Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

“Paradoxically the election was conducted in a peaceful, transparent and accountable manner following the ECK procedures until its final stage”  says NIMD’s Executive Director Roel von Meijenfeldt. “The participation in the elections was also higher than previously and indeed very encouraging.”
The lack in transparency in which the presidential vote was tabulated and the subsequent hastily inauguration of the new president have raised serious questions about the legitimacy of the process - questions that sadly have resulted in widespread violence and unfortunate loss of innocent lives as well as destruction of property. The obstruction of the electoral process has been well documented by the different independent national and international election observation missions. The chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) and other Commissioners of the ECK have meanwhile acknowledged that they failed their mandate.

NIMD calls on all political parties in Kenya to resolve the current crisis peacefully through dialogue and negotiations. “In this regard NIMD fully supports the mediation efforts by the African Union and others to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the crisis that will respect the vote of the Kenyan people and bring about a legitimate government that will be able to gain the trust of all Kenyans” states Mr. von Meijenfeldt.

NIMD welcomes and supports the initiatives of the Centre for Multi-party Democracy-Kenya (CMD-K) to bring political parties together in an effort to recover from the state of mistrust and potential anarchy and find a way out of the national crises. “Together with civil society organizations, the business sector and the media, CMD-K is playing an important role in the platform of Kenyans calling for truth and justice to restore peace and stability”, according to Mr von Meijenfeldt. “The efforts of Kenyan organizations such as CMD-K is indispensable to overcome this dark period and to ensure that Kenya returns to the path of democracy as early as possible”.

A lesson learned from the unfortunate turn of events in Kenya is, besides the need to guarantee the professional independence and integrity of the ECK, that the promised but delayed constitutional reform of the political system remains very much needed to ensure a governance system in which the interests of all the different population groups in Kenya can be better represented.

NIMD has been working in Kenya for the past four years to assist political parties across the political spectrum in efforts to strengthen democratic institutions and practices.