September 2010

September 2010 News

Commission working on law to allow electronic results

Nairobi, 21st September 2010

The IIIEC is pushing for a new legislation that will give it more powers to deal with electoral malpractices and also recognize electronic results. If passed by parliament, The Elections Bill 2010, will allow the Commission to disqualify a candidate who flouts the rules even if he or she wins an election. Currently, IIEC can only write warning letters and seek the corporation of political parties to stem the vices of vote buying and bribery.
Briefing the press after receiving the official results from Makadara, Starehe and Juja parliamentary By-elections in Nairobi, IIEC Chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan said the Commission was happy that the technology for transmitting voting results electronically is becoming a big success. He said the commission will work for the enactment of laws that will allow such results, which are currently treated as provisional results, be accepted as final results. Mr. Hassan said the Commission has, in the last 15 months of its existence, build tremendous experiences from the Referendum and By-elections which will help in future elections.
Mr. Hassan also announced that IIEC has been awarded recognition during this year’s International Day of Peace for conducting successful By-elections. This year’s theme is Youth, Peace and Development.

IIEC puts best foot for city By-elections

Polling in three parliamentary By-elections in Nairobi and the nearby Thika district have closed and counting is underway at the respective polling stations, The Railway Training Institute (for Makadara Constituency), Kenya Polytechnic (Starehe) and Thika Municipal Hall (Juja).

The exercise went on well, save for isolated incidents and allegations that were not substantiated. There were claims of voter bribery and some voters, who were not in the queue by official closing time, 5pm, were turned away.

The results will be transmitted electronically to the constituency tallying centres and the national tallying centre at the Laico Regency hotel. As expected, the first results will be those from polling stations with lesser voter. However, these results will be random representative of the voting trends.

1, 093 observers were accredited to the By-elections. There were also civil By-elections in Kachieng’ Ward (Nyatike), Langoni Ward (Lamu West) and South Kabuoch (Ndhiwa).For full results of the By-elections, visit the download page

Makadara candidates warned against violence

Nairobi, 2nd September, 2010

Candidates vying for the September 20th Makadara parliamentary By-elections have been warned that they unless they refrain from inciting their supporters for violence and restrain them, the electoral body would disbar then from the elections.

Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Mrs. Gladys Shollei, IIEC emphasized on the need of the political parties to abide by the electoral code of conduct and the public order act in ensuring that the elections are peaceful. “This meeting should be taken as the first warning”, She said. During a meeting between IIEC, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), local administration and security agents and all the nine aspirants held at Railways Training Institute, Mrs. Shollei pointed out that it was the candidates will be held responsible of their supporter’s action. This comes after reported cases of violence and destruction of property in the area during campaigns. Two people have been arrested in connection with the skirmishes.

It was alleged that some candidates are giving alcohol and drugs to the youth. Such acts of misuse and exploitation of the youth were strongly condemned. The meeting resolved that candidates must inform the police of their campaign plans three days in advance to enable them provide security.

The candidates vying for Makadara seat are: Kioko Mbuvi Gideon (Narc Kenya), Wathika Dickson Mwangi (Party of National Unity), Wafula Lindy Ajiambo, (The Nuru Party), Kitivi Joshua Muia (Orange Democratic Movement of Kenya), Mbai Stella (Forum for Restoration of Democracy for the people), Ndolo Reuben Nyanginja (Orange Democratic Movement), Abok Odera Julian (Social Democratic Party of Kenya), Kivuti Consolata Wairimu (United Democratic Movement), Obiero Andika Samuel (New Democrats).

