The Office of the Registrar was part of Kenya Editors’ Guild (KEG)-convened deliberations on the 15th of February, 2022 at Sarova Stanley Hotel to deliberate with senior editors on their contribution to a credible 9th August, 2022 election. Clarion call from participants present was for journalists as they play watchdog role in the run-up and during upcoming general election, to uphold highest level of professionalism and journalistic ethos. The Registrar of Political Parties, Ann Nderitu urged for continued coordination of institutions related to electoral activities in order to build synergy and collegiately deliver quality and credible elections. “ I am encouraged that politics is progressively shifting from unpleasant bearing such as personal attacks as was in the past to well-grounded strategies, ideologies and issue-based models”, the Registrar noted. She assured of ORPP’s continued partnership with media by providing timely and relevant information to aid its work in reporting the election-related processes. “Let us all continue educating the citizenry on pertinent issues on electoral timelines, varied requirements for aspirants and the need to adhere to Political Parties Code of Conduct and Elections Code of Conduct throughout the election period”, said Nderitu.
The Registrar of Political Parties, Ann Nderitu as one of the panelists on 15th February 2022
‘’The media must raise the quality bar in its contribution to a free and fair election” said Churchill Otieno, the President of KEG speaking during the event. He urged the media to deploy their correspondents in all constituencies to have better on-ground coverage and relay verifiable information across from across the country especially on the voting day. Amb. Koki Muli, a key note speaker at the event, called on the KEG to continue building capacity of journalists within its umbrella for better elections coverage. “This training will ensure that all journalists are accountable of what they report and they will also be aware of the electoral offenses that affect credible elections”, observed Amb.Muli.
The Kenya Commission on Human Rights Commission Chairperson Lucas Kimathi, called for fair media coverage during electioneering period which will help to maintain impartiality. He noted of the need for public entities to strive granting media appropriate information to enhance media freedom in elections coverage. Civil Society representatives present such as Elections Observation Group (ELOG) called for adequate funding of independent institutions to effectively delivery on their respective mandates. Speakers in one accord reiterated the power of media in shaping opinion and hence the need to fashion their programming towards continuous political education to improve accountability and help citizenry make better political choices. Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC), Amnesty International, Election Observation Group (KENYA), CRAWN Trust, Kenya Union of Journalists among others interrogated various aspects of the meeting’s discussion.
Participants follow proceedings of a keynote speaker via an online link