Build trust in Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Kenyans told

An Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) official has said Kenyans should build trust in electoral systems.

IEBC Dispute Resolution Committee Chairman Thomas Letangule said the country should emulate other democracies such as the US and UK, where electoral bodies and processes are trusted.

"I was in the US recently during the midterm elections and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) President Bill Sweeny told us that the best way to conduct an election is by trust. You have got to trust institutions and the process," he said.

Letangule said in both the US mid-term polls and the recent Scotland independence referendum, there were no policemen or party agents manning polling centres, yet the polls are largely free and fair.

"We did not witness any police or agents at the polling centres, yet voters streamed in and cast their ballots," he said yesterday in Nairobi where IEBC launched a booklet (Case Digest) on disputes it presided over after the 2013 polls.

He said they will help in supporting party programmes that seek to strengthen internal democracy within parties to avoid a flurry of petitions arising from internal party primaries.

Case Digest was published with the help of the Swedish embassy in Kenya and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa.