Peace Ambassadors Kenya

Peace Ambassadors Relay

A group of 1,200 people, consisting mostly of youth, have embarked on a  411 Kilometer trek to march and advocate for peace ahead of the August 8, General elections.

The walk is coordinated in form of a relay where the participants have been dived into 10 groups across six towns; Kakamega, Kisumu, Nakuru, Nyeri, Murang’a and finally Nairobi.
The first group will march from Kakamega to Kisumu before handing over to another group that will walk from Kisumu to Muhoroni.

According to the chair of Peace Ambassadors Kenya James Nandi, who is also an Assistant County Commissioner, the peace walk is going to take 21 days.

The journey from one town to the next is expected to take two days as the peace Ambassadors will make stopovers within towns to engage the public on the importance of upholding peace during and after the elections.

The last group will finish the walk from Thika to Nairobi.

Post- Election Violence 

The 2022 elections in Kenya are scheduled for 8^th August, Kenyans will be electing their preferred presidential candidate, Members of Parliamentary, Governors, Senators, Members of County Assembly and Woman Representative.

The last election, 2017, was marred with political unrest and protests following the disputed presidential election pitying former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta.

President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner of the presidential contest with 54.17% of the vote, whilst his main rival Raila Odinga finished second with 44.94% of the vote. Odinga contested the results, citing a breach of the electoral process and filed an appeal at the Supreme Court.

In an unprecedented ruling, the Supreme Court by a majority ruling nullified the presidential election on grounds of “illegalities” contrary to the constitution and called for fresh elections to be held within 60 days. On 30 October the IEBC declared Kenyatta the winner of the repeat elections, sparking protests from supporters of the opposition.

Even though the political unrest was not as bad as the 2007/2008 post-election violence, according to human rights watch groups, at least 30 people were killed by police nationwide by the time President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga did the  March 2018 popular handshake that brought an end to the protests.