Jonathan Leads Election Observation Mission to Kenya

Bennett Oghifo

Former President Goodluck Jonathan is in Kenya as head of a full-fledged short-term Election Observation Mission (EOM) towards the Kenya general elections taking place next week. According to a statement issued by former President Jonathan on behalf of the Mission, they were deployed by the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), and comprise 21 Short-term observers (STOs), mainly drawn from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Election Management Bodies (EMBs) and academia from across the continent.

The Mission, which Deputy Head is Mr. Baïdessou Soukolgué, the EISA’s Executive Director, follows an invitation from the Government of the Republic of Kenya, the statement said and that the observers would be “deployed in all the regions and specifically in 10 counties, across the country where they will observe the final stages of the political parties’ campaigns, election day procedures and results aggregation processes.

“The observers will remain in the country until 12 August 2022. The Mission’s assessment of the electoral process will be guided by the principles and obligations set out in the 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), the 2002 OAU/AU Declaration of the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, the Declaration of Principles on International Election Observation (DoP) and the Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and Observation (PEMMO), as well as the legal framework governing the elections in the Republic of Kenya.

“The EISA EOM will issue a preliminary statement on its findings at a press conference on 11 August 2022.