The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chair Wafula Chebukati has said the commission is committed to working closely with the media to convey truthful information to the public to guarantee the electoral process is transparent.
The IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati stated that media in their role as public watchdog is a major partner in ensuring the election process is transparent.
“Let us work together, let us ensure that Kenya as we know it that elections become a transparent thing,” he said.
While speaking during the National Election Pre-Conference in Nairobi, Chebukati mentioned that election management is not a one-man task. Thence, the need to work closely with the media to provide credible, fair and transparent elections.
“The media are our eyes and ears. For us as a commission to manage elections, we can’t do it on our own, we need the media to work with us,” he stated.
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Moreover, Chebukati noted that the journey to partner with the media started long ago when he met with the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) and the Editors Guild. The process then materialized on March, 4, 2022 when they signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The commission’s chair further mentioned that the accreditation portal for accreditation of journalists to cover elections will be opened even after the June, 28 deadlines.
In addition, out of the 4,068 journalist who applied to be accredited by IEBC management body, 4,024 were succesful.
“2,000 badges have been printed and will be distributed next week, another 2,000 is ongoing for printing now,” Chebukati added.
Likewise, Chebukati urged media personnel to be present in the polling and tallying stations to help relay results to the public.
“We would like to have 46,000 media personalities reporting from all the 46,000 polling stations. That is what we would like to see as a commission. It is our wish that the media is present in all the polling stations and tallying stations so that we may walk this journey together,” he stated.
Furthermore, Chebukati reiterated that, with the help of the media, there will be live reporting of all the vents around the elections, and live reporting of the results as they are announced by the commission.
