The 2016 Presidential election campaigns kicked off on November 9, 2015 with all the candidates hitting the field, to look for votes. We wish all the 8 candidates fruitful engagements with the different groups of voters and the citizenry in the country. The campaigns for Parliamentary and other elections at the various local council levels begin in a month’s time.
Here is what will guide our reportage through the campaigns.
We, in our editorial policy objectives, believe that elections are a key component of our country’s steps towards democracy, providing for a platform through which citizens can elect their leaders, and also hold them to account.
This is the spirit under which we shall be covering these election campaigns. The information we process through our platforms and outlets shall remain one of thought stimulation, explaining and informing in order to help voters make intelligent decisions on the basis of knowledge, and signal to the political leaders that the public is vigilant and will not be swayed by untruths and spin – this tenet, as well stipulated in our editorial policy and election reporting guidelines.
To achieve this, our coverage will go beyond reporting what newsmakers, including politicians, say to analysing the underlying issues and examining the truthfulness of what various contenders are saying or proposing as their policy positions. We shall seek to examine the candidates in all ways that are in public interest, their policy proposals and the people around them – this in an effort to put everything in the mirror for you.
We shall also be on the look out to make sure that institutions charged with facilitating and refereeing this process, do whatever is expected of them under the mandate provided under our constitution.
In all this, we shall stand for a free and fair process that gives the voters the free will to determine a choice of their leaders. We too, shall expect a lot of feedback from you the reader to help us improve any areas where we may be lagging.
