It’s time to make our elections meaningful

I spent the past week in Arusha. As a consequence, I missed the National Dialogue Conference convened by religious leaders. At that conference I had been requested to make a presentation on electoral reforms. Sadly, I did not get the chance to do so. During the week that I was at the headquarters of the East African Community I reflected on this topic and where the country is. Elections are supposed to be the hallmark of every democratic society. They provide an opportunity for citizens to make choices between several competing ideologies and aspiring leaders. To deliver on this imperative, elections are expected to be credible and reflect the will of the people.

The 2017 General Election left a sour taste in the mouths of citizens. It divided rather than united citizens. There are several lessons that the country must learn to avoid a future recurrence. The first big lesson goes to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Public participation is a key aspect of governance. It is an essential aspect of the electoral process.

Unfortunately it has been IEBC’s bane. They have taken elections to be a technical process rather than an opportunity for citizens to engage and make their voices heard. As a result, citizens view IEBC with skepticism and rarely believe what they say and do. This must change.

The most fundamental reform should not be about the laws. It must be about ensuring that citizens are at the centre of the elections. Their voice must be heard and respected. Their inputs must be sought and considered.

Secondly, we have over-invested in technology. Our belief has been that technology imbues integrity in elections. The experience of the 2013 and 2017 elections must by now have disabused us of this belief. The Supreme Court in 2013 warned that the country had to accept that technology is prone to failure. Instead of taking this warning seriously we enhanced the amount of technology to be used in our elections. Debate exists as to whether the 2017 elections were credible or not.

But the one area where there is no debate is that technology did not make the elections any better. Time has come to realise that our greatest problem around elections is trust. Trust building cannot be achieved through technology. We have to invest in identifying and inculcating trust-building measures.

Thirdly, is the performance of political parties. Elections are a process and not an event. Political parties are a key player in that process. Despite the enactment of the Political Parties Act and the creation of the office of the Registrar of Political Parties, the performance of political parties is still largely problematic.

Party nominations set the stage for conflict and unfair elections. Improving our electoral environment has to address the regulations of political parties. Time is ripe for the office of Registrar of Political Parties to be fully constituted. The inaugural registrar has left office. This provides an opportunity to appoint a substantive holder of that office and their deputies so as to effectively regulate political parties.

In addition, we have to design modalities for improving the conduct of political party nominations. What is the role of IEBC in those nomination processes? How do we ensure that political parties stop taking nominations casually and disenfranchising members from those processes?

Money and politics are another area of focus. Our past efforts to regulate campaign financing has not been successful. Part of the challenge is the opposition by legislators. Yet money unfairly tilts the electoral playing field. Unfortunately, our approach at regulate campaign finance has focused on the amount of money used. It might be better to refocus on disclosure of money so that there is clarity on where the money is coming from. This will help improve the regulatory process. The small matter of legislative changes will also require to be looked at. While legislative changes will be necessary, we must avoid over-legislating our elections. Currently, we have too many provisions on almost every aspect of the elections. Our reforms must seek to reduce the number of laws. Laws are meant to help regulate processes. But over-legislation results in confusion and fatigue. Sadly, that is where the legal framework on elections is currently.

Reforms will be necessary to deliver on that promise. IEBC will have to be reformed. The sooner that is undertaken the better.