REKNOWN Kenyan communication expert Pauline Njoroge has been picked as one of the 10 members of the Commonwealth Experts Team (CET) to observe the Bangladesh elections to be held on January 7.
Ms Njoroge, left the country last night for Bangladesh capital, Dhaka to join the other nine members of the team headed by former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
The team was picked by Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland, on request by Bangladesh Election Commission.
The Commonwealth secretariat picks observers for elections in its member states, from among distinguished persons in their various fields.
Ms Njoroge, has made a name as a digital media communication expert in various organizations with a big following on social media. She is also the Deputy National Organizing Secretary of the former ruling party Jubilee which is headed by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In Bangladesh the CET will meet various groups such as political parties, the police, civil societies among others ahead of the polls.
The South Asian country is the first country to hold elections this year, with more than 60 countries set to hold presidential, parliamentary and local elections.
Some 119.6 million voters will be going to the polls on Monday, to vote for 300 members of Bangladesh Parliament called Jatiya Sangsad. This is the 12th election since 1971 when Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan to become an independent nation.
The Parliament has 350 members, (300 elected and 50 seats exclusively reserved for women). The leader of the party or coalition of parties with the highest number of MPs is ceremoniously picked by the President to become the Prime Minister.
The President is elected by Parliament as a ceremonial figure while the Prime Minister is the chief executive and head of government.
The incumbent Prime Minister is Sheikh Hasina who has led the country under her party Awami League, since January 6, 2009.
Hasina the 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh is the daughter of the founding father and first President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . She is campaigning to retain the seat should her party win majority of the seats in parliament.
The current president Mohammed Shahabuddin was elected by Parliament in January this year for a five year term.
Bangladesh is 148,460 square kilometers (a quarter of Kenya in size), but has a population of 169.4 million according to 2022 census making it the eighth biggest population in the world. Its almost entirely surrounded by India.