Election Amendment Act: Why The Streets Might Now Be Your Savior
The Elections (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2024, a bipartisan initiative born out of the NADCO and sponsored by Senator's Aron Cheruiyot and Stewart Madzayo is now headed to President Ruto's table for his assent. Beneath the legal jargon lies a framework that sets the stage to rigging of the 2027 elections.
1. The Death of Mandatory Live-Streaming: In past elections, watching results trickle on public screens in real time was our collective shield against rigging. It gave citizens, media houses and observers immediate insight. Now, that digital window is shut. The IEBC is no longer legally bound to show us the live data. If the main online portal delays or crashes on election night, we will be left in total informational darkness. You know what happens in the dark.
2. The Rigid Two-Hour Deadline: The bill introduces a strict 2-hour window for officials to electronically transmit presidential results. It is a disaster waiting to happen. Forcing presiding officers to hastily submit unverified presidential tally to beat the clock or face a five-year prison sentence for "unreasonable delay" is a dangerous trap. It guarantees errors.
3. The Presidential Result First: The law mandates that presidential results must be fully processed before any other elective seats are handled. By freezing the count for governors, senators and MPs until the presidential race is cleared, the system creates a massive bottleneck. Local candidates and their passionate supporters will be left waiting in a vacuum. This vacuum creates space and time for ballot-box stuffing and chaos follow.
By taking away public screens and choosing speed over verification, this new law sets a fragile stage for 2027. Coupled with rife state capture, ooting, disregard for the rule of law and impunity, President William Ruto is going nowhere. Consequently, Kenyans will have to accept or reject him.
That's where the streets come in.
Karomo Richu - Advocacy Journalist, Digital Comms Strategist
(This article is made possible by the scrapping of Sections 22 & 23 of the Cybercrime Act 2018, restoring our right to speak the uncomfortable truths)
In 2022 William Ruto never went ahead of Raila Odinga in the livestream of results so Chebukati switched off the livestream midstream and went to the inner chamber to decide for Kenyans who their next president would be. They learnt in 2022 that cooking figures while livestreaming creates a problem. Kasongo's parliament has now scraped livestreaming to make it easy for IEBC to deliver it's sole duty and assignment. Kura ishaibiwa na mko huku mkishaut Wantam and beating your chests louder than the Iroko drum
Parliament wants to switch off the cameras on our elections.
The National Assembly has scrapped the legal duty for IEBC to livestream polling station results.
Kenyans deserve to watch the results in real-time for integrity and transparency.
The People’s Coalition on Electoral Reforms is diligently working on Mandatory electoral reforms before the 2027 elections.
You can stop the Senate from approving these nefarious amendments by supporting our work at https://t.co/nc1JRwQ4sa