IEBC under pressure to pursue electronic voter registration

By MARTIN MUTUA

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is under pressure to reverse its decision to abandon electronic voter registration plans and it may have to do exactly that.

On Monday morning the team that cancelled the Biometric Voter Register tender after the procurement process was marred by claims of corruption and internal rivalries meets President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to discuss the remaining options.

Already the Cabinet has thrown its weight behind the electronic voter register, especially  following the commonly agreed fact that 2007’s elections would have been smoother and firewalled against manipulation had it been in use.

The meeting between IEBC Chairman Isaack Hassan and the two principals follows their weekend talks with United States Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton whose message was loud and clear; next year’s elections must be fair, free and credible for Kenya’s sake. 

“We are listening to what is being said about the use of electronic voting system and we will make the final decision once we have met the two principals this morning,” Hassan said in an in interview with The Standard on Sunday.

The meeting at Harambee House, the seat of the Presidency, could be the turning point Kenya has been waiting for following the surprise and yet depressing news by IEBC that the elections would just be similar to that of 2007 that took the country to the doorstep of civil war.

Delivering the message of President Barack Obama’s administration, Clinton was categorical that electronic voting was more credible.

Clinton first met Kibaki, the Raila, House Speaker Kenneth Marende, Chief justice Dr Willy Mutunga and IEBC Commissioners led by Hassan.

In the meeting with Marende, Clinton is said to have impressed upon the National Assembly Speaker that the electronic voting system was the way to go, a message she predictably conveyed to all the parties that she met.

“It is safer to use electronic voting as opposed to manual voting,” Clinton is said to have told the Speaker according to sources that attended the meeting at Parliament Buildings on Saturday.

The sources said Clinton told Marende her government is ready and willing to offer both financial and technical support to IEBC so as to enable it carry out its mandate in the March 4, 2013 elections.

The source further said Clinton told the Speaker the recommendations of Justice Johann Kriegler Commission on post-election violence on how the next polls should be conducted were clear if recurrence of violence was to be avoided.

To avoid the jostling witnessed in the BVR tender processing, Clinton is said to have told Marende that the IEBC should be allowed to source the kits directly from the manufacturers as opposed to using “bureaucratic” systems where middlemen are involved.

Hassan confirmed his team would be meeting Kibaki and Raila this morning at 11am and the issues raised at the weekend would form part of the agenda.

Hassan said they had not closed their doors on the BVR system but there were certain hiccups that if dealt with then it would not be too late to revert to the process.

“I don’t want to discuss this matter since we are meeting with the President and the Prime minister tomorrow morning (today) we shall be able to discuss the matter after the meeting,” Hassan added.

But Hassan said whereas the meeting with the two principals had been planned earlier and had nothing to do with the Clinton visit, he hoped matters would be straightened out to clear the air once and for all.

It also emerged that at her meeting with Raila at the PM’s office, Clinton was categorical that the US was ready to work with Kenya to ensure a transparent and credible voter registration exercise that would also allow millions of youth currently locked out by lack of identity cards cards to get them.

“There is expertise and experience out there that should be able to help Kenya. The US is ready to work with you to provide expertise, technical and financial support to ensure a credible process,” Clinton reiterated.

Saying that “too much is at stake for Kenya,” she appealed to Kenyans to build on the success of the 2010 Referendum on the Constitution and conduct elections that will entice investors.

“The world will be watching Kenya. The country is currently viewed as the leader in the East Africa region. One bad election can take away all that,” she warned.

Clinton emphasised that a free and fair poll would be the best incentive for attracting investors to Kenya.

Last Thursday, the Cabinet resolved to support the BVR system as a policy guideline to help build public confidence in the electoral system ahead of the polls.

At a meeting chaired by President Kibaki at State House Nairobi, the Cabinet advised IEBC to pursue the matter of the BVR system, arguing it will give more credibility to the polls and contributes to a free, fair and transparent election.

To further boost the electoral process, Cabinet also resolved to waive the Sh300 fee required for those seeking to replace their national identity cards to ensure nobody is denied their voting right as outlined in the Constitution.

The Cabinet urged Kenyans who may have lost their ID’s to get replacements as soon as possible.

Last week the IEBC cancelled the Sh3.9 billion BVR tender after all the four shortlisted companies that had tendered failed due diligence, prompting the commission to announce it would resort to manual voting system in the coming polls.

The matter dealt a major blow to the IEBC in terms of public confidence as the commission has all along kept the public’s hopes high that it would use electronic registration and voting to avoid rigging.

The announcement has since caused ripples among the public, a move that spilled over to Parliament prompting Marende to order a probe of the tender by two House Departmental Committees which will table a report within 14 days.

The recent boardroom wars said to be the order of the day at the IEBC with Hassan and the commissioners on one side and the Chief Executive James Oswago on the other are blamed for the recent cancellation of the BVR tender.

Presidential aspirants led by Raila, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Eldoret North MP William Ruto have all criticised the manual voting system.

Cotu Secretary General Francis Atwoli said the use of electronic voting was the only way to eliminate rigging and other malpractices.

“Electronic voting is the only way we would be able to know those elected (on) the same day and the elected President the following day as the results will be followed as they are being relayed,” he added.

Atwoli said in s statement that if IEBC and the Government wanted to acquire the BVR system they would do it easily, but this was being hampered by corruption.

“The vested interests are looking at the Sh3.9 billion and salivating. It is all about thuggery and corruption that is stopping the acquiring of these kits,” Atwoli told The Standard.