Chebukati Opens IEBC Servers For Raila After Supreme Court Directive

IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati at the National Tallying Centre in Bomas of Kenya on Friday, August 12, 2022.
IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati at the National Tallying Centre in Bomas of Kenya on Friday, August 12, 2022.
Kenyans.co.ke

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has agreed to open all the servers as directed by the Supreme Court.

In a statement on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, the IEBC confirmed that it will give access to the parties contesting the outcome of the August 9, Presidential poll.

"Following the Supreme Court order, IEBC has granted access to the parties to access the servers and the scrutiny exercise is ongoing," read a statement from the Commission.

A display of the Supreme court session as hearing of petition continues on August 31, 2022
A display of the Supreme Court session as hearing of petition continues on August 31, 2022
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The Judiciary of Kenya

Earlier Senior Counsel, James Orengo, accused the commission of denying Azimio La Umoja agents access to the IEBC backend. 

Orengo told the SCOK justices that the officials at the IEBC headquarters at the Anniversary Towers declined them entry on grounds that they needed authorisation, despite the Supreme Court issuing express orders a day before. 

"My lady Chief Justice and members of the court, we are also having difficulties with the orders relating to the inspection of the servers. 

"We have been given restricted access only to the results transmission system. It is established that IEBC has eight servers yet we have access to one only," he stated.

In response to Orengo, Justice Isaac Lenaola stated that the exercise was ongoing by the time the apex court took a lunch break and also promised to follow up on the matter.

"We are following up on the question but as far as we know, the exercise is continuing and should there be an issue later in the day or tomorrow morning, we shall receive a report.

"By the time we got out of here, the exercise had commenced and there was an agreement on how to access the servers that were given and the issue of cloning is being addressed. Let's leave it for now. We are aware of that," Justice Lenaola assured Orengo.

IEBC on Tuesday, August 30, directed the commission to give the applicants supervised access to any servers at the National Tallying Centre for storing and transmitting voting information which is forensically imaged to capture a copy of Form 34C which is the total votes cast.

The commission was also ordered to furnish the applicants with copies of its password policy, password matrix, owners of system administration passwords, system users and levels of access, and workflow chats for identification, tallying, transmission, and posting of portals and any API’s that had been integrated and the list of human interface and controls for such intervention. 

IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati addressing the press at the Bomas of Kenya on Monday, August 8, 2022.jpg
IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati addressing the press at the Bomas of Kenya on Monday, August 8, 2022.
Kenyans.co.ke