Moses Kuria Finally Breaks Silence on IEBC Livestreaming Controversy

Moses Kuria’s remarks on the debate over livestreaming presidential election results have added a new dimension to discussions about transparency and the management of Kenya’s 2027 General Election.

Following Parliament’s passage of the Elections Amendment Bill 2024, the former Cabinet Secretary has proposed a system that would allow Kenyans to compare preliminary electronic results with figures verified using physical election documents at the national tallying centre.

The proposal comes amid growing public interest in how the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will communicate presidential election results under the amended legal framework.

Speaking on his official X account on Friday, October 23, Kuria drew on his experience observing presidential vote tallying at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in 2007 and Bomas of Kenya in 2013, 2017 and 2022.

He argued that livestreaming should continue as physical election result forms are verified at the national tallying centre. However, he proposed going further by introducing two parallel tallies for presidential results from every constituency.

Under his proposal, the IEBC would maintain an unverified electronic tally as results arrive and a verified tally based on hard-copy forms. This, he suggested, would allow Kenyans and election observers to compare the figures and identify any discrepancies between electronically transmitted results and physical documents.

Kuria said the approach would provide an additional layer of scrutiny during the tallying process, allowing the public to assess whether the figures being announced correspond with the records submitted by election officials.

He also suggested that if the proposed system worked without discrepancies in 2027, Kenya could consider relying entirely on electronic forms in the 2032 General Election, potentially avoiding some of the prolonged disputes that have characterised previous presidential tallies.

His remarks attracted mixed reactions online, reflecting the wider disagreement over the balance between technological efficiency, public transparency and the verification of election results.

Source: https://x.com/HonMoses_Kuria/status/2113648404156838058?s=20

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