Kenyans report during the election 2012-2013

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As Kenyans prepared for their democratic election to take
place on the 4th of March, 2013, they remembered the last time they
went to the polls in 2007.  The
2007 Presidential elections ended in violence where an estimated 1000 died and 350,000
were displaced. However, since then, Kenya made changes to its constitution.  One of the most significant changes
supported by Kenyans, is the new political boundaries that were drawn, creating
47 counties around ethnic and clan lines. 
The government identified 27 of the new counties as particularly
ethnically divisive.  Because of
this remaining division, the Government raised concerns regarding the potential
for ethnic violence in the upcoming elections. Furthermore Kenyans were keeping
a close watch since Uhuru Kenyatta (Kikuyu) and Raila Odinga (Luo) were running
in the 2013 Presidential elections and there was a long-standing history of
conflict between their two ethnic groups.

Kenyans organized themselves to serve as citizen reporters
at the polling stations during the upcoming 2013 elections.  The presence of citizen reporters would
remind Kenyans that they were being watched.  As partners in the campaign, Laura Chico spokesperson for
Quaker Peace and Social Witness and Cassidy Regan from Friends Committee on
National Legislation, articulated that their organizations held a similar goal
of a peaceful, open, and fair electoral process.

Kenyans were registering to vote at their polling stations
in December 2012.  During this
time, 200 Kenyans volunteered as citizen reporters after they attended training
sessions provided by African Great Lakes Initiative.  Citizens reported from polling stations if they witnessed
any indications of violence. They sent text messages from various polling
stations to the call-in center established by African Great Lakes Initiative.  The third-party organization indicated
that no violence had been reported and all those who were in line for
registration by 5pm were allowed to register.

Following the registration, nominations for the various
elective positions were taking place.  On 17 January 2013 citizen reporters observed the nominations
for the various elective positions that took place in their communities.  Observers reported the late delivery of
ballot papers, bribery during the nominations, and frustration as people waited
in line to cast their vote.

At another nomination election, on 17th of February 2013, voters
in Turbo waited in line for the doors to open to the polling center.  The citizen reporter Benter Obonyo was
charged with monitoring the voting in Turbo, a town that experienced post-election
violence in 2008.  As people waited,
Benter witnessed the tension growing. She took action by texting her concern to
Friends Committee of National Legislation and African Great Lakes Initiatives’
Call-in Center.  Before support
staff arrived, Benter phoned the call-in center to find out what was causing
the delay.  She then addressed the
crowed to explain that there was a delay in delivering the ballots and urged
the crowd to be patient. This calmed the crowd. With this interjection, Benter
went beyond simply reporting the potential of violence to actively preventing
it from happening.

On the 4th of March2013, the
Presidential Election Day, an estimated 10,000 observers monitored and reported
the events occurring at the polling stations throughout the country. Representatives
from international groups, including the Carter Center from the United States,
European Union and the African Union, joined Kenyan Citizens.  The citizens and their allies reported
by sending text messages to both the African Great Lakes Initiative call-in
center and to Uchaguzi, a monitoring software system.

Uchaguzi placed the messages that were sent by observers on
election day in the following incident categories “Polling station logistical
issues” 35%, voting irregularities 30%, voter bribing and harassment 15%, “everything
is fine” 12% and insecurity 8%. An overview provided by Uchaguzi on 7 March indicated
that some voters did threaten violence and arson. However, in the end, much of
the frustration reported over the course of the Election Day resulted from technical
problems with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission systems.  The African Great Lakes Initiatives
indicated that there had been no election-related violence and the election
experience of 2013 was incomparable to the 2008 elections.