Preliminary Statement of the National Democratic Institute's International Election Observer Mission to Kenya's August 8, 2017, Elections

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.