This preliminary statement is offered by the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) election observer delegation to Kenya’s 2017 general elections.

The 30-member international and bipartisan delegation with members from 12 countries was co-led (alphabetically) by: Dr. Aisha Laraba Abdullahi, former Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union; Hon. Karen Bass, Ranking Member, U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa; Professor Attahiru Jega, former Chairman, Independent National Election Commission of Nigeria; Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa; Hon. Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey; NDI senior associate and director of electoral programs Patrick Merloe; NDI senior associate and director for Southern and East Africa, Keith Jennings. Through this delegation, NDI seeks to: express the international community’s interest in and support for credible, peaceful elections in Kenya; provide an accurate and impartial report on the character of the election process to date; and offer recommendations to improve future electoral processes.