Nairobi — The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHRC) says it is monitoring activities before, during and after next year’s election as part of a wider strategy to document violations.
The commission said it will deploy personnel across the country, particularly in areas considered hotspots to ensure state agencies do not violate human rights to avoid a repeat of the 2007 election violence that left more than 500,000 people dead and thousands more displaced following a disputed presidential election.
The commission said its staff will be required to document activities and actions by various players to ensure human rights are safeguarded so as to guarantee a free and fair election.
The commission’s Assistant Director in charge of Reforms and Accountability, Lucas Kimanthi, said the commission has an elaborate monitoring plan that will track all the activities of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and other state and non-state actors before, during and after the elections.
The proposed strategy entails a four-phase approach focusing on election preparations, political primaries, the actual election and related activities that follow the poll.
“This shall involve research and subsequent issuance of advisories and memorandum to the bicameral houses of Parliament and Senate and other key stakeholders as the 2022 election approaches,” he said.
IEBC preparedness in terms of voter registration and personnel recruitment as well as compliance of candidates and monitoring of security agencies will also be on the commission’s radar.
The commission said it will publish a scorecard of human rights preparedness as well as a laid out election operation plan within the law ahead of the polls.
“KNHCR will be monitoring the preparedness and processes of the upcoming 2022 general election and will focus more with a human right lens in order to identify gaps and ways in which the commission can influence the respect for human rights in the general election process,” Kimanthi said.
KNHCR said it believes that critical monitoring of the political party primaries will cure the numerous petitions challenging election outcomes after each election cycle.
“Historically political party primaries have been marred with cases of political interference and non-compliance with the rule of law. KNHRC will monitor the conduct of political parties to ensure compliance,” Kimanthi stated, adding that it’s strategy includes monitoring election results and the entire tallying process.