International Election Observers Have appealed to Kenyans to Remain Calm

By Susan Anyangu

International election observers have appealed to Kenyans to remain calm but
expressed concern over the delay in releasing presidential poll results.

The European Union (EU) observers, Commonwealth Observer group and the International Republican Institute (IRI) yesterday issued a joint statement calling on Kenyans to shun violence.

The EU Chief Observer, Mr Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, expressed concern over the delay in releasing presidential poll results from certain constituencies.

He said the delay was causing mistrust that could result in violence and tarnish the otherwise peaceful elections.

"We are issuing this joint statement to send a strong message to Kenyans that they should choose peace and let the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) do its job," Lambsdorff said.

The observers also appealed to politicians to remain calm and desist from declaring premature victory since this could result in further skirmishes.


Election observers tell voters to shun violence

Lambsdorff appealed to politicians and the public to desist from putting pressure on ECK.

"Specifically, we appeal to politicians and the general public to let ECK do its job free from pressure," he said.

He steered clear of attempts to link the delay in releasing results with rigging claims. He said the observers had not received any concrete evidence that there was rigging. He, however, expressed concern over the fact that some constituencies had unusually high voter turnout.

"We have noted some significantly high voter turnout in certain sections and we will definitely look into this," he said.

The observers are now asking ECK to publish presidential election results from all provinces on their official website. They further asked ECK to expedite the tallying process and announce the official results.

Lambsdorff expressed concern over reports that some presiding officers had disappeared with election results.

The IRI delegation leader, Ms Constance Newman, appealed to politicians to keep their supporters calm and accept the verdict issued by ECK. She appealed to the Government to play its role in ensuring that the country is peaceful.

Also present during the press briefing was the chairperson of the Commonwealth observer group, Dr Ahmad Kabbah, who appealed to Kenyans to choose peace over violence.



The EU final report on the elections will be released in February next year.