The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) team agreed to open the servers used for the 2022 general election. The agreement was announced on Friday.
The IEBC ICT director, Michael Ouma said that the servers were ready for forensic audit by independent auditors. He appeared before the National Dialogue Committee (NDCO) and announced that the servers were ready for audit.
“I want to say that the servers are available for forensic audit, yes I confirm, anytime, and that they were used to process the exact replica of the available physical forms,” he mentioned.
The National Dialogue Committee team questioned the grounds to compel the agency to open those servers.
“I have heard people say open the server, under what circumstances would you open the server, is there a legal framework allowing that to happen or not, Cicily Mbarire asked.
The commission then noted they were confident in the authenticity of the figures available on the servers. According to them, the statistics on the servers are the same as those on the physical forms.
“The role of the server on the other side, I wish to clarify, was nothing more than taking a replica of that physical form and availing it to the portal, ” explained the ICT director.
He further mentioned that if the audit were to be done, the forms as well as the servers would display similar information, Those forms signed at the polling stations and those scanned by the servers are exact replicas as per the director’s statements.
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Need to Open the Servers
The need to open the servers has consistently been brought about by the Azimio Coalition led by Raila Odinga. They have demanded on several occasions that the servers be opened for review. More than once, they have accused the IEBC of electoral misconduct and sought transparency from the agency.
Due to political unrest in the country, the two main Coalitions decided to hold Bipartisan talks. Among the main agendas for the Azimio Coalition, is the opening of the servers for review and hiring transparent IEBC personnel.
The server conflict began after the presidential election results were announced and Raila Odinga had not emerged as the winner. While the results were being announced, IEBC officials had a falling out with some of them claiming electoral fraud. Few officials were seen throwing punches at each other at the Bomas of Kenya.
The opposition party filed petitions in court but they didn’t hold up in the Judiciary. Since then, the coalition has blamed the IEBC for electoral misconduct and lack of transparency.
Few Kenyans have questioned the IEBC’s opposition to opening the servers. They wonder whether they indeed had something to hide. Other Kenyans don’t see the need to open these servers because according to them, the elections were free and fair.
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