The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has stated that the majority of the polling stations still do not have network coverage. This may potentially put at risk electronic transmission of results in the August elections. With the elections coming in 10 months, this factor could force the elections commission to transmit results using satellite mobile phones to the tallying centres.
The commission’s chairman Wafula Chebukati, said that proper procedures will be put in place to enhance transmission rates and procedures are conducted in the smoothest and best possible ways. This includes instructions to presiding officers on how to proceed to areas with network availability so they can send the results.
IEBC says it has also provided satellite devices in all 290 constituency tallying centers across the country. The network companies that are going to support network coverage are Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom.
Some of the areas affected with network coverage deficit in their stations include: Murang’a, Kiambu and Kisumu towns.
Regarding the matter, Chrispine Owiye, IEBC Director of Legal Affairs, on Wednesday encouraged the members of parliament to support an alternative method for transmitting results. He uttered during a proceeding before the Justice Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC).
“The law requires the returning officers to transmit the results electronically to the national tallying centre; if there is no network, as it is at the moment, it means the officer cannot move to a nearby place with network or the nearest polling station to declare the results since he will be committing an illegality. We need a complementary system.”, said Owiye.
According to the ruling of the supreme court judges, In 2017, the General Election was cancelled due to discrepancies which affected its integrity, a nullification that put IEBC on the spot.
The electorate chairman on the other hand assured Kenyans that a lack of network coverage in some sections of the country would not disrupt the whole process.