IIEC assures free and fair By-elections

Nairobi, 16th September, 2010
The IIEC has re-assured all candidates running for the By-elections in Nairobi that the September 20th By-elections will be free and fair. In a meeting with three candidates for Juja Parliamentary seat, NARC Kenya’s William Kabogo, Francis Ng'ang'a of Safina, and Jackson Kamau of National Alliance Party visited IIEC headquarters on September 16th, 2010, to complain over alleged open campaigning for some of the candidates by local administration.
The Juja seat is being contested by 10 candidates. It has 188,123 registered voters. The IIEC’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Mr. James Oswago said the Commission had deployed a team of competent staff who will ensure that the elections are conducted in accordance with the electoral code of conduct.
The CEO assured the candidates that their concerns and the issues raised in the September 8th meeting in Juja will be addressed. He revealed that the Commission had written to the Permanent Secretary in charge of provincial administration on the alleged use of government vehicles during the campaigns and the issue of partisan District Commissioners. The candidates said they were confident that the electoral body would deliver credible results if not interfered with.
The IIEC has cleared the following to contest the Juja parliamentary By-election:
CANDIDATE PARTY
KIGWE DAVID WAIGANJO FARMERS PARTY
STEPHEN NDICHU AGANO PARTY
GITHAIGA DICK MAINA ORANGE DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT
MBURU JACKSON KAMAU NATIONAL ALLIANCE PARTY
KIRIKA MARY WANJIRU MWANIKI ORANGE DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT - KENYA
GITAU WILLIAM KABOGO NARC KENYA
THUO GEORGE PARTY OF NATIONAL UNITY
ALICE WAMBUI KENYA NATIONAL CONGRESS
GAITHO FRANCIS NGANGA SAFINA PARTY
MUCHAI CHARLSE NGANGA DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KENYA

IIEC meets with political parties to discuss new law

A meeting of the Political Parties Liaison Committee met at a Nairobi hotel to discuss the implications of the new constitution on political parties. The forum, which brings together senior officials of all the 47 registered political parties, IIEC and Registrar of Political Parties, was sponsored by the National Democratic Institute, NDI.
Members were asked to review their party manifestos and policy to reflect the new constitutional dispensation. A preliminary report on the observation of the the Referendum was also discussed.
On the code of conduct and the political parties Act, the members called for the formulation of structures that help in punishing candidates who flout the law during elections. They promised to assist IIEC in ensuring that peace prevails in the coming By-election especially in Nairobi.
Mary O'Hagan of NDI said her organization will train party agents during elections. The PPLC will be officially launched in October.

IIEC holds a postmortem on referendum

A three day retreat-cum-workshop to evaluate the IIEC’s performance during the Referendum is underway at Leisure Lodge, Mombasa. The Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) Commissioners and nearly the entire secretariat- 210 Constituency Electoral Co-ordinators, 17 Regional Co-ordinators, Directors and Managers, are also looking into the implications of the new constitution on the institution as well as design a strategic plan to mitigate the changes.
The Chairman, Ahmed Issack Hassan, thanked the commissioners and staff for working hard to ensure all went well with the voter registration exercise, By-elections and the Referendum. The Chairman told the gathering that although the electoral management body has managed to redeem the pride and glory of Kenyans on the electoral process in only a span of 15 months, the success should not make them complacent.
“The general elections in 2012 will be highly contested and the challenges will be many. We will need to conduct ourselves with more integrity and professionalism in order to deliver a credible process. With the Referendum behind us, we now need to complete our mandate”. The Chairman said the Commission had set high standards which it cannot afford to lower.
The Chair thanked the government, donors and other stakeholder for their support and urged the staff to be good stewards of public funds.
The use of election technology, the Electronic Voter Registration (EVR), was a big success and the IIEC will be seeking funds to roll out countrywide before the next general elections. Other reforms being introduced include the pushing for the consolidation of election laws through the Electoral Commission Bill 2010 and the Electoral Bill 2010, which allows for the use of ICT in elections, among other legal changes.
The Commission, which is expected to merge with the Interim Independent Boundaries Commission (IIBRC) in a year’s time, will hold a conference to discuss issues on the implementation and compliance of the Political Parties Act.
The modest success of IIEC has been noticed by many. The Commission has received requests for technical support and benchmarking from Sudan, which is due to hold a Referendum. Similar requests have been received from Zambia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Bahamas and Somalia.
The retreat is expected to come up with a policy framework and standards to guide the Commission at all operational levels.