Chief Justice Martha Koome has called on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to learn from mistakes that led to nullification of the 2017 presidential election.
“Our expectation is that the IEBC is consciously working to ensure its processes meet the demands of the principles of our electoral system as elaborated in Articles 81 and 86 of the Constitution,” Koome told news editors at a breakfast meeting in Nairobi on Thursday.
She called on the commission not to repeat the same mistakes that lead to the nullification of the 2017 Presidential election by the Supreme Court .
“The Supreme Court did not find any evidence of misconduct by the candidates but instead saw in evidence, a systemic institutional problem,” she said.
“The Court specified that IEBC while discharging its constitutional mandate must always conform with the Constitution and electoral law by ensuring that all requisite processes are simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent,” the President of the Supreme Court, the country’s highest court with original and exclusive jurisdiction on presidential petitions, added.
The CJ said it is crucial that the electoral agency works to “consolidate the
progress made in integration of technology to manage Election Day activities and management of results.”
“There should be clear steps to address some of the challenges in integration of technology in voter identification and transmission of results,” Koome appealed.
“I am aware that there is an ongoing Audit of the Voters Register. Any emerging challenges with respect to the Voters Register ought to be addressed proactively in consultation with stakeholders including the political parties and other actors in the electoral processes.”