Uhuru arrives in South Africa to lead election observation ahead of upcoming elections

Kenya's former president Uhuru Kenyatta is carving a Pan-Africanist image by taking roles to observe elections across the continent and acting as a mediator between warring factions in conflict-torn countries. countries.

This week, Kenyatta is in South Africa to lead the African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) ahead of the 29 May 2024 General Elections.

Communication from the African Union indicates that at the invitation of the South African government and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Kenyatta, and his team got approval to be deployed to assess and report on the conduct of the South African election.

"The AUEOM is led by H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, former President of the Republic of Kenya, and is comprised of 60 short-term observers (STOs) drawn from ambassadors accredited to the African Union, officials of election management bodies, members of African civil society organisations, African election experts, human rights specialists, gender and media experts, and representatives of youth organisations," read the AU communication.

Kenyatta is leading the observers who are drawn from 24 countries which include Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The team will interact with state authorities, the Independent Electoral Commission, political parties, the media, civil society organisations, and representatives of the international community.

The Mission will also interact with other election observation missions deployed to observe the 2024 General Elections in South Africa.

Kenyatta's continental role was bolstered a year ago when President William Ruto appointed Uhuru as envoy to Ethiopia and the Great Lakes region.

The former Kenyan head of state has been hailed for his sustained, principled, impartial, inclusive, and discreet efforts to broker peace and negotiations with a view to a comprehensive resolution to the Ethiopia-Tigray crisis.

Since his retirement, Kenyatta has played a highly active role in regional conflicts and his work is now shaping Kenya as a force to reckon with in geopolitics. He has played an active role in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ethiopia peace talks.

Dr Patrick Maluki, the Chairman of the Department of Diplomacy and International Studies, University of Nairobi, said in a past media interview that Uhuru's involvement in the peace talks places Kenya in an admired position, and his success will be celebrated at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), East Africa and the African Union (AU), all of which continue to call for a ceasefire.

"Kenya gains big from a conflict-free Ethiopia because of business opportunities. Already we have Safaricom in Addis Ababa," the don said. "The DRC is the next business frontier, considering it recently joined EAC. And if Uhuru succeeds in the talks, it will be a major score not just to the war-torn nations, but a reputation boost for Kenya in EAC and Africa."

Kenyatta also led an election observer mission to Nigeria. Soon after he retired, the AU appointed him as a member of the Troika of negotiators in the conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front. The team also had former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and former South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

The African Union said the team will "provide an accurate and impartial assessment of the electoral process, including the degree to which the conduct of the elections meets regional, continental and international standards for democratic elections".