IEBC: Critics misreading elections amendment bill

The electoral agency has rejected claims that the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022 will compromise the outcome of the August 9 polls.

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) member Abdi Guliye said the agency is instead seeking to create a smooth path for the manual transmission of results.

“We are trying to create a process for the Form 34A to end up at the national tallying centre. Once the returning officer receives the Form 34As from the polling stations, they will do a summary and generate Forms 34B series,” he said.

“So what we want them to do is carry both 34As and 34Bs to the tallying centre besides delivering them electronically.”

The bill, tabled in Parliament on February 2, seeks to allow a complimentary mechanism for transmitting results, which would seal a hole the Supreme Court cited when it nullified presidential election results in 2017.

Apart from results transmission, the bill also seeks to ensure that High Court decisions on election petitions against members of county assemblies are final.

Lawmakers from both sides of the political divide have strongly opposed the amendment on presidential results transmission, saying it seeks to allow the government to rig elections in favour of a preferred presidential candidate.

Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza alliance termed it an evil plot they said would overturn the will of the people.

The Raila Odinga-led Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) also opposed the bill when it was first tabled, saying the party would not allow the return of manual systems of results transmission.

The IEBC insists that this was a misrepresentation of the bill. The agency said the proposal aligns with the Supreme Court ruling and allows a seamless movement of results from polling stations to the tallying centre manually and electronically.

Yesterday, Commissioner Guliye repeated the same assurances when he responded to questions from journalists during a meeting on election preparedness.

The IEBC committed to ensure the media is actively involved in election reporting.

“We believe the media plays a crucial role in dissemination of information. That is why we want to partner with them for training purposes and the commission is in the process of setting up a media and communications centre for this purpose,” Prof Guliye said.

Media stakeholders called for responsible reporting of elections and political activities.

Kenya Editors Guild president Churchill Otieno emphasised verifiable reporting by media outlets.

“As the media, our interest during this election is out of the public good and not the politicians. We need to ensure verifiable reporting and this can only be done by ensuring media checks on what the politicians say in their campaigns rather than being conveyor belts,” Mr Otieno said.

Kenya Union of Journalists secretary-general Erick Oduor urged journalists to remain resilient and firm while covering elections.

“The Kenyan media should stand out and be active in the whole process. While it might be difficult sometimes, we want all journalists to be resilient and firm in the discharge of their duties,” Mr Oduor said.