Alderin Ongwae

International law enthusiast with a bias in IHL, ICL, IRL and IHRL. Researcher and advocate of High Court of Kenya. RTs are not endorsements.

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@lsk_nbi This is shocking…pole sana to the family

[Bloomberg @business]

Citigroup is set to arrange a $1 billion swap for Kenya that will help the country refinance existing debt on more favorable terms and channel savings into food support programs https://t.co/ynBj3SA1BF

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@KemoliSagala Good work Kemoli.

[Joshua Malidzo Nyawa @joshuamalidzo]

#hotoffthebench
Finally, the 5 Judge bench of the Court of Appeal will deliver its judgment on the constitutionality of the Affordable Housing Act tomorrow. We argued the Appeal on 19 January 2026 before Justices Karanja, Kiage, Muchelule, Korir and Odunga.

May it rain🌧

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@premierleague @BrentfordFC @KemoliSagala

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@danaceda @KemoliSagala

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@Dr_OOwiso @quincygitahi @joshuamalidzo 😂😂😂😂😂

[Okiya Omtatah Okoiti @OkiyaOmtatah]

PRESS STATEMENT

WHY KENYA'S ELECTORAL SYSTEM MUST PASS THE CONSTITUTIONAL TEST

Fellow Kenyans,

Yesterday, I appeared before the High Court in a constitutional case concerning the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (@IEBCKenya) and the integrity of Kenya's electoral system.

The petition asks the Court to test the entire chain of our elections - how Kenyans register, how they are identified at the polling station, how their votes are cast and counted, and how results are transmitted, verified and declared - against the standards the Constitution itself sets.

That question is simple to state: Does Kenya's electoral system meet the constitutional test?

Article 81 requires that elections be administered in a manner that is impartial, neutral, efficient, accurate and accountable. Article 86 requires that, whatever method is used to cast, count and transmit votes, that method be simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent. The Elections Act sets the same standard for the technology IEBC deploys.

The Constitution anticipates an electoral process that is not just free and fair, but one that is also tamper-proof. Free and fair speaks to conduct on the day; tamper-proof speaks to the design of the system itself - whether it can withstand interference at any point in the chain, and whether that can be proven, not merely assumed.

To be clear, this case is not just simply about paper versus electronics.

Kenya's system already combines both - paper ballots, electronic voter identification, and electronic transmission of results. Technology, properly designed and independently verifiable, can be a powerful ally of electoral integrity: it can reduce unnecessary human discretion, create reliable audit trails, make results easier, not harder, to verify, and significantly reduce the cost of elections.

But technology is not self-certifying. It does not become trustworthy simply because it is technology. Like every other part of the electoral chain, it must be shown to satisfy the Constitution's own tests of transparency, verifiability, security and accountability - and, ultimately, to be tamper-proof.

That is the real question before the Court: does the entire electoral chain - registration, identification, casting, counting, tallying, transmission, verification and declaration - give Kenyans sufficient safeguards that their vote, once cast, cannot be manipulated, mishandled, or rendered impossible to verify?

This is not a personal quarrel with @IEBCKenya. It is a constitutional and public-interest matter.
Sovereignty in this country belongs to the people, and the vote is the sole instrument by which that sovereignty is exercised. An electoral system that cannot be meaningfully verified is not one the Constitution permits us to accept on faith.

I want to be precise about where this matter stands. The High Court has not ruled on the merits. The parties were heard, and the constitutional questions remain before the Court. I respect that process fully and will abide by whatever directions and determination the Court makes.

My role as a citizen, a public representative, and the petitioner in this matter is to ensure these questions are placed squarely before the Court and answered according to the Constitution and the law, not according to convenience or assumption.

Kenyans should not have to be told their votes were counted correctly. They should be able to verify it. That is the standard the Constitution sets, and it is the standard we are asking the Court to enforce.

The vote belongs to the people. The Constitution protects it. Our electoral system must do the same - free, fair, and tamper-proof.

We proceed, firmly and within the law.

God bless Kenya.

Okiya Omtatah Okoiti

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@joshuamalidzo 😂😂😂😂

[Joshua Malidzo Nyawa @joshuamalidzo]

#hotoffthebench
High Court finds that the Safaricom Divesture of shares by the government was conducted contrary to the Constitution and the Law.
The High Court has also quashed the sale of shares by the Government.
The Shares have been restored to the government!

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@paulinenjoroge Happy Birthday P. Many more years your way.

[Maithya wa Vilivū @MaithyaVilivu]

Mombasa may have received rainfall exceeding 100mm in the last 72 Hrs

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@KemoliSagala @TheDibuLad Porojo bro, clean win it was

[dennis ombachi OLY @ombachi13]

Life so private, no one knows @EliudKipchoge was once my teammate 😂

It’s been 10 years since we shared the stage at the Rio 2016 Olympics, carrying the hopes of a nation in the same colours.

A decade later, we meet again in completely different chapters of our lives. This time not on the Olympic stage, but over a plate of butter orange and herb poached carrots with a lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf-infused mursik dressing cutting through their richness, served alongside creamy managu, grilled rump steak and ugali.

Eliud took running beyond its limits and showed the world that NO HUMAN IS LIMITED. Now his dream goes beyond records, to make this world a running world, bringing people and communities together through running.

My dream is to do the same with food, tell people’s stories through what we eat, where tradition meets free will and the only limit is what we’re willing to imagine.

NO HUMAN IS LIMITED!
NO INGREDIENT IS LIMITED!

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

😂😂😂😂 Notification is, in its legal character, merely declaratory and serves the purpose of bringing a matter to the attention of the relevant authority. Authorization, on the other hand, is inherently permissive: it entails seeking prior approval to effect an action and is therefore contingent upon the grant of that permission. The Constitution contemplates the former, that is, notification for purposes of informing and not the latter. On Chelsea Arsenal, sit back and watch champions reign.

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@KemoliSagala @SokoAnalyst Its notification not seeking authorization @joshuamalidzo

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

@HakiKNCHR @hakimorara @IPOA_KE @NPSOfficial_KE @DCI_Kenya

[Njeri Wa Migwi™ @NjeriWaMigwi]

Rose Kimanzi was gang raped inside of a police station on 22nd Oct 2025. We've taken this matter as far as we are able to. Please help us amplify @ODPP_KE @DCI_Kenya @IPOA_KE this couple needs justice.

Thank you.

[Alderin Ongwae @AOngwae]

Glad that @KenyaRedCross, under the able leadership of @IrshadIdris, is working to preposition supplies and raise awareness about the potential impact of the OND El Niño rains. More support is, however, needed to ensure that within the month of September, we deploy anticipatory action activities, strengthen early warning systems, and build the capacity of responders to assist in case of any emergency.

[World Meteorological Organization @WMO]

🌡️ El Niño is firmly established and will intensify into a very strong event in the coming months. WMO forecasts show ~100% likelihood that it will persist through February 2027.

A very strong El Niño ≠ same impacts everywhere.

🆕 WMO El Nino Update: https://t.co/KUPq04jjkT

[National Police Service-Kenya @NPSOfficial_KE]

𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗜𝗟𝗚𝗜𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧, 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗭𝗘𝗥𝗢 𝗧𝗢��𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗕𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

[The Standard Digital @StandardKenya]

Standard Group Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich found safe, dumped near Masinga Dam nine hours after he was abducted along the Gilgil–Nakuru Road by armed men.