Consider Annan team’s advice on national healing

That the Government has made a lot of efforts in recent months to ensure peaceful elections and a smooth power transition is no secret.

Towards this end, a national conference on peaceful elections for MPs and stakeholders was held in Mombasa in June, when President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga called for peaceful campaigns and harmony among Kenyans.

However, the latest Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation (KNDR) 14th review on electoral preparedness raises some major issues that need to be urgently addressed.

First, the report released on October 31, cautions insecurity remains a key concern in the run-up to the March 4 General Election.

According to the report, Illegal gangs are also re-emerging and they could be readily available for hire to cause violence.

Already, there have been cases of violence and killings in Kisumu, Mombasa, and Tana River in recent weeks.

While State security agencies are dealing with some of these disturbances, the political leadership should equally re-focus on ways of preventing a recurrence of 2007/2008 post-election violence, through responsible politicking.

The KNDR report shows the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission enjoys good public confidence on its ability to oversee credible elections.

The Government should therefore provide an enabling environment for the Commission to meet public expectations.

The report points out that effective early warning mechanisms on election-related violence are not yet in place.

It is time some of the concerns raised in the report are addressed before the election, which is about four months away.