IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati in Observer Mission of Rwanda Parliamentary Elections

IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati is in Rwanda on an observer mission to oversee the parliamentary elections in the country.

He is among the Kenyan leaders in the country taking up the job under the African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM).

Among the issues Chebukati is set to note from the polls is the cost of elections and how diaspora voting is conducted.

Also in Rwanda is Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo who took to Twitter to express his delight in how the polls are conducted in the country.

"Elections preparations in Rwanda, they say elections here are like a wedding, to be celebrated and enjoyed, facilitated by volunteers, and all materials sourced locally," he tweeted on Sunday.

The AU team is led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Niger Aichatou Mindaoudou Souleymane and comprises thirty (30) election observers drawn from Members of Pan African Parliament, Election Management Bodies, Civil Society Organizations, think tanks and academia.

The objectives of the AUEOM are to make an independent, objective and impartial assessment of the 2018 Parliamentary Elections and to offer recommendations for improvement of future elections in order to contribute towards consolidation of democratic governance in Rwanda. 

On September 6, 2018, the AUEOM will release its preliminary findings of the electoral process at a press conference in Kigali. A more detailed final report on the process will be produced later and shared with the appropriate authorities and institutions in Rwanda.

According to the AU, the mission has been in Rwanda since August 25, 2018, and will remain in the country until September 9, 2018.

It was preceded by a pre-election assessment mission which was deployed in July 2018 to assess the environment for the conduct of the September 2018 Parliamentary Elections.