Faith Nyasuguta
The East Africa Community (EAC) Observer Mission in Kenya has praised the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for executing a smooth voting exercise on Tuesday.
Following a press address on Thursday in the capital Nairobi, the observer mission noted that the police were also in position to ensure voters were safe during the exercise in polling stations.
EThe mission’s leader, Jakaya Kikwete (ex-Tanzanian President), said that the police did not interfere with the voting process.
“The mission commends IEBC for the successful use of the technology in voter registration, voter identification and the transmission of results,” Mr Kikwete said.
He added that the technology has boosted efficiency and harnessed transparency in the country, unlike in the previous elections.
However, Mr Kikwete said that there were a few cases where voters were not identified by the KIEMS kit, asking the commission to note such issues and resolve in future polls.
“We recommend that the problems relating to KIEMS kits should be identified and necessary corrective measures be taken for better performance in future.”
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The mission further raised concern over insufficient agents from the candidates in the presidential race.
Mr Kikwete said the mission realised that the leading alliances in the race deployed a few number of agents in polling stations compared to the Independent candidates vying for various seats.
“It was intriguing to note that the presence of many agents of Independent candidates…it appears there are many Independent candidates, which is good for democracy but there is a story behind it and we are going to take up that matter in the main report.”
