Diaspora voters sue over polling centres as cases against IEBC rise

Security officers cordon center stage of the auditorium at the National Tallying centre, Bomas of Kenya. [File, Standard] The stakes for the next general election are increasing, with yet another case filed to force the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to increase the number of diaspora voting stations outside diplomatic offices. Hours after activist Khelef Khalifa, Dr Owiso Owiso and Ashioya Biko moved to the Supreme Court seeking to have Kenyans vote in 2026, instead of 2027, a group of 92 Kenyans living abroad moved to the High Court seeking to have elections moved from consulates and embassies. In their case filed before Justice Lawrence Mugambi, the group led by Dr Martin Koyabe, Danson Mukile and Dr Kenneth Karanja claimed that those living abroad have always been excluded from the elections owing to logistical issues and restrictions around embassies and consulates. According to them, those living in the United States of America (USA), Canada, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Australia, the United Kingdom, China, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and South Africa have to dig deep into their pocket to travel to register as voters. "This signifies that millions of Kenyans living in over 100 countries have been effectively disenfranchised, not by constitutional mandate but lack of legislation, an administrative regulation and the absence of diplomatic infrastructure," their lawyer Ambrose Mulandi argued. According to him, it is practically impossible for a Kenyan living in the USA, Canada, or the UK to travel or even access a polling station at an embassy or consulate. "The unreasonable limitation imposed by regulation 34(2) is discriminatory, arbitrary and creates unjustifiable hardship by conditioning a constitutional right on the mere existence of a diplomatic office. This creates inequality of access to the franchise and violates Articles 38(3), 27, 81, and 83," said Mulandi. In the case, the petitioners sued the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the Attorney General, the Senate and the National Assembly. They also cited Katiba Institute, the Law Society of Kenya, the Commission of Administrative Justice (Ombudsman), the Center for Multiparty Democracy, Kenya, and the Election Observation Group (ELOG) as interested parties. According to Mulandi, calls for reforms and past attempts to engage IEBC and other relevant agencies on the need to expand diaspora registration beyond diplomatic missions have hit deaf ears. Mukile filed a supporting affidavit in support of the case. He told the court that he lives in Dallas, Texas, USA. According to him, Kenyans living abroad have an equal stake as those in the country to determine who will lead and democratic governance. He said those outside Kenya, for example, last year sent Sh 637.3 billion in remittances, hence supporting the country economically and socially. Mukile said that, for example, in 2019, census data showed that there were at least 136,239 Kenyans in the USA. However, he stated that Kenya has only three polling stations: the embassy in Washington, D.C., and the consulates in New York and Los Angeles. "This means that a Kenyan living in Dallas like myself has to either travel to the consulate and the current polling or registration center in new York which is approximately 2,495 kilometres away for voter registration verification and voting," he said. With the country hurtling towards the next general election, eyes will be on the courts as litigants troop to seek clarity on who and how the next election will be conducted. Already, there is a separate case filed over the selection of the IEBC commissioners. Operation Linda Jamii, in their case before Justice Chacha Mwita, have sued the selection panel, its chair Dr Nelson Makanda and the Attorney General, seeking to have former Judge Charles Nyachae and former Kenya Power chairperson Brenda Masinde out of the IEBC chair's race. The case on diaspora voting will be mentioned on May 27, 2025 while the commission's selection panel case will be mentioned on July 28,2025.

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