Many are people are waiting for the campaign silence
Many are people are waiting for the campaign silence
The ‘traditional’ campaign normally ends at a given time before the election and ‘campaign silence’ in Kenya is two days before election day. lt is common in order to allow voters time to reflect. The campaign silence is seen to be an important and much needed ”cooling off” period after a heated campaign to reduce tensions and potential for conflict on election day. Campaign silence includes a prohibition on media announcement/advertisement, no public rallies and the prohibition of publishing last minute public opinion polls. Also, campaigning or party identification close to polling stations is also considered to be an essential element of campaign silence. Care must also be taken that campaign silence does not prevent nonpartisan civic and voter education. The campaign period has been specified by law. Therefore there should be no campaigning on election day. Let parties finish their campaign and in those days which were specified for campaign. Politician should know that this campaign had affected jobs,people, business and the economy in general and there has been a lot of noise and disturbances. The two days silence will be the much needed therapy Kenyans are yearning for. There is a need for mature electorate to balance out any campaigning taking place on Election Day, if security and IEBC are to maintain a free voting environment. Undue limitation should be guarded against. Parties should be fined for violating the campaign silence period.
By
Veronica Onjoro
Mombasa
Comments
Post a Comment