Maraga demands scrapping of Bomas tallying centre ahead of 2027 polls

Former Chief Justice David Maraga. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Former Chief Justice David Maraga has called for the scrapping of the national tallying centre at Bomas of Kenya ahead of the 2027 General Election.

Speaking on Tuesday, September 15, Maraga argued that the Constitution does not provide for a national tallying centre.

“We demand that there be no tallying centre at Bomas or anywhere in this country,” Maraga said.

According to the former Chief Justice, presidential election results should be counted, tallied, verified and announced at polling stations, with results then openly and accurately collated and announced by returning officers at the constituency level.

He cited Articles 86 and 138 of the Constitution, arguing that results declared by presiding officers at polling stations are final and cannot be altered by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) or any other person.

Maraga also referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Maina Kiai case, which he said established that results announced at polling stations are final.

For presidential elections, he said the IEBC’s role at the national level is limited to declaring results already announced at polling stations and constituency level.

“The Constitution doesn't give IEBC any authority to retally the results that have been announced at the polling stations and at the constituency level,” he said.

Maraga further argued that Article 138(10) confines the role of the IEBC chairperson to the declaration of presidential election results.

He said the 2017 and 2022 Supreme Court decisions had also characterised a national tallying centre as a site of “opacity and division”.

He called for reforms to the Elections Act and election regulations that provide for a national tallying centre and allow the IEBC chairperson and commissioners to retally and verify presidential election results.

“The first mandatory reform that we are asking before the 2027 general election is that there shall be no tallying centre in Bomas or elsewhere under the IEBC,” Maraga said.

He also demanded that the IEBC chairperson and commissioners should not retally, re-verify or alter results declared at polling stations and constituencies.

Maraga's remarks come as debate over electoral reforms intensifies ahead of the 2027 General Election, with the structure and management of presidential results tallying remaining a key issue.