US Gov`t Vows to Support Kenya in Enhancing Free & Fair Elections
On Thursday, June 9th, the US government pledged to assist Kenya in ensuring that the August 9th elections are free, fair, and peaceful.
Christine Juma 
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for overseeing a seamless vetting process for candidates intending to run in the August 9th election in a statement released on Thursday 9th June 2022.
"We welcome IEBC's certification of candidates for Kenya’s August 9 general election and the beginning of the electoral campaign. As I said to Kenyan Cabinet Secretary Omamo last month, the United States stands with Kenyans in support of free, fair, and peaceful elections," Blinken noted in a tweet.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.PHOTO FILE
This comes at a time, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission {IEBC} For the past few weeks, has been assessing and approving the eligibility of candidates for various elective seats.
The voting body has so far given a green light to only four presidential candidates which are William Ruto, Raila Odinga, Prof. George Wajackoyah, and David MWaura.
In 2017 elections in Kenya were marred with a lot of violence, unlawful killings, and beatings by police during protests and house-to-house operations in western Kenya.
This followed the announcement of Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory at the polls, where opposition supporters in Nairobi, Coast, and the western counties of Kisumu, Siaya, Migori, and Homabay protested with chants of “Uhuru must go.” Police responded in many areas with excessive force, shooting and beating protesters in Nairobi and western Kenya or carrying out abusive house-to-house operations.
As a country, we hope not to revisit the past but preach peace instead.
