Let's shift focus from IEBC team, streamline all our electoral systems

(Photo: Courtesy)

For too long now have we put our faith and trust in the hands of a few. Far too many times has the nation been on the edge because of a presidential election. For too many elections have Kenyans stood in line for hours to vote for their president of choice only to be disappointed.

In 2007, we put our hope in individual electoral commissioners. They let us down. We removed them from office. In 2013 the new electoral commissioners took Kenya to an election without a Register of Voters. We removed them hoping this would fix the problem.

The 2017 commissioners, like all their predecessors, continue to hang on to their offices even after failing. Against all odds they still expect 19 million plus registered voters to again put their faith and trust in them to conduct the presidential re-run.

Et tu, brute? Even you, Wafula Chebukati, Ezra Chiloba and Company?

Replacing electoral commissioners and the electoral chief executive officer has never worked in Kenya since 2007. Will a 2017 costume change make a difference?

No power to change

Insanity is doing the same thing every time and expecting different results. Time has come to try something different. Time has come to stop placing our faith and trust on individuals. We must move our eyes from the commissioners and their staff and spend our energies focusing on the electoral system, its processes and functions.

By shifting focus from individuals, and turning the spotlight onto the electoral processes at the grassroots, it is possible to make sure that the electoral commissioners have nowhere left to hide.

It is possible to flush out the usual dark nooks and crannies where results are massaged to attain a pre-determined result. Kenyans can in October 2017 unmask the hooded domestic terrorists who since 2007 have made fools of Kenyans who turn out in millions to brave long queues to vote for the presidential candidates of their choice.

The October 2017 election will be historic. It is the first presidential election re-run. 19 plus million voters have the once in a lifetime opportunity to walk into a polling station and receive one ballot paper only. That ballot paper will only have the names, pictures and symbol of two presidential candidate. A presidential by-election!

The Court of Appeal has done its part by stating that the electoral chair has no power to change the results declared at the polling station at the National Tallying Centre. The Supreme Court has done its part by stating that the transmission of results is as important as the results.

Kenyans of all walks of life must now do their part by taking an active part in the electoral management process. The first step is by gaining intimate knowledge of how the election systems are meant to work under the law.

There are 40,883 polling stations. There are 290 constituency tallying centers. There is only one national tallying centre. We therefore have 41,173 ways to remove the Electoral Chairman, Commissioners, Chief Executive Officer and their secretariat from the presidential elections equation. Yes, forty one thousand one hundred and seventy three ways how to.

The nucleus cell of the presidential election is the polling station. At each polling station each candidate will be allowed to have one agent. Since both candidates garnered more than 6.5 million votes in the nullified election, it should be a walk in a park for each of them to have 40,883 agents to man each polling station in the country.

With a budget of over Kshs. 12 billion set aside for the elections, part of these funds should be earmarked, set aside and disbursed to ensure the safety, security and well being of all 81,763 presidential polling station agents throughout the country.

To be continued.

Kethi D Kilonzo is Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. [email protected]