This archive report was first published on 24 June 2020.
As the country approaches the 2022 polls, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has sounded a warning that electronic results transmission may fail due to inadequate funding and lack of regular maintenance of the Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS).
The commission's concerns were raised by Commissioner Abdi Yakub Guliye in an exclusive interview with the Star on Tuesday, June 23, 2020.
According to Guliye, the IEBC is facing significant challenges in transmitting results from polling stations to the National Tallying Centre due to the lack of a 3G network in many parts of the country.
He noted that in 2017, the IEBC was unable to transmit results from at least 10,000 polling stations that were not covered by a 3G network, which was part of the reason the Supreme Court nullified the presidential result.
With the number of polling stations expected to increase to over 50,000 in 2022, Guliye warned that the challenge of transmitting results from remote areas may persist.
The IEBC has written to the Communication Authority and the Ministry of ICT to address the issue, but Guliye expressed concerns that the commission's independence may be compromised by a new directive from the Treasury centralizing procurement of ICT in the Executive under the Ministry of ICT.
He also revealed that the Kiems kits are not regularly serviced and their licenses paid for as required, which may necessitate the acquisition of new technology in 2022.
The commission has also requested to be exempted from the new directive, citing concerns about the independence of the commission and the electoral process.
