The African Union (AU) has appointed former Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta to lead the African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) to observe the general elections that will be held in Nigeria on February 25, 2023.
Uhuru will lead a 90-member team in providing an accurate and impartial assessment of the electoral process including the degree to which the conduct of the elections meets regional, continental, and international standards for democratic elections.
He will lead the team in recommending improvement in future elections based on the team’s findings.
AUEOM will demonstrate AU’s solidarity and support towards the consolidation of democracy, peace, stability, and development in Nigeria.
“As part of its observation process in Nigeria, the AUEOM will engage with various stakeholders as well as observe the polling process. Based on the findings, AUEOM will issue its preliminary statement on the electoral process on February 27, 2023, in Abuja,” AU stated.
His appointment comes as the former head of state is leading peace initiatives across the region on behalf of the government of Kenya.
Uhuru has ensured the peace of the country in all of the elections he contested and won as president.
He peacefully handed power to current President William Ruto despite supporting his opponent.
The joint election observation mission to Kenya from the African Union (AU) and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), and election observation missions from the East African Community (EAC) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said in their preliminary statements that they were satisfied by the voting exercise amid a lack of major glitches or security lapses in 2022 general elections in Kenya.
Ernest Bai Koroma, the head of the AU-COMESA Election Observer Mission and former president of Sierra Leone, said Kenya’s electoral body had demonstrated improved capacity to conduct a seamless national voting exercise.
