The East African Community (EAC) Friday appointed former Chief Justice of Kenya David Maraga to lead the election observation mission in Rwanda.
The East African Community (EAC) has deployed 14 Election Observation Teams to observe the General Election due in the Republic of Rwanda on Monday, 15th July, 2024.
Flagging off the Election Observation Teams from the Head of the Mission headquarters in Kigali Friday morning, Maraga, who is also the former Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya, said that the Mission was deploying the observation teams to all the 30 districts in the four (4) provinces and the City of Kigali.
CJ Maraga said that since the Mission’s arrival in Kigali on 8th July, 2024, the observers have been interacting with various electoral stakeholders in the country to further understand the preparations for the electoral process, including training on principles, practices and ethos of regional and International Election Observation.
“Prior to the arrival of the larger team, the EAC had an advance team that carried out a detailed and technical analysis of the preparations and measures being undertaken by various institutions, agencies and stakeholders in the country. The findings from this analysis have formed the basis of further strategies for election observation, including the deployment of teams across the country to observe the polls,” said retired Chief Justice.
The Head of Mission said that through the preparatory activities and engagements, the Mission had acquainted itself with the electoral environment prevailing and the context within which Rwandans will be exercising their democratic rights.
CJ Maraga said that the 55-strong EAC Observer Mission drawn from the EAC Partner States and the East African Legislative Assembly would be dispatched to all parts of Rwanda where they will observe the elections with a view to: assessing the level of preparedness and participation of electoral stakeholders for the election and the level of compliance with the electoral processes and management to the international, regional and national established laws, principles and practices.
“The Observers will also assess adherence to the democratic principles of the EAC as enshrined in the Treaty and offer objective recommendations for continuous improvement for the conduct of such elections.”
The Head of Mission disclosed that the observation teams were expected back at the mission headquarters in Kigali on 16th July, 2024.
“The field reports filed by the observation teams will enable us to prepare a Preliminary Statement of the EAC Election Observation Mission, which shall be released on 17th July, 2024. The mission will depart the Republic of Rwanda on 18th July, 2024,” he said.
CJ Maraga said that the mission had so far observed a generally calm electoral, political and security environment ahead of polling day.
“For this, we wish to thank the political leadership, the people of Rwanda and the institutions managing the electoral processes in the country,” said the Head of Mission, adding that a peaceful and successful general election will not just be a victory for Rwanda but the entire EAC.
