Kenya is headed to another general elections on Tuesday 9th August 2022. East Africa’s main economic powerhouse is presented with the dilemma to elect one of the four presidential candidates.
The current Deputy President William Ruto and the Former premier Raila Oginga are the main contenders. There are many issues at stake in this election. This article summarizes the main issues.
The general elections of August 9th have brought relief and hope to Kenyan voters, but also created a mixed bag when it comes time to vote for the president of the Republic.
Mega rallies attract a large number of supporters. But what are they really promising? The former premier believes that he is the one who can save them from their miseries.
“There are four enemies Kenyans face: corruption, poor health, ignorance and poverty. And I have given you my word that I will fight so hard to end these four enemies of Kenya,” said Raila Odinga, the presidential candidate of the Azimio la Umoja coalition
The current and outgoing Deputy president believes he has a great agenda that can liberate the country. His main objective is to improve economic status of the poor, which he calls the bottom up manifesto.
He has often called his opponents unworthy because they have no agenda for Kenyans.
“I am also asking Raila Odinga, the “riddleman”, to stop complaining about Chebukati (electoral board chairman) and IEBC(electoral commissioner) and (voters) register. Ruto said, “You’re (Raila), contesting me, and I’m ready to face you man to man.”
-Elections versus Technology
The Independent electoral commission maintained that it is ready and able to preside over fair, credible elections. They have sought the assistance of Smartmatic, an international company which will help with the technological integration of elections.
“Smartmatic focuses on building the most secure, accessible and easy-to-use election technologies.
Analysts and critics in Kenya questioned the firm’s ability to provide a bulletproof system which cannot be compromised.
Africanews spoke to Mark Obar Asuelaa from Kenya, who is a well-respected ICT expert.
The IEBC preparations were always in doubt, even by critics and the opposition. Obar believes that this has been a trend in every election.
“Now, as usual, the electoral and boundary commission IEBC tends not to claim that everything is perfect from the beginning. But as you can see from our reports and the admission from the commission, there are some things that you get right. It seems the commission was already engaging in illegality from the beginning. IEBC printed more forms 31A booklets than any other polling station, yet each station only required one. People have to ask the question, “Why are they printing more booklets?” What is the purpose? Obar stated that there are many issues related to it that they are trying out to resolve.
After the 2017 election was canceled, the IEBC opted for Smartmatic SGO Group. This multinational company builds and implements electronic voter systems. They will provide the best possible service and even handle the election technology.
Smartmatic’s primary task has been to provide election technology hardware, such as fingerprint scanners, but not the software that handles the polls. Obar considers this a problem in terms of result transmission, and it can impact the election outcome.
“Now, it is difficult to tell if they will succeed. But they are most likely to fail on transmission. They are dealing directly with the technology provider for the hardware. However, they have previously worked with a French OT Morpho who also developed its own software. Obar explained that their software is based on the technology of an older supplier, while the new supplier just provided a new technology for physical infrastructure like fingerprint scanners.
When asked if Kenya was heading towards a repeat violence in the 2007-2008 elections, Obar denied the possibility, but pointed out the possibility of a court case.
“I don’t believe there will be any violence. There may be some contestations during, after, or on Election Day. However, I don’t believe violence will break out in any way. You can predict violence in Kenya way before it happens. You can see the systems falling apart and the electronic technology. Government interference in the elections. He said that these are key indicators.
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