It is 10:00 a.m. in Bangladesh – the biggest slum in Kenya’s second largest city of Mombasa. Kids are playing in the yard of their school, salesmen are selling their goods and the first participants of the community meeting of the Partnership for Transformational Devolution are taking their seats at the event hall next to the school yard. Such meetings which are part of the Devolution Program funded by the European Union as well as the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development are aiming to empower citizens and inform them on their rights with respect to the decisive elections on August 8. “Activities like this build the foundation for democracy and participation since many Kenyans are often not familiar with their constitutional rights”, explains Thomas Tödtling, Project Director of the KAS Devolution Program.

All eyes on Kenya

On this unique Tuesday, KAS together with the coastal region implementing partner namely the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) are in the business of creating awareness and sensitizing nearly 80 citizens in Bangladesh who will serve as multipliers in their communities. Although it is not the first gathering of this kind, this one is very special since two members of the EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) joins the event to see how voter education is done by representatives of Mombasa Citizen Oversight Forum. The EU EOM started its work with 30 long-term observers deployed in 13 locations all over the country at the end of June 2017. They monitor all aspects of the electoral process. “We are glad to have the opportunity to support the EU EOM in its work and to show the important role the project`s COF play in ensuring fair, free and peaceful polls”, adds Tödtling. The facilitators armed with solid information are descriptive about the six elective positions of; President, Governor, Senator, Member of Parliament, Woman Representative and Member of County Assembly. In addition, they engage participants in the discussions about the characteristics of a “good” leader and informing them of the regulations to abide by on the election day. After a while the EU observers leave the community meeting in Bangladesh still on going. Albeit of all the information they got, participants became aware of one fact today: All eyes of the international community are on Kenya and on them.