Nairobi — The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has concluded Project on Promotion of Peace and Cohesion in Kenya by preventing and mitigating Electoral Conflicts (Pro- Peace Kenya).
Speaking during a press conference on Thursday Nairobi NCIC chairman Samuel Kobia said the project which was implemented in partnership with European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) and the European Commission (EU) took place in support of the 2022 general elections.
Kobia stated that the project cut across the period before, during and after the August 9 2022 polls to promote peace, cohesion and political dialogue with an objective of preventing conflict and electoral related violence at both the local, county and national levels.
"Both international and local elections observers agreed that the 2022 polls were the most peaceful and credible since multipartism," Kobia said.
He noted that the project increased understanding, tolerance, trust and peaceful co-existence among Kenyans which reduced incidences of hate speech and ethnic contempt in social Media and Public places.
Kobia added that the Project also conducted an integrated media campaign and monitoring Social Media as well as public places to identify and counter hate speech, ethnic contempt and incitement to violence in order to support peace and cohesion in the country.
"The project's primary objective was to pro-actively address, mitigate, and manage political and electoral conflicts. It was designed with the aim of promoting social cohesion specifically targeting marginalised groups," he said.
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According to Erastus Mwencha chairman Pro -Peace Kenya, the project enabled the country to move forward peacefully during and after the 2022 elections.
"NCIC was very proactive in monitoring the media to avoid promotion of hate speech. This is the first time since 1992 that we had the least number of casualties during elections, "Mwencha noted.
The key most impactful achievements of the Pro-Peace Kenya project include the establishment of Media Monitoring Unit and regional coordinators, Kenya Democratic Journey Documentary, Grass-root Community Dialogues, Peace pledge by presidential candidates and analysis of the 2022 Presidential Elections outcome.
Others are Peace Campaign, leadership and Conflict Management Training where over 300 key leaders received training increasing the capacity to mitigate and manage electoral conflicts.
The project started on November 1 2021 and ended on August 31 2022 spanning 22 months including a four month no cost extension period.
