There were fears that boda boda riders from Hurara in Garsen, Tana River, would be involved in violence during the 2022 polls.

The area had experienced a series of attacks in the past elections because the riders were susceptible to political manipulation.

USAID, through Act!, worked with a local NGO, Kenya Community Support Center (KECOSCE), to avert the chaos, and ensure a peaceful election in Hurara.

KECOSCE held several peace meetings with the riders urging peaceful coexistence. As a result, the riders formed a youth group that they used to rally for a peaceful election—and their efforts paid off when the vote passed peacefully.

“We enlightened the community about why they needed to vote peacefully and elect a leader of integrity.”

KECOSCE interventions that contributed to a peaceful election in Hurara were courtesy of the Kenya Electoral Conflicts Mitigation and Civic Education Support (ECCES) program.

USAID funded the program through Act! and Uraia. One of the ECCES’ objectives was to mitigate electoral violence and improve response to any fight.

Between April and September 2022, ECCES’ peace messages impacted 215, 222 people directly—and another 15 million indirectly—as 41 peace accords were signed by the warring communities.

Resultantly, in August 2022, Kenya held the most peaceful election in its history, thanks to programs like ECCES.