Elog to tally results in bid to deter violence, ensure integrity

The Elections Observers Group (Elog) has become the second group to announce that it will tally its own results in the August elections, in what it hopes will deter violence.

The group plans to deploy 1,700 observers to selected polling stations that will be representative of the whole country as well as 6,000 general observers, who will not necessarily observe and tally results at polling stations but will report on general occurrences in the elections.

However, the group's plan is different from that of the Raila Odinga-led National Super Alliance (Nasa) that plans to tally and challenge the electoral commission with a comparative figure.

VOTE TABULATION

The observer group, chaired by Regina Opondo, said theirs will be a “parallel vote tabulation” that will be deployed on election day.

“With these activities, Elog will endeavour to increase the integrity of the electoral process, voter confidence, deter irregularities, malpractices, violence and intimidation, and provide a basis for assessing and reporting on the fairness of the elections,” said Ms Opondo.

The group also painted a bleak picture of the recent party nominations.

While they were pleased with the high voter turnout and prompt response from the parties’ headquarters, they castigated what they said was general unpreparedness.

“There were inadequate voting materials, delayed delivery and mix-up of voting materials. Out of the 63 polling centres, 49 used the IEBC list. In 14 of them, there was no list used,” said Mulle Musau, the group’s national coordinator.

MILITIAS

The team also warned of what it said was the hiring and arming of militias in at least 15 constituencies, including Butula, Kieni, Nyakach, Laikipia East, Mathioya, Ol Jorok, and Uriri.

“We have forwarded what we observed to the relevant agencies and we hope they act on our observations,” Mr Musau said.

The group also warned of what it said was increasing cases of assisted voters, with eight out of 10 women in Kilifi being assisted to vote, and one in five in Kiambu requiring such assistance.

ASSISTED VOTERS

“If the same trend [recurs] in the (August) elections, it will be a disaster. Some officials might take advantage of this high number of assisted voters to vote in one candidate,” said Mr Musau.

At the same time, the group, which observed the 2013 polls for the first time, said that despite stringent laws, the participation of public officials (in campaigns) keeps rising each month in the run-up to the August polls.

The highest was in April, when the group reported participation of the officials in 58 per cent of the 290 constituencies in Kenya, up from 47 per cent in March.

“This has manifested mostly in county officials who are following their governors [in] official vehicles and openly campaigning for them,” said Mr Musau.