How we conducted the 2022 elections – ex-IEBC boss Wafula Chebukati
Former Chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Wafula Chebukati, shared insights into the conduct of the 2022 Presidential elections in a video posted on his official Twitter account on Friday, August 25, 2023.
Chebukati outlined how technological advancements were leveraged to ensure a credible and efficient electoral process.
In the video, Chebukati revealed that he had issued clear directives to returning officers across all polling stations in the country.
These directives mandated the swift filing of Form 34As in the system once they were signed by agents, thereby streamlining the transmission of results.
“This is how we conducted the 2022 Presidential elections better than any other elections in Kenya’s history: The IEBC leveraged technological improvements to deliver an unimpeachable election,” Chebukati’s tweet read.
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He emphasized that the 2022 elections differed significantly from previous instances, particularly the 2017 general elections in which President Uhuru Kenyatta emerged victorious against opposition leader Raila Odinga.
“The lessons we learned from the last two elections in 2013 and 2017 helped us run the elections better in 2022,” Chebukati said.
Chebukati and his team implemented strategic changes to enhance the electoral process’s transparency and accuracy.
Mr Chebukati said that he ensured that the returning officers were not to send text messages of the results as it was done in 2013 and 2017.
The discontinuation of text message transmission of results had previously led to discrepancies and misinformation.
Instead, he instructed presiding officers to transmit results directly from polling stations to the central system. This approach aimed to eliminate the potential for inconsistencies and unauthorized alterations.
“When they send texts, then later the results, we usually face challenges as they are not the same. That is the way we stopped the spread of misinformation and what Kenyans usually say is that people are cooking results. So I ensured that all the presiding officers share the image of the forms after the agents have signed,” Mr Chebukati said, adding that the agents were also issued copies of the forms.
He said that there were a total of 46229 polling stations in the country and all the presiding officers followed the orders as they had been told.
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