The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) are observing the General Elections in Kajiado County.
Other counties where the observers will be stationed include Nairobi, Machakos, Uasin Gishu, Nakuru, Kisumu, Kisii, Kakamega, Nyeri and Mombasa counties.
According to Head of the IGAD Elections Observation Mission, former President of Ethiopia Mulatu Teshome, the 24 election observers will monitor the voting process to ensure it is peaceful and credible.
“The team has been trained on the relevant legal framework and IGAD election code of conduct before deployment. They will be focusing on the mission’s mandate of promoting good governance and democracy,” Teshome said.
The team drawn from six IGAD member states arrived in the country on August 2 for training prior to their deployment.
The observers include representatives of electoral bodies and other public institutions as well as diplomats from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.
Meanwhile, the East African Community (EAC) has deployed 15 election observation teams to observe Tuesday’s General Elections.
Speaking in Kajiado after visiting the Maasai Technical Training Institute which is the County tallying center, the team led by Mary Mugyenyi said they were so far satisfied with the preparations.
Mugyenyi who oversaw the distribution of electoral materials expressed confidence that all the process would go on smoothly and would be free and fair.
According to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Kajiado County has a total of 463,273 registered voters across 5 constituencies.
Kajiado North is the most populous with (134,880), followed by Kajiado East (116,336), Kajiado West (75,173), Kajiado South (71,061) and Kajiado Central (65,823).
By Rop Janet
