The African Union launches its observation mission for the general elections on August 9 in Kenya

July 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The African Union (AU) has launched an observation mission in Kenya this Friday to follow the electoral process in the country, less than 20 days before the general elections, the leader of the African Union mission announced on Friday. (AU) for the Nairobi delegation, Ellen Dingani.

“We have a team that is located in different regions and the evaluation that they will give us will help us make an informed decision about our report,” he declared this Friday at a press conference reported by ‘The Nation’.

“We have asked all parties for information on the steps they are taking to mitigate special risks ahead of the general election,” according to Dingani.

In this sense, the main contenders for the presidential elections in Kenya have promised to ask their supporters to refrain from resorting to violence during the electoral campaign that will culminate in the elections next month, in the face of what happened in the elections in 2017, which resulted in fifty dead and more than one hundred injured.

The two great rivals of the elections, William Ruto (United Democratic Alliance) and Raila Odinga (Azimio la Umoja), together with Mwaure Waihiga (Agano) and George Wajackoyah (Raíces Party) signed the so-called Letter of Peace and Decency at the beginning of the month Policy of the National Commission for Cohesion and Integration by which they are obliged to carry out “a peaceful electoral campaign and responsible leadership before, during and after the elections”.

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.

Another 180 observers from the European Union are added to the AU contingent, including 48 long-term observers who will be distributed among 39 counties in the country. They will be in charge of evaluating the voting, counting and tabulation process as part of the Observation Mission. EU Electoral Commission (EU MOE), which brings social media, voting technology and media analysts with it.