The former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati on Wednesday received two awards on behalf of the commission, which was feted for conducting credible elections.
Chebukati, who attended the 19th International Electoral Affairs Award Ceremony at Crowne Plaza in Portugal, picked the Election Management and the Election Ergonomic Awards, both awarded to the commission for its role in conducting successful elections in 2022.
While the commission emerged as the winner of the Election Management, it emerged second in the Election Ergonomic award.
“Glad to have witnessed this moment,” Chebukati noted.
During his presentation, the former Commission boss stated that IEBC leveraged technology to play a pivotal role in shaping the democratic process, thereby ensuring that elections are fair, transparent, and secure.
"Greetings from Lisbon, Portugal, where I delivered a keynote presentation at the 19th International Electoral Affairs Symposium & Awards Ceremony titled “Kenya 2022 Election Success Story: Leveraging Technology for Increased Election Integrity”," Chebukati noted.
His speech was centred around the question, Can technology cure impunity? He thus argued that Technology – even when leveraged at its best - cannot cure impunity in elections, based on the chaos that ensued before he declared the presidential results.
Nevertheless, he lauded the independence of the IEBC, which he stated was free from interference.
"The Commission is established under the Constitution of Kenya as one of the country’s constitutional commissions whose objects are to: protect the sovereignty of the people; secure the observance by all state organs of democratic values and principles; and promote constitutionalism.
"Like all constitutional commissions in Kenya, it is subject only to the Constitution and the law and is not subject to direction or control by any person or authority. It reports on its performance to the people of Kenya through annual reports to the President and Parliament," he added.
According to Chebukati, electoral commissions can bolster trust in the democratic process and ensure that the will of the people is accurately reflected when they leverage technology in election management.
He urged commissioners to continue to work towards a future where technology co-exists harmoniously with the electoral process, thereby safeguarding the integrity of our elections.
