CJ Koome chairs multi-Agency forum on elections preparedness

Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in the elections preparedness for the August 2022 polls have come together to form the National Multi-Agency Consultative Forum on Election Preparedness.

Forum Chairperson Chief Justice (CJ) Martha Koome said that they convened because they realized that as MDAs and the judiciary they have something to do with free, fair and credible elections.

“We owe it to Kenyans to ensure that there is electoral justice in the process that we engage in and also in our preparedness and none of us can deliver the mandate alone,” said Koome.

Speaking at the Kenya School of Government, Koome said that they held the inaugural meeting on 25^th October 2021 and from the meeting they resolve to constitute a technical working committee to prepare working documents and present a report and they have done so.

“For me chairing this forum it feels like the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) where we come together as all the agencies involved in the justice sector to share our challenges and collaborate in the interest of offering justice to Kenyans because no one agency can succeed in doing that by themselves,” said Koome.

The CJ explained that they are working together to develop an action plan and to assure Kenyans that as the government they are prepared to deliver on the mandate that they were given by the constitution.

“All of us are aware that we are independent and the independence is ring-fenced in the constitution in the way we operate and when we seat we do not discuss any merit of any of the mandates given to the agencies, we focus on what we need to do and we collaborate in the execution of our various mandates,” said Koome.

She added that as the judiciary they are working on the human resource capital that is required to ensure that when they start dealing with election disputes the work of the judiciary will not come to a stop.

“The national treasury has agreed to engage the development partners on activities that they can support,” said Koome.

By Joseph Ng’ang’a