By John Ikani
Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan departed Abuja for Nairobi on Friday leading a team of observers to Kenya’s general elections scheduled to hold on August 9.
Dr. Jonathan will serve as the head of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) which has deployed a full-fledged short-term team of observers to Kenya.
According to a statement issued by Ikechukwu Eze, the special adviser on media to Dr. Jonathan, the mission was 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 observers will be deployed in all the regions and specifically in ten counties, across Kenya,” the statement said.
It went on to note that: “They will observe the final stages of the political parties’ campaigns, Election Day procedures and results aggregation processes.
“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.
“It will also be guided by the 2002 OAU/AU Declaration of the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, among others,” he stated.
Mr Eze added that the EISA Electoral Observation Mission would issue a preliminary statement on its findings at a news conference on Aug. 11.
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