The EU begins the deployment in Kenya of the observation mission for the general elections in August

July 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Three weeks after its arrival in Kenya, the European Union’s observation mission this weekend began its tasks of monitoring the general elections in August in the African country that will decide the successor to the president, Uhuru Kenyatta.

The candidates for the Presidency, including the two clear favorites, William Ruto (United Democratic Alliance) and Raila Odinga (Azimio la Umoja), have asked their supporters to participate in peace during the electoral campaign with a view to the elections on the 9th August, compared to what happened in the 2017 elections, which resulted in fifty dead and more than a hundred injured.

A total of 180 observers, including 48 long-term observers who will be distributed among 39 counties in the country, will be in charge of evaluating the voting, counting and tabulation process as part of the EU Electoral Observation Mission (EU MOE), that brings with it analysts from social media, voting technology and the media.

“The next general elections in Kenya”, said the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, “will be crucial for citizens to determine what future awaits them, for the actors to demonstrate their commitment to democracy , with fair competition in peaceful elections; and for the region in general to promote stability”.

The mission will issue a preliminary statement shortly after election day and will remain in Kenya until the completion of the electoral process, including in the event of a second round of presidential elections, and any complaints and appeals process, the head of the mission said. mission, Ivan Stefanec, to the Kenyan newspaper ‘The Nation’.

Ruto will face his great rival Odinga, at the time an anti-establishment figure, who surprised analysts and Kenyans themselves by forming an alliance with President Kenyatta in 2018.

This alliance happened after the very violent electoral campaign, to the point that the former opposition leader is now seen as a “dolphin” of the president. This relationship is especially bloody for Vice President Ruto, considered at the time as the “heir” of Kenyatta.