City lawyer Willis Otieno on Tuesday, March 25, called for Bomas of Kenya to be abolished as the country's national polling centre to ensure free and fair elections.
While appearing on Spice FM, Otieno made the bold declaration, arguing that presidential elections should be conducted at the constituency level.
The lawyer, while referring to a previous court ruling, added that Bomas played a role in the promotion of election malpractices due to the proximity it has with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that has been hit with numerous claims of political interference.
“The unfortunate thing about IEBC is that we have bestowed upon it responsibilities that are beyond what it should do. The legacy politicians seem to have taken a position that whoever controls IEBC, controls Bomas and will get his way,” Otieno stated.
“If I look at my experience with electoral processes, I can tell you that for us to achieve free and fair elections, we do not need a national tallying centre at Bomas,” he further expressed.
Otieno noted that, as per Article 138 of the Constitution, Presidential elections should be done at the constituency level. He argued that in 2015, while working on the Maina Kiai case, the High Court and Court of Appeal agreed with his position, but it was never fully implemented.
“The spirit of that decision was that you vote at the polling station, and then you count and announce (results) at the polling station. Then you do your first tallying at the constituency tallying centre. So consequently, presidential elections should be held by constituency returning officers,” Otieno expressed.
During elections, Constituency Returning Officers (CROs) physically deliver Form 34A (polling station results) and Form 34B (constituency-level tally) to Bomas. The IEBC verifies and cross-checks these results against electronic transmissions from polling stations.
In the national tallying for presidential votes, the IEBC compiles the presidential results from all 290 constituencies plus the diaspora votes into Form 34C, which provides the official national tally.
The Constitution does not explicitly require Bomas of Kenya to serve as the national tallying centre for presidential elections. However, the IEBC designates it for this purpose as part of its logistical and operational planning.
Otieno’s proposal comes at a time when the Commission is gearing up for the upcoming 2027 General Elections with interviews for the IEBC Chairperson currently ongoing.
The elections will coincide with high political temperatures in the country as President William Ruto battles against various politicians angling for the house on the hill. This is as Ruto is in a political partnership with arguably his biggest competitor to the seat, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, with Raila keeping mum on his 2027 moves.
