Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale/FILE

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has challenged the People’s Coalition on Electoral Reforms’ push to scrap the national tallying centre at Bomas of Kenya, saying the Constitution and Elections Act provide for the tallying and verification of presidential results at the national level.

Duale was responding to the coalition led by former Chief Justice David Maraga, which on Tuesday demanded the removal of the national tallying centre ahead of the 2027 General Election.

The coalition argues that the Constitution does not provide for a national tallying centre and does not authorise the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to retally or re-verify presidential results already declared at polling stations and constituency tallying centres.

Duale, however, said the Constitution must be read alongside the Elections Act, which provides for the transmission and tallying of presidential results at constituency and national levels.

He cited Article 88(5) of the Constitution, which requires the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to perform its functions in accordance with the Constitution and national legislation.

He also cited Article 138(3), saying the presidential election process is to be conducted in the manner prescribed by an Act of Parliament.

“Article 138(3)(c) of the Constitution clearly provides that the IEBC after counting the votes in the polling stations, shall tally and verify the count and declare the result,” Duale said.

Duale further referred to Article 138(10), which provides for the role of the IEBC chairperson in declaring the presidential election result.

On the question of the national tallying centre, Duale cited Section 39 of the Elections Act, which provides for presidential results to be electronically transmitted and physically delivered from polling stations to constituency and national tallying centres.

The law also requires the commission to tally and verify results received at both levels.

The Maraga-led coalition, however, has based its proposal on its interpretation of Articles 86 and 138 of the Constitution and previous court decisions concerning the finality of results declared at polling stations. Maraga said the Constitution does not make provision for a national tallying centre and that results announced at polling stations should not be altered at a later stage.

The coalition also wants the IEBC chairperson and commissioners barred from retallying, re-verifying or altering results declared at polling stations and constituencies. It has argued that sections of the Elections Act and election regulations providing for a national tallying centre are inconsistent with the Constitution.

Court decisions have previously addressed both the finality of polling station results and the commission’s verification role.

In the Maina Kiai case, the Court of Appeal held that the chairperson could not alter results arising from the electoral process at polling stations and constituency tallying centres.

The Supreme Court's 2022 presidential election petition judgment later held that the IEBC's duty to verify presidential results runs from the polling station to the constituency and national tallying centres, while stressing that verification is meant to ensure that declared results correspond with those recorded at polling stations, rather than to change them.