Economy

Wako-led Senate team fails to agree on disputed poll laws

bvr

An IEBC clerk keys in a voter’s ID details during the Biometric Voter Registration in 2012. PHOTO | FILE

The Senate was last night split over the mode of back-up to be used in the August 8 General Election to ensure voting continues in the event that the electronic voter identification and result transmission technology fails.

While Jubilee Senators backed their counterparts in the National Assembly in endorsing a manual system, the opposition Cord stayed in favour of an electronic back-up.

Disagreements emerged among members of the Amos Wako-led joint committee that was asked to collect public views on the contentious Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016 forcing members to vote along party lines.

Jubilee, which had a majority in the joint Legal Affairs and ICT committee, polled 10 votes against Opposition Cord six.

The vote effectively meant that the committee recommended to the House a proposal that allows use of complementary mechanism for voter identification and transmission of results where technology fails as recommended was by the National Assembly in the Bill that was forwarded to the Senate from the lower chamber.

The Bill seeks to amend Section 44 of the Election Laws Act, 2016 to require the electoral commission to put in place a complementary mechanism for identification of voters and transmission of election results that is simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent.

Amos Wako, who co-chaired the committee together with Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe, told Senators that the team took a bi-partisan approach but failed to hammer a consensus on the mode of back up that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) should adopt.

“This report that I am presenting unfortunately could not hammer out an agreement that addresses what many have termed as ‘mischief’ in the Bill. The committees did not reach a consensus on clause 44 (A) and took a vote. On voting, by a majority of ten (10) against six (6), clause 19 was carried. Unfortunately, the voting was along party lines,” Mr Wako said. Senators were yet to take a vote on the report by the time of going to press.

The Joint Committee disagreed on nine out of 34 clauses in the Bill. The committee agreed on 26 clauses. In its report, the committee said there was need to clarify to the public that the technology that is supported by law is Biometric Voter Registration (BVR), Electronic Voter Identification Devices (EVID) and Electronic Transmission of Results (RTS) and that the actual casting of the ballot and the counting of votes remains manual.

“The contention is therefore on the technology to be used for the identification of voters at the polling station on polling day as well as transmission of results,” the committee said. The committee, however, reached consensus that technology should be used in the 2017 General Election and that a backup mechanism would only be triggered where there was a failure in technology in exceptional cases.

“The committee observed that there was need to define the type of backup system that would be used, noting that most stakeholders submissions supported the need for a backup system but differed on the type of backup system to be deployed which could be manual, electronic, a hybrid, or a layered system,” the committee said.

Mr Kagwe, who co-chaired the joint committee with Mr Wako, told the House that not a single person or organisation proposed that the country should switch from electronic voter identification and result transmission to manual system.

“There is no reverting from electronic to manual system. What we want is a back-up for electronic system,” he said.

The Jubilee decision to support the Bill as drafted went against the wishes of Council of Governors, Media Owners Association, the Law Society of Kenya, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce among others, who differed with Attorney-General Githu Muigai and ICT secretary Joe Mucheru on the form of back up the country should adopt in the August poll.

Jubilee Senators agreed with Prof Muigai and Mucheru that the country should have a manual back up system.

On Thursday, Cord Senators warned that the country was being set up for another bungled election should a manual back-up system be adopted.

Nominated Senator Elizabeth Ongoro (Cord) started the acrimonious debate when she rejected the proposal for a manual back-up ssytem, arguing the amendment was Jubilee’s ploy to rig the General Election.

“Jubilee is not only hell-bent on stealing elections, but putting in place structures to steal election and take Kenyans where they were in 2007. Kenyans are saying they have decided to support electronic system,” she said, prompting protests from Jubilee.

Cord, which withdrew planned mass protests that were to take effect on Wednesday to await the decision of the Senate, appended their signatures on a dissenting minority report to the House.

In their report, the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) said Parliament must adopt a bi-partisan approach to amending fundamental provisions that came into force through the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2016 as an act of fidelity to political settlement.

Cord MPs withdrew from the National Assembly following acrimonious debate with Jubilee. They argued that the electronic system was put in place to cure the prevalent fraud of the manual system.

“Various individuals and institutions were of the opinion that the provision of a ‘complementary mechanism’ through the proposed section 44 (A) created ambiguity in its interpretation or definition, was not specific in its implementation, negates the requirement for inclusivity of stakeholders while providing broad and unqualified discretion to the IEBC hence leaving room for abuse and mischief,” they said, adding that the Bill as passed by the Assembly raises constructional issues.

Earlier, cracks in the Senate emerged when Jubilee Majority Leader Prof Kithure Kindiki and his deputy, Kipchumba Murkomen, asked their members to support the Elections Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 as passed by the National Assembly. Attempts by Minority Leader Moses Wetangula to stop debate on the Bill to allow members read the contents of the joint report failed after Mr Murkomen and other Jubilee lawmakers objected.

Kisumu Senator Anyang Nyong’o claimed that a group of lawyers had advised President Uhuru Kenyatta that he cannot win the election with the Elections Act as presently enacted.