IEBC to review security handbooks as preparations intensify

IEBC Officials. [File, Standard]

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will next week begin reviewing its election security handbook and police role cards to incorporate changes ahead of the 2027 General Election.

According to Commissioner Hassan Noor, the review forms part of broader measures aimed at ensuring the 2027 election is seamless and straightforward.

The materials to be reviewed will set out the roles and responsibilities of security agencies and other election officials, including how they coordinate and respond to security issues during the electoral process, while incorporating proposed changes.

The review comes as various institutions step up preparations for the polls. 

The National Police Service (NPS), for instance, has developed a roadmap to guide security operations before, during and after the General Election.

Speaking at the National Election Security Forum on Wednesday, September 2, Inspector General Douglas Kanja said the roadmap, which will run from September through the post-election period, will focus on professional and impartial policing throughout the electioneering period.

The roadmap includes strengthening election-security coordination and collaboration, aligning security operations with electoral laws, regulations and IEBC processes, security deployment and capacity building through training.

It will also provide for the protection of electoral personnel and infrastructure during the election period.

According to Kanja, the preparations are guided by the need to preserve the country before, during and after the elections.

“We don’t have another country. “We must remember at all times that we need our motherland intact, before, during and even after the elections,” said Kanja.

Beyond security preparations, Noor said the conduct of political actors would also be critical to maintaining peace around the election.

He urged politicians to prepare to accept election outcomes peacefully, saying acceptance of defeat can help lower tensions around the announcement of results.

“Many of the countries you hear have had peaceful elections because the contestants accept defeat,” Noor said.

He urged contestants to accept defeat once the outcome becomes clear, arguing that doing so would help tone down tensions even before official results are announced.

The call for restraint also extends to the media, with IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon cautioning journalists against contributing to misinformation, disinformation and malinformation during the election period.

“Media must desist from falling into the trap of misinformation and disinformation and malinformation,” he said.

Ethekon warned that inaccurate reporting that inflames public fears comes with responsibility for the consequences.

“If we misinform the public and inflame fears, then we must also be prepared to bear that responsibility,” he said.