NASA leader Raila Odinga has praised the appointment of former US Secretary of State John Kerry and former Senagalese Prime Minister Aminata Toure to the Carter Centre electoral observation mission.
The two will join members from other poll observer teams in overseeing the August election in which Raila is challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta as he takes a fourth stab at the presidency.
The opposition chief through his senior advisor, Salim Lone, said he was elated by the commitment of the two to help Kenya deliver a free, fair, credible and peaceful election on August 8.
Kerry, Raila said has a long and distinguished history of supporting Kenya’s democratization process while Toure who served as prime minister under President Macky Sall has a rich experience working at the intersection of peace, security and justice.
“All Kenyans will be pleased that these two renowned diplomats will be coming to assist in what is an extraordinary enterprise of millions of Kenyans engaged in a passionate but peaceful electoral contest,” Raila said in a statement sent to newsrooms.
“They all hope that the outcome will be unequivocally seen as free and fair and lead to the election of leaders Kenyans want to lead them into a much better future. “
“I particularly welcome Secretary Kerry’s emphasis on ‘a fair, orderly, credible non-violent electoral process which will keep faith with Kenyan people’. For generations, this formulation has been recognised as the constituting principle for democratic elections.”
Kenya, the former premier said has one of the world’s most politically engaged populations and the country invariably conducts election campaigns known for their democratic vibrancy.
He, however, said the last two elections—2007 and 2013—have not yielded what he described as “the clean outcome Kenyans yearn for”.
He took a swipe at the media which he said had failed to champion for free, credible and fair elections. He called on the IEBC to conduct the electoral process in a way that transparent and devoid of suspicion adding democracy can only be attained if elections are free, fair and transparent.