more freely on the “meet-the-people tours”.

Although the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) has said it gives free air time to all candidates, the opposition National Development Party (NDP) said the media coverage has been biased towards the ruling party.

NDP’s top official, Sarah Elderkin, dismissed the free airtime slots that the state-run KBC said it allocates as largely untrue. “Time given to KANU (the ruling Kenya African National Union) is more than all other parties combined,” she said.

Last week, in a three-page letter to Kivuiti, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya, Elderkin said not a single KBC reporter had approached the NDP for an interview.

Maria Leissner of the NDI and the former leader of Sweden’s Liberal Party, called on KANU to ensure that the electoral process is open and transparent.

“From NDI’s experience in more than 50 countries in transition to democratic government … when segments of a society are doubtful about the fairness of an electoral system, additional safeguards — including measures to make the system more open and transparent — are often introduced to build public confidence in the electoral process,” said Leissner, who was a member of the Swedish parliament.

“In situations like that of Kenya, the longevity of the ruling party imposes a special responsibility on the government and electoral authorities not only to ensure that the electoral process is administratively correct, but that it is free from the perception of partnership and corrupt practices,” Leissner added.

She noted that the Kenyan polls were being followed earnestly beyond its borders. “Kenya is an important African country. What will happen here will have repercussions in other African countries,” she said.

According to Merleo, Kenya’s political environment has changed. He said that when the NDI came to monitor the 1992 elections, they were not allowed to leave their hotel and were not allowed to meet with the opposition parties.

“Later, however, Kenyan authorities told us that what happened in 1992 was a misunderstanding. Now we are free. We have been travelling around without any harassment,” he said.

In 1992, President Daniel arap Moi, then a standard bearer of a one-party system, had argued that multi-party democracy would only encourage tribalism. And, indeed, apart from the ruling party, all the opposition parties which mushroomed during and after the 1992 elections have been formed along ethnic lines.

So far, 15 presidential aspirants, including incumbent President Moi and two women, have thrown their hats in the ring to vie for the top office in the land.