Maraga-led coalition wants Bomas scrapped as national tallying centre

NAIROBI, Kenya – A coalition led by former Chief Justice David Maraga is advocating to disband the national presidential tallying center at Bomas of Kenya prior to the 2027 General Election, contesting the constitutionality of such a centralized facility. The People’s Coalition on Electoral Reforms contends that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) should refrain from re-counting, re-verifying, or modifying presidential results once they have been registered at polling stations and officially tallied at the constituency level.

The coalition proposes that the electoral process should conclude at the constituency level, with the IEBC chairperson's responsibility limited to announcing the outcome based on received constituency results. This position is based on Article 138(2) of the Constitution, which mandates presidential elections in each constituency, and Articles 86 and 138, which stipulate that votes must be counted, tallied, verified, and announced at polling stations and constituency tallying centers.

The coalition emphasizes the Supreme Court's Maina Kiai case decision, highlighting the finality of results announced at polling stations, which cannot be altered by any entity, including IEBC commissioners. They reference the proposed changes as a significant departure from the conventional 2027 election process, which involves the national-level tallying at Bomas of Kenya by the IEBC.

The coalition asserts that the Constitution does not formally recognize a national tallying center and questions the legal foundation for utilizing Bomas or any other facility for this purpose. They point to past Supreme Court deliberations on presidential election disputes from the 2017 and 2022 elections, arguing that those proceedings underscored the potential for ambiguity and conflicts at the central tallying stage.

Additionally, the coalition seeks a more precise delineation of the IEBC chairperson and commissioners' powers during the final phases of a presidential election, arguing that Article 138(10) grants the chairperson the authority to declare the results but does not authorize them to conduct additional tallies or verifications of results already declared at the polling station or constituency level.

The coalition maintains that the Constitution does not authorize the IEBC to retally, re-verify, or change results declared at polling stations and constituency level. Consequently, the proposed reforms would preclude the IEBC chairperson and commissioners from engaging in any retallying, re-verifying, or altering of results declared by presiding officers and constituency returning officers.

The coalition further challenges existing provisions in the Elections Act and election regulations that establish or grant the IEBC the authority to retally or verify presidential results, advocating for their review or invalidation if deemed unconstitutional.