IEA News

The Chairperson of the Commonwealth group observing Kenya's elections has called for everyone involved to follow the example of the contenders and commit to a peaceful process.

The team has arrived in Nairobi to observe the 9 August General Elections at the invitation of the Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland QC, and will be deployed across the country to observe the whole process.

The twenty-member Group has been selected from across the Commonwealth at the request of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Due to unforeseen circumstances, former President of Botswana, H.E. Festus Mogae, has had to withdraw and has been replaced by The Honourable former Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding.

While issuing the Group’s arrival statement, former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding said:

“Just as politicians have made a commitment to a peaceful election, we urge stakeholders, including the electorate, to commit to doing the same, consistent with the Commonwealth’s values and principles.

“We know how important elections are in a democracy; they empower the people to choose representatives who will, in turn, make decisions on their behalf.

“We, therefore, hope our presence in Kenya serves as a reminder that the people of the Commonwealth stand together with Kenyans as they exercise their democratic rights, recognising how important these elections are to the people of Kenya, East Africa, Africa, and the whole of the Commonwealth at large.”

As part of its work to support the election, an advance team has been on the ground since 16 July to observe preparations ahead of the polls and campaigns. They will now update the main Group about their meetings with stakeholders and their preliminary findings, which will be pivotal for the team’s work and subsequent observation role and report.

After the main Group has been updated by the advance team and met all relevant stakeholders, they will be deployed in small teams to selected counties to observe electoral preparations including the opening of polls, voting, closing, counting and the results management processes.

After this assessment is carried out, the group will issue its interim statement of preliminary findings on 11 August. 

The Commonwealth Observer Group members are:

• Chairperson: The Honourable Bruce Golding, former Prime Minister of Jamaica
• Dr Anne Gallagher, Director-General, Commonwealth Foundation, Australia
• Mr Darrell Bradley, former Mayor of Belize City, Belize
• Dr Simon Munzu, former UN Deputy Special Representative for Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon
• Hon Halifa Sallah, former National Assembly Member, The Gambia
• Mr Jerald Joseph, former Human Rights Commissioner, Malaysia
• Dr Evarist Bartolo, former Foreign Minister, Malta
• Hon Maryan Street, former Minister of Housing, New Zealand
• Ms Idayat Hassan, Director, Centre for Democracy and Development, Nigeria
• Prof Attahiru Jega, former Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria
• Ms Nighat Dad, founder and Executive Director of Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan
• Mrs Marcella Samba-Sesay, Chairperson, National Election Watch, Sierra Leone
• Professor Mandla Mchunu, former Chief Election Officer, South Africa
• Dr Victor Shale, elections and governance Expert, South Africa
• Mrs Fern Narcis-Scope, Chief Election Officer, Elections and Boundaries Commission Trinidad and Tobago
• Justice James Ogoola, former Principal Judge of the High Court, Uganda
• Ms Zeinab Badawi, broadcaster and President of School of Oriental and African Studies, United Kingdom
• Baroness Denise Kingsmill, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom
• Mr Mark Stephens CBE, Lawyer, United Kingdom
• Dr Chaloka Beyani, Professor of Law, London School of Economics, Zambia

The Commonwealth has observed electoral processes for over four decades, 160 elections in  40 countries. Commonwealth Observer Groups (COGS) are independent and autonomous composed of eminent persons from a range of fields including electoral commissioners, legal experts, gender experts, human rights experts and media experts.

Saudi Gazette report

Riyadh — Saudi Arabia’s Directorate of Supervision and Anti-Corruption (Nazaha) said it had arrested 78 people on charges of bribery, counterfeiting and money laundering.

Nazaha’s statement was issued in the month of Dhul-Hijjah, 1443 AH, upon the announcement that Nazaha had filed a number of criminal and administrative cases.

Six ministries were confirmed to have conducted 3,207 surveillance rounds: Defense, Interior, Health, Justice, Education, Municipalities, Rural Affairs, and Housing. 

It said 78 people had been arrested and 116 had been investigated for multiple crimes, noting that some of the 78 detainees had been released on bail.

During the surveillance round, Nazaha said the most prominent financial and administrative corruption crimes it monitored were bribery, abuse of power, counterfeiting, and money laundering.

In order to protect and preserve public money, Nazaha cooperates with everyone who discovers violations or suspicions of financial or administrative corruption by reporting them through the toll free number: 980 — or email: 980 I am calling you. @Nazaha.gov.sa. Worlddakkam

Widespread communal and inter-communal violence is threatening the implementation of a peace agreement in South Sudan.

About 300 people were killed in inter-communal violence across the country between June and July, according to media reports.

“The peace agreement in South Sudan is in a critical condition. If you look into the peace agreement, there is nothing moving. People are still losing their lives on a daily basis and the government is not coming up with measures that will control the inter-communal violence,” Wodcan Saviour Lazarus, human rights activist and head of the Juba Base Support Peace Initiative Development Organization, told Anadolu Agency.

He said hundreds have been killed in two months and that has been happening since the signing of the peace deal in 2018.

“The level of violence taking place across the country is extremely high. People are killing themselves, houses are burned and people are still running for refuge. That is a really bad situation and if not seen carefully, the peace agreement will collapse anytime because these communities are the center of peace and if they are not in peace, the country will not realize peace,” he said.

“We have a few months remaining to complete the transitional period. We can’t talk about elections and the violence is high. This will take people back to zero. The parties are not event condemning the violence.”

He urged the government to put more effort into getting rid of inter-communal violence.

“I want these politicians to do more to bring total peace to our country. There is no need for our people to continue losing their lives, People have to wake up and get rid of this communal violence in the country. The politicians have to take the lead to address the violence and others will follow them. They were once connected to the community,” said Lazarus.

He said there is a threat to the peace agreement if others are not happy.

At least 230 civilians have been confirmed dead following communal clashes that erupted between June 20 and July 6, Emmanuel Epone Lolimo, commissioner of Kapoeta North County, told Anadolu Agency.

He said clashes in the Lokoromae cattle camp erupted after the Tennet, Buya and Murle communities combined forces to attack the Toposa community.

Information and Communication Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the government is aware of rising inter-communal violence and authorities have taken steps to quell the situation.

“We have already taken action; the president has already directed the movement of forces to the areas concerned. The governor who is the man responsible in the state is responding and security forces have been sent there to arrest the situation,” he told Anadolu Agency.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit acknowledged in his Independence Day speech recently that inter-communal violence risks reversing nascent peace gains achieved in the implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace deal. - Benjamin Takpiny, Anadolu Agency