MURANG’A, Kenya — Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi has urged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to ensure the technology it procures for the 2027 General Election is transparent, independently verifiable and accessible to Kenyan courts and other authorised institutions.
Muturi warned that Kenya could repeat the challenges witnessed during the 2022 presidential election petition if technology providers are allowed to use intellectual property rights to restrict access to critical electoral systems and data.
Speaking at ACK Mukuria Hungu in Murang’a town, the former Attorney-General said every voter should be able to trace their vote from the polling station through the various stages of tallying to the final result.
“We want the rights of every voter to be protected. Conduct a transparent and verifiable process,” Muturi said.
His remarks came after the IEBC advertised a tender seeking a new provider of election technology for the 2027 polls. Muturi raised concern over provisions he said could assign intellectual property rights to the successful technology provider in ways that could limit independent scrutiny of the system.
“You cannot have a situation where a foreign company has the data of all Kenyans and, when asked to open the system, says no. That kind of contract we cannot accept,” he said.
Muturi cites lessons from 2022 election dispute
Muturi said the concerns were informed by the experience of the 2022 presidential election petition, when Smartmatic, the company involved in providing election technology, raised intellectual property and security concerns over access to election servers and related material.
The Supreme Court subsequently ordered scrutiny of aspects of the electoral system during the presidential election petition, placing the management of proprietary electoral technology under close public and judicial scrutiny.
Muturi argued that the lessons from that dispute should inform the current procurement process rather than allowing similar concerns to emerge after the next election.
He called on the IEBC to issue an addendum to its tender requiring the successful technology provider to guarantee lawful access to servers, system logs, audit trails, user-access records and other technical evidence necessary for independent verification.
“Whatever technology is used must be available to the Kenyan courts,” he said.
The Democratic Party leader said legitimate intellectual property rights should be respected but should not prevent Kenyan institutions from accessing evidence necessary to establish whether an election was conducted properly.
Calls for stronger electoral safeguards
Muturi also linked his concerns to recommendations of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO), which proposed reforms intended to strengthen electoral justice and public confidence in the management of elections.
He argued that it would be contradictory for Kenya to implement electoral reforms following the 2022 dispute while simultaneously procuring technology that could create barriers to independent scrutiny.
“The credibility of the 2027 election will depend not only on the conduct of polling but also on whether the systems used to transmit, store and tally votes could withstand independent scrutiny,” he said.
Muturi also questioned the involvement of foreign companies in critical components of the electoral process, including the printing of ballot papers. He cited concerns over tax compliance by a Greek company involved in the process.
“We cannot have that kind of company handling our elections,” he said.
The former Attorney-General further called for the protection of citizens’ democratic freedoms, saying Kenyans should be allowed to assemble, petition, protest and express political views within the law.
“You can disagree with me, but I should fight for your right to disagree with me,” he said.
Focus shifts to 2027 election credibility
With the next General Election scheduled for August 10, 2027, Muturi urged the IEBC to address the concerns before the procurement process advances.
He said electoral technology should ultimately serve voters and strengthen confidence in the electoral process rather than primarily protect the interests of private technology vendors.
Muturi said voters should have confidence that the ballot counted at the polling station is the same vote reflected in the final tally.
“We want an election that is credible, free, fair and verifiable,” he said.
