An IEBC official arranges ballot boxes from various polling centres in
tallying centre in Starehe Constituency, Nairobi on October 27, 2017.
PHOTO |NMG
Slightly over a year ago, we had tumultuous elections, depending
on where you sit – some say we had two elections while others
completely dismiss the second one.
Who would have
thought that after a simple handshake, the rift between the ruling party
and opposition that was so dire that the tension could be cut with a
knife, would just disappear?
Real events in Kenya
sounded fictional at several point points. Recently, the Independent
Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) held a meeting with civil
society groups from across the country in Nairobi to assess the
commission’s performance in the 2017 general and fresh elections, as
well as to document the challenges faced during that period and discuss
ways to improve IEBC’s operations.
The people who were
invited were mainly civil society organisations that were involved in
the election last year through different platforms and committees.
Some
of the concerns that were brought forward were, “Should we destroy
voting material a few months after an election?” Some representatives
felt that there was no need to keep them for years and for what?
Interestingly, an individual took to the microphone and opposed the
idea, saying, “Even though the US is about 200 years old, you can still
find voting material from the 1800s. It is good to keep this information
which can later be used for research…”
But why research in a country that does not understand the value of data? That will be an article for another day.
There
was a lot of drama that unfolded in 2017, but it was not unique to
IEBC. Every commission has suffered; every election year, we change
leadership as quickly as a dirty diaper. Our elections do become more
expensive by the year and quite frankly even more organised. The process
appears to work and to work efficiently.
The queues
last year were organised, most polling stations opened early and
reported a smooth flow of voting. When IEBC released an animation on
television demonstrating how the lines would be arranged in alphabetical
order so we wouldn’t need to spend hours at the polling station – I was
a doubting Thomas.
This time round, we could verify
via text message where we would vote from and which line to join. Even
with those adjustments, I honestly doubted that IEBC would be organised,
so I went to Kiboro Primary School with extremely low expectations.
When you expect the worst, everything and anything always appears to be
great and I wanted to end the day on a positive note. That was my
mission.
But they were organised! We lined up – I
remember staying two hours longer than my husband. He is fortunate his
name starts with a “B,” so he had just about 20 people in front of him.
Then he joined me in my line to keep me company, and we debated changing
my name for future elections and seriously thinking about these things
when naming children – laughable but true. I was always the last child
to be called in assembly.
Back to the meeting with
IEBC, “Ballot boxes – why do we have to buy new ones every election
year. Why can’t we just recycle them? We know an election is coming,
where do they go?” “What happened to Msando? And why a year on, the
investigations seem to have gone silent? Someone lost their life because
of the job position that he held and it was linked to the credibility
of our elections. What does that mean for that position in future? Will
you protect the individual?”
So, still more questions than answers on everyone’s mind. Indeed, our mistrust continues to grow with every election.
Only
three commissioners are currently serving while the CEO is being
investigated. There was a moment when chairman Wafula Chebukati did
mention that the achievements that IEBC has made cannot be ignored. They
are trying to be independent and it is a process, so changing
leadership will not make an impact on the commission.
Right now, they have to work toward 2022 and not wait for a year before the election. There are some major changes to be made.
We
have no problem with going to vote, and no problem with the process,
but, the counting of the vote… As long as the integrity of the process
cannot be guaranteed, we will always have questionable elections.
Nerima Wako-Ojiwa is executive director of Siasa Place. Twitter: @NerimaW
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