Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue Necessary – GS

Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue Necessary to Address Post Election Disputes

The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) General Secretary, Rev Canon Chris Kinyanjui has stressed the need for the Country to have a multi-stakeholder national dialogue to address the root issues that fuel cyclical post-polls disputes.

While speaking during the Electoral Reforms Workshop organized by the Uchaguzi Platform, Rev Canon Chris said that the country must move away from elite negotiations that have traditionally been engaged to resolve post-elections disputes, but which don’t address the core issues. “The dialogues under Presidents Moi, Kibaki and Uhuru resulted in Elite Pacts that resolved the immediate issues but the actors were unwilling or unable to tackle the root causes of the problems”, he pointed out.

The General Secretary explained that the dialogue religious leaders are pushing for is aimed at addressing deep-seated issues that include land reforms, poverty alleviation, resolving inequality and regional imbalances, youth unemployment, corruption, impunity, disregard of the rule of law, promoting constitutionalism, identifying and effecting legal and institutional reforms, and securing national ethos and values.

“The dialogue we’re proposing as religious leaders must therefore be anchored on a legal framework to ensure that the agreed upon solutions will be implemented,” the General Secretary said.

Uchaguzi Platform, who organized the Electoral Reforms Workshop, brings together Electoral Observation Group (ELOG) and other partners who include Center for Multiparty Democracy, Transparency International, Mzalendo Trust, Constitution and Reform Education Consortium, and Electoral Law and governance Institute in Africa.

The workshop emphasized the need to enhance the transparency, accountability, and integrity of Kenya’s electoral processes, and culminated with the launch of the post-election symposium report on the performance of the 2022 General Elections.