IEBC meets editors ahead of August election

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is today meeting editors and reporters on election reporting and coverage as preparations for the August polls hits fever pitch.

The high-level meeting, which is being held in Kwale, is expected to among other things, discuss the modalities of the coverage of the elections including collaborations between the commission and the media, to ensure a credible election.

A protocol for reporting election results by the media will also be discussed for approval. The meeting will also allow editors and reporters to understand the level of preparedness by the IEBC.

The Kenya Editors Guild president Churchill Otieno said the meeting, which is a follow-up of previous engagements between the media and IEBC, is aimed at assessing the level of preparedness of the commission and other duty bearers.

“During the convention, on June 25, a national dialogue will be held bringing together duty bearers, members of the public and media. The town hall forum will allow people groups to assess the contribution of various duty bearers towards peace and credible elections,” Mr Otieno said.

Election results

“The convention will culminate in the adoption of a protocol on media access to information, including election results.”

Mr Otieno said that during the meeting, representatives from the Electoral Commission of Ghana and the Joy News media house will also share practical perspectives on the collaboration between the electoral commission and media organisations in results management in Ghana.

“To deepen discussions, Ghana is recognised globally as one of the democracies where media participation in publishing of election results has elevated public confidence in elections,” he said.

The meeting between the IEBC and the Kenya Media Sector Working Group follows similar engagements between journalists and other government agencies and independent institutions in the past couple of months ahead of the elections.

Early this month, the Kenya Editors Guild held discussions with members of the Judiciary in what KEG said were efforts toward promoting collaborations between the media and the courts before and after the elections.

The meeting which was attended by Chief Justice Martha Koome, the International Commission for Jurists (ICJ), Kenya Editors Guild among others, also focused on some of the gains that the Judiciary, through the Judiciary Committee On Elections (JCE) had made towards promoting fairness in the upcoming elections.