The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation Dr. Julius Tangus Rotich said EAC was committed to promoting democratic governance in the integration process.
He added that good governance was a crosscutting issue essential to all stages of the EAC integration process.
Dr.Tangus was addressing the Chairpersons of Electoral Commissions from Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania at the 4th Meeting of EAC Forum of National Electoral Commissions opened Monday in Nairobi, Kenya.
“Elections and democratization processes are a fundamental sector, given our political integration agenda.
We cannot possibly hope to have one political authority without a harmonized electoral system and in this agenda, the Electoral Management Bodies have a central role to play”, said Dr. Rotich.
Dr. Rotich noted that Chairpersons of Electoral Commissions had an emotive and sensitive assignment, that concerns both high and low politics and that by coming together as the EAC Forum of Electoral Commissions, participants would support each other in the efforts to conduct elections efficiently and fairly to meet expectations of electorates.
He said EAC was developing regional standards as well as harnessing best practices from within in respect of promoting democratic governance and that the draft Protocol on Good Governance had specific pillars on democracy and democratization with comprehensive strategies.
Dr. Rotich said once the Protocol is adopted, it would form a major milestone in consolidation of democracy in the region and urged the Chairpersons to support and advocate for its adoption by the respective governments.
The EAC official noted that the bloc was at an advanced stage of developing and negotiating the EAC Principles on Election Observation and Evaluation as a policy instrument to support the Electoral Commissions’ work.
Dr. Rotich disclosed that elections were becoming more and more contested than ever before and that it were becoming instruments of political tension and conflict triggers.
“The level of participation, engagement and contestation is even higher, the fact that Citizens have become more aware of their rights and are holding their governments accountable, calls for integrity and professionalism on the part of Electoral Commissions”.
He said democracy was expensive, “but we need to think harder in devising strategies that help in reducing the costs of elections in our respective Partner States”.
The Deputy Secretary General disclosed that the EAC will deploy both short term and long term Election Observation Missions to the March 2013 Kenya General elections.
The deployment will help the Mission to appreciate and understand the dynamics on the ground and facilitate credible assessment of the elections.
The Nairobi meeting will, among others, consider implementation of previous decisions of the Council in the sector; consider the report of the workshop on “Peer- Learning in Election Management – Exploring opportunities for EMBs in East Africa”; consider a brief by IEBC – Kenya on the preparedness and challenges relating to the upcoming general elections; and consider planned activities towards the EAC Election Observation Mission to the Kenyan Elections in March 2013.
Leave a Reply