Over 850 Kenyans in Rwanda to take part in homeland's presidential election

About 850 Kenyans living in Rwanda will head to their High Commission in Kacyiru to cast their vote in the Kenyan General Elections slated for August 8, according to the embassy. This was confirmed Wednesday by John Mwangemi, the Kenyan High Commissioner in Rwanda, who said that preparations had been completed in the run-up to next month’s elections. “We have received a team from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) who came and, registered the voters and later, we conducted civic education on how to vote and what is required of each registered voter. We are ready,” he said. Uhuru Kenyatta (Jubilee) Mwangemi said that Kenyans registered with the High Commission are about 1,400 though if you include those not registered by the embassy, they are estimated at more than 3,000. In a telephone interview, the president of the Association of Kenyans living in Rwanda, Boniface Mutua, said that IEBC had been in Rwanda twice, first to register the voters and later to confirm the information provided by the voters. He said that the registered voters were ready and had been equipped with the necessary information. “We have had some sensitisation programmes and though there are six positions that are supposed to be voted for, the voters are aware that Diaspora can only be legally allowed to vote for the Presidential candidate of their choice,” he said. Raila Odinga, Mutua said that though Kenyans were not worried about a repeat of the post-electoral violence that happened in the country 10 years ago, they could only pray that it never happens again. In an interview late last week, the East African Community (EAC) Deputy Secretary General in Charge of Political Federation, Charles Njoroge, said that any country’s electoral season mood is gauged by politicians’ behaviour and appealed for calm in all the bloc’s member countries that will soon be going to polls. He called on other countries to pick good practices from Rwanda, which has never experience any election violence. “The mood is normally based on how politicians conduct themselves. The mood in Rwanda is conducive and sober as compared to other countries where there has been violence during such periods. That is something that we usually take as one of the best practices where we tell voters that everyone has a right to cast a vote in a peaceful manner,” he said. The main contenders are the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta (Jubilee) and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who is sponsored by an amalgamation of political organisations through a joint platform called National Super Alliance (NASA). Besides the presidential elections, Kenyans will, on the same day, elect parliamentarians, senators, governors and representatives of local assemblies. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Over 850 Kenyans in Rwanda to take part in homeland's presidential election