Leave no room for failure in 2017 polls

The Supreme Court of Kenya could be irreparably damaged. Its honour, reputation and credibility are dented. Corruption allegations could have finally consumed it. The Supreme Court and Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) performed poorly in the 2013 general elections. Kenyans are beginning to get an idea of what went wrong.

IEBC has to date not provided conclusive results, and electoral dispute decisions of the judicial process remain contested. Whenever Kenyans demand accountability from IEBC on gross failure to manage the 2013 elections and the latter emergence of corruption allegations, IEBC quickly jumps into hollow self-defence.

The IEBC argument of ‘until proven guilty’ is pedestrian. The Constitution shifted from the traditional ‘mere presumption of innocent until proven guilty’ in criminal liability to the threshold of ‘suspicion and reasons to believe’. The ruling on former Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza by the judicial tribunal raised the integrity bar for State and public officers. Contrary to IEBC’s arguments, issues of criminal records are only a part of a core set of integrity parameters.

The tribunal made a distinction between presumption of innocence as articulated in the administration of criminal justice and integrity standards expected of public and state officers. The tribunal asserted that standard of proof touching on the conduct and integrity of officers is “neither that of criminal law, that is beyond reasonable doubt nor that in civil cases, which is on a balance of probability”.

Elections do not only test the autonomy, credibility and impartiality of the electoral management process, and commitment of incumbency to fairness, but also the resilience of civil society to sustain free and fair elections.

Integrity of electoral process is affected by several factors including: clear legal framework governing electoral process; simpler electoral system; technical efficiency and efficacy of electoral management body; relative autonomy of the electoral agency from interference by other organs of government and the ruling party; degree to which electoral processes, decisions, participation and outcomes are insulated from manipulation, corruption, and violence; and finally election candidates that meet integrity and suitability threshold to hold public office.

IEBC has published the electoral roadmap towards the August 2017 General Elections. The Commission needs to popularise and exhibit the strongest possible impartiality, competence and transparency in its management of 2017 electoral processes. It is not lost on Kenyans that IEBC still has crucial integrity, impartiality, bias and credibility questions.

The 2017 General Elections are likely to be Kenya’s most high stake competitive elections especially for the positions of President, Governor and Members of County Assembly. They present formidable challenges that need upfront address if they are to produce widely accepted and credible results to prevent outbreaks of violence. Elections belong to the people. As elections are critical to holding leaders accountable for their decisions, they equally have significant implications for the quality and nature of governance and for the promotion of sustainable equitable development.

It is very critical for IEBC to establish sufficient devolved measures for tallying of the final results and announcement done at polling stations and simultaneously transmitted to the county headquarters and the national centre. This is necessary to enhance citizen confidence, transparency and participation in the process.

IEBC also should publish tough regulations that compel all election candidates and political parties to fully and timely disclose the original funding sources of their election campaigns to promote transparency and integrity of the elected officials at the national, county and ward levels.