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Amnesty International has been making moves with their latest cooperation with Africa’s Voices Foundation and The Standard Group’s Spice FM. They officially launched the Freedoms Watch 2022 survey on 27th June. Citizens are supposed to fill out the 17-page survey which asks fundamental questions about the forthcoming August 9th elections.
The partnership between Africa’s Voices Foundation which is led by Samuel Kimeu and Amnesty International Kenya under the leadership of Executive Director Irungu Houghton seeks to know the views of citizens as far as elections and post-election violence is concerned.
The survey asks important questions such as “Do you have fear of post-election violence now more than two weeks ago? Are you worried about sexual violence now than two weeks ago? What will you do if your community experiences violence?”
The survey also seeks to understand how citizens observe the political environment and what they make of it. Of importance is the institutions that play a key role in Kenya’s elections. These are the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC), National Police Service (NPS), The Judiciary, National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). Citizens are asked to rank how effectively these stakeholders play their role.
“Africa’s Voices Foundation is a governance organization that seeks to amplify the voices of citizens in decision-making through communication channels such as radio, social research methods and SMS,” said Kimeu the Executive Director of Africa’s Voices Foundation.
Irungu Houghton said that it’s all about getting the citizens involved in electoral security. “Just like arms of government which have come up with infrastructure for electoral safety and security, we want to do the same but this time ensure that the public is involved. We want to ensure that there is safety and security both during and the post-election period,” Irungu told Spice FM.
Kenyans are being urged to be the barometers of the electoral environment in their areas by reporting incidences and malpractices if they encounter them. The SMS short code is live and is activated by citizens texting the trigger word SEMA to 40736. Someone will then respond to your text and engage with you.
Citizens have been urged to report when they witness hate speech and incitement of violence, incidences of voter bribery. They have also been asked to report on the responsiveness of government institutions when they notify them of these incidences.
Irungu Houghton urged Kenyans to engage the police, IPOA and other key institutions on their hotlines and helplines. The Amnesty International 24/7 helpline is 0759464346. If you notice anything that could cause election violence or that’s inflaming an already charged political environment, report to these lines.
“When you text us or call us we’ll escalate it to the respective institutions so that they can respond appropriately and in time. If none of those lines are working, tweet us at Amnesty International or Irungu Houghton and you’ll be assisted,” said Houghton.
The project will run until October 2022. Spice FM’s role will be inviting various duty bearers such as Cabinet Secretaries, Police Chiefs, Permanent Secretaries and more and interview them. Citizens will use the SMS short codes to ask questions and air their views. Reports will be collated every two weeks and published on Fridays on Africa’s Voices and Amnesty International Kenya platforms. This data will be shared with relevant authorities so that they can act on them.
