Political commentator Javas Bigambo /HANDHOUT
Credibility is not determined by how many features a ballot paper has. In any case, we need to note that, in the entire world, Kenya has the most complicated ballot papers, with more features even than legal tender. All these things contribute to the cost of elections.
First, we must appreciate that we have made our elections very costly, including making the printing of ballot papers very expensive by printing them outside the country and having too many features in them in the name of fighting fraud or replication. But when you go to other countries, whether it is the US, UK or elsewhere, you realise that they do not have all those features on their ballot papers.
Second, the credibility of the IEBC is most of the time eroded by politicians, particularly through political statements. You may recall that politicians, just before the Ol Kalou by-election, were demonising the IEBC. But after the by-election, they no longer demonised the IEBC. If they had lost, they would have continued to demonise the IEBC.
So, at times, politicians contribute to the erosion of public trust in public institutions through the words they use against public institutions. The constitution indicates that the IEBC is an independent commission that should not be interfered with or influenced by external forces.
When political parties insist that they must be included in every decision to be made by the IEBC, they are actually interfering with the constitutional independence of the IEBC.
What the IEBC needs to do to build and sustain public confidence is to make clear, by itself, what it is doing regarding matters of technology, the printing of ballot papers and disciplinary issues. All those matters should be made clear and communicated beforehand and afterwards.
You may recall that civil society actors, including representatives from various political parties, accompanied IEBC officials to see how ballot papers were printed and transported back into the country. Now, let me ask: when they travelled there and came back, did it make the election credible or not credible?
Basically, we need the IEBC, as an independent commission, to be open and clear and explain to Kenyans everything it is doing procedurally. But it should not bend over backwards and accept every demand being made by politicians.
The political commentator spoke to the Star
