IEBC under pressure over Smartmatic deal

IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon and commissioners address a press briefing on the delimitation of electoral boundaries at Anniversary Towers in Nairobi on January 27, 2026. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The United opposition is spoiling for a fight with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) over its continued engagement with Smartmatic, the company that supplied the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (Kiems) kits for the 2022 General Election. 

Opposition leaders have demanded the immediate severing of ties between the Commission and Smartmatic, citing concerns that the company has been the subject of internal investigations over systems allegedly prone to manipulation, and has allegedly been used as a conduit for electoral rigging.

The aim, they say, is to close any potential loopholes that could be exploited to prevent them from relegating President William Ruto to a single term, or to safeguard a free, fair, and credible electoral process.

On Wednesday, Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua, Democratic Action Party-Kenya (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa, People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua, and Jubilee Party presidential candidate Fred Matiang’i marched to IEBC offices. There, they met the Erastus Ethekon-led Commission, registering their reservations on the continued use of Smartmatic’s technology.

They raised concerns over the security of electronic transmission and potential manipulation, following revelations of questionable dealings involving the Venezuelan firm.

“This same technology was used in Uganda. The Kiems kits failed there, and we do not want to see a similar election in Kenya. There are serious issues we have raised with IEBC, and we believe they will address them. All we await is goodwill and confidence building through a road map that we will engage quarterly with them,” Wamalwa said.

Kalonzo Musyoka, addressing the media after a closed-door meeting with IEBC, said the electoral agency needed to provide demonstrable outcomes to the opposition and Kenyans. 

“The perception out there is that this is a William Ruto Commission and we gave them the opportunity to prove us and the country wrong,” said the Wiper party leader.

Matiang’i and Gachagua emphasised on the need for IEBC to treat the 2027 general with the seriousness it deserves. “The next general election is important and IEBC needs to prepare adequately and gain the confidence of the people,” stated Gachagua.

So why the reservations about Smartmatic?

Smartmatic, founded by Venezuelan engineers, is registered in the Netherlands and headquartered in the United Kingdom.

Controversy in Kenya dates back to July 2022, when three Venezuelan IT experts – Jose Gregorio Camargo Castellanos, Salvador Javier Sosa Suarez, and Joel Gustavo Rodriguez Garcia – hired by IEBC, were arrested at JKIA while in possession of IEBC stickers.

The then Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss, George Kinoti, said the nationals were flagged at the airport for carrying election materials. “Upon investigations, police established that the suspects’ contracts did not explicitly state they were IEBC employees or staff of the IT firm contracted to deliver poll materials, as alleged by IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati. Camargo confessed that he received the materials from Panama via his company, Smartmatic International Holding B.V, and that the material was destined for a private office in Nairobi,” Kinoti said.

Azimio la Umoja Coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga (now deceased) filed an unsuccessful petition at the Supreme Court in 2022. His lawyers, Paul Mwangi and Julie Soweto, argued that Smartmatic IT experts had rigged the polls.

They claimed that results relayed on Form 34 (A) contained overlays bearing the name of Venezuelan IT expert Jose Camargo, allegedly indicating foreign interference. Police also raided the ninth floor of Trans National House, where Kenya Kwanza’s presidential candidate had an office, amid rumours that two servers had been transferred there.

Credibility issues surrounding Smartmatic intensified earlier this year when a former Venezuelan intelligence chief cast a shadow over the company, raising urgent questions about Kenya’s electoral integrity. 

From a US federal prison, Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal, once Venezuela’s top military spy, labelled President Nicolás Maduro’s government a “narco-terrorist organisation”. Among his claims, he alleged that Smartmatic International’s electronic voting systems – the same used in Kenya in 2017 and 2022 – had been manipulated by Maduro for electoral fraud.

“The Smartmatic system can be altered—this is a fact,” Carvajal said, claiming he oversaw the placement of an official responsible for information systems at Venezuela’s electoral authority. He added that the technology was later exported abroad, including to the United States.

The United Opposition in Kenya has claimed the same software was allegedly used to manipulate polls in favour of President Ruto. 

Through their lawyer, Advocate Ndegwa Njiru, the opposition accused IEBC of being implicated in a global scheme involving controversial election technology.

In a letter addressed to IEBC CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan, Ndegwa highlighted that the commission procured Smartmatic software for the 2027 presidential election before the current commissioners took office.