Attacks against observer missions who monitored Kenya’s polls are uncalled for,\u00a0Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance, Emmanuel Akwetey has said.<\/p>\n
Kenya\u2019s Supreme Court on Friday annulled the presidential election held in August after it argued it was not held in accordance with the constitution.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”ha1qc5Rr4zldr4DpljAN0izkq5srF4SO”]The court has ordered that a new election should be held within 60 days.<\/p>\n
Many have since taken on various heads of observer missions, including former Presidents John Mahama and Thabo Mbeki who were heads of Commonwealth and AU Observer missions for declaring the election as free and fair.<\/p>\n
They have argued that observer missions’ account on the election did not touch on various irregularities as alleged by Kenya’s opposition leader , Raila Odinga.<\/p>\n
Dr. Akwetey, who was also an observer of Kenya\u2019s polls, in a statement however defended heads of observer mission,especially Thabo Mbeki and John Mahama, saying they deserved commendation for giving a true account of developments on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease hold your fire. President Mahama and President Mbeki acquitted themselves well as leaders of the Commonwealth and AU Elections Observer Missions to Kenya, respectively. I was in Kenya as an observer of the elections too. First, all observers agreed that the voting, vote counting and the e-transmissions of the results were transparent and credible. Therefore if the results published by the IEBC followed logically from the observations at the polling stations, then the results ought to be accepted as credible too,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n
Mr. Akwetey pointed out that though \u201cthe international observers and their leaders could neither investigate the hacking allegations on the spot nor stop the declaration of the results, which the IEBC alone was empowered to do,\u201d the two leaders \u201chowever engaged the IEBC and reported back to observers and the international media the IEBC had rejected the allegations by Raila’s camp…\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mr. Akewtey , both Mahama and Mbeki \u201crepeatedly advised Raila & Co to resort to the Supreme Court to deal with their [hacking] claims.\u201d<\/p>\n
He indicated that \u201cRaila & Co initially rejected the two [former] Presidents\u2019 advice and rather accused them of being friends or sympathisers of Kenyatta.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Akwetey said the two leaders \u201cmaintained their composure and their stand that the elections as observed were transparent and credible,\u201d despite resistance from Raila\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us therefore commend, rather than condemn, Prez Mbeki and Mahama as experienced African statesmen who uncompromisingly pointed Kenya in the direction of the SC; thereby, they played a critical role in steering Kenya away from a second post-elections violence in August 2017,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n
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By: Marian Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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