What constitutes "free and fair" elections?

[MOON Ki]

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"Free" and "fair" may be considered subjective terms and, therefore open to interpretation.    Also, the relevant parts of the Kenyan Constitution use certain language that cannot be precisely "tied down".   Nevertheless, there has been some significant worldwide development in what is to be understood as "free and fair election", and I imagine that the Supreme-Court judges would be mindful of that.    In particular, I would look at the "Inter-Parliamentary Union" (IPU), which is "the international organization of Parliaments":   

http://www.ipu.org/english/whatipu.htm

And Kenya is one its members:

http://www.ipu.org/english/membshp.htm

Now, before people get excited, the idea is not that the Kenyan Supreme Court will go with what the IPU says, over what is in the Kenyan Constitution.   But where there is a lack of clarity, I would expect an appeal to "international standards", and the IPU is quite clear on the importance of "process".   For example:

DECLARATION ON CRITERIA FOR FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
...
(6) Furthermore, State authorities should ensure that the ballot is conducted so as to avoid fraud or other illegality, that the security and the integrity of the process is maintained, and that ballot counting is undertaken by trained personnel, subject to monitoring and/or impartial verification.

http://www.ipu.org/cnl-e/154-free.htm

And so on, and so forth.

We need to get away from the African idea that if you can walk into a booth and cast your ballot, without anyone trying to maim you or kill you, and that your vote gets counted, then it's all free and fair.    That standard might be enough for "international observers" who come expecting that---and are only ever sent to places where that is expected---and so can declare victory if mayhem does not ensue.   But in Kenya we have made some progress since the days of "you can freely vote in secret at the booth, and your vote will be counted fairly; but before that, please line up outside, in public, according to your preferred candidate ... so we know who to beat up later".   Perhaps our understanding of "free and fair" will continue to develop.

Oh, one more thing: I'd urge people to resist the temptation of "but they had this or that or the other mishap in this or that or the other advanced nation in Europe/Asia/America!".  Unhelpful.  We are trying to re-boot Africa from a lost half-century of clueless mayhem.   Self-delusion is the last thing we need.   

[Globalcitizen12]

The bar has been set so low for the africans by a consending global elites

 http://m.france24.com/en/20170901-kenya-court-ruling-election-observer-industry-missions?ref=tw