Electoral commission to use ‘simpler’ IT plan

CEO Ezra Chiloba: We have consolidated the lessons learnt in 2013 and have taken a new strategic direction for the next five years. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has been battling low confidence levels partly attributed to failure of some technology that it used in the 2013 polls, as well as internal wrangles that led to late procurement of electoral materials.
  • As the clock ticks towards August 2017 election day, chief executive Ezra Chiloba said the commission would employ technology “only to the extent that it answers an electoral need.”

The electoral commission is promising cautious use of technology as it reaches out to the public to regain its pre-2013 confidence ratings.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has been battling low confidence levels partly attributed to failure of some technology that it used in the 2013 polls, as well as internal wrangles that led to late procurement of electoral materials.

During that election, the electronic voter identification and the results transmission system — the latter was to speed up results transmission from polling stations — both failed, leading to allegations of rigging.

As the clock ticks towards August 2017 election day, chief executive Ezra Chiloba said the commission would employ technology “only to the extent that it answers an electoral need.”

He said many Kenyans still expect that the commission would use appropriate electoral technology, but in a more efficient and effective manner.

“We will implement technology only to the extent that it answers an electoral need. The approach will, therefore, remain simple. We are appealing to political parties and the electorate to understand what technology will do and what it will not do to avoid confusion,” Mr Chiloba said.

As the commission considers the kind of technology to use, election consultant Edna Kosgey thinks a simple and friendly system will do the trick.

“The systems should facilitate us, as voters, and not frustrate us as happened in 2013. There is no need of spending billions of shillings on a system that fails on the material day, or makes voters queue for hours,” said Ms Kosgey.

This month, the commission announced that Kenyans will go to the polls August 8, 2017. With approximately 590 days left, the focus will shift to the commission.

Apart from the General Election, the commission has received a Bill proposing amendment of the Constitution from the opposition Cord. The date of the eventual referendum has not been announced but, as 2015 comes to an end, the possibility of holding the plebiscite before the General Election is narrowing.

Meanwhile, the commission plans to register four million new voters between February 15 and March 15, 2016 in the one-month “mass voter registration” exercise. This will bring the number of registered voters in 2017 to approximately 22 million.

“There is a renewed and vigorous campaign to register voters and encourage them to vote. We have urged the National Registration Bureau to ensure that Kenyans of age register for ID cards and voter’s cards,” said Mr Chiloba.

“We need adequate funding, especially for voter mobilisation and deployment of adequate kits. Political parties and civil society groups should mobilise Kenyans to register. We need to guarantee security in some parts of the country for people to register without fear. More details will be released in January,” he said.

Before the 2013 General Election, the commission was riding on a wave of public confidence. A poll by Ipsos showed the confidence rating at 89 per cent. This has since dropped to 52 per cent in the latest poll, with opposition supporters the most sceptical of the commission’s ability to conduct free and fair polls, at 70 per cent against 21 per cent of Jubilee supporters.

For Ms Kosgey, the electoral commission does not need to look far to regain public confidence.

“I do not advocate that anyone should be fired. The commission only needs to clean its house. It needs to look back at what happened in 2013 and use the lessons to assure Kenyans of a free, fair and credible poll in 2017,” she said.

According to Mr Chiloba, that is more or less what the commission is doing. He said they had consolidated the lessons learnt in 2013 and had taken a new strategic direction for the next five years.

“We are committed to improving the efficiency, effectiveness and credibility of elections; committed to institutional reforms for effective delivery of our mandate; and committed to improving public confidence and participation in the electoral process,” he said.

The institutional reforms undertaken, he said, include new staff recruitment and realignment.

In addition, the polls body worked with the Kenya Law Reform Commission to come up with the Election Laws Amendment Bill, now before Parliament, to streamline legal timelines, nominations, dispute resolution, qualifications and electoral conduct.

The commission, he said, is also working on the campaign financing regulations on expenditure during electioneering. Mr Chiloba further said the commission had developed a policy on diaspora participation and hopes to finalise the regulations in 2016.

“We have in place a robust stakeholder engagement plan that will ensure that the country is focused and committed to credible elections in 2017. We are appealing to other players in this sector to support the commission to deliver the elections in an efficient and credible manner,” he said.

Mr Chiloba said: “In January, we will unveil the blueprint and timelines for the elections. We are carrying out extensive internal reorganisation to fix the challenges that have been identified. We are sworn to render the most transparent and efficient general election ever in Kenya.

He said that under the medium term expenditure framework, the commission had shared with the national Treasury its budget requirements for the next elections.

“We trust that Treasury will provide adequate and timely funding to enable us deliver,” he said.

The funding includes resources for voter mobilisation and deployment of adequate kits.