The IEBC faced severe credibility challenges during the 2017 election cycle, stemming from internal institutional divisions, the assassination of ICT director Chris Msando, allegations of unauthorized electronic system access, and differing technical assessments among IEBC commissioners regarding result tabulation. These institutional crises, which emerged before, during, and after the August 8 election, ultimately contributed to the Supreme Court's decision to nullify the election results and raised fundamental questions about the IEBC's capacity to administer elections credibly.
The 2013 IEBC, while not without challenges, had managed the election with sufficient credibility to be generally accepted by major political actors. By 2017, however, the IEBC faced deteriorating institutional cohesion and escalating allegations of compromise. The commission's leadership, headed by chairman Wafula Chebukati, attempted to navigate political pressures from both the Jubilee government (seeking to ensure election administration that would support the incumbent's reelection) and the opposition NASA coalition (seeking to ensure transparent administration that would constrain potential manipulation). This pressure cooker environment meant that every IEBC procedural decision became subject to politicized interpretation and suspicion.
The most dramatic institutional crisis occurred when Chris Msando, the IEBC's ICT Director responsible for the electronic result transmission systems, was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered on July 29, 2017, just days before the August 8 election. Msando's murder raised immediate suspicions regarding IEBC system security, the integrity of electronic transmission infrastructure, and the identity of parties interested in eliminating the person responsible for the systems that would tabulate and transmit election results. While the murderers were never definitively identified, the timing of Msando's assassination weeks before the election created pervasive suspicion that the electronic systems would be compromised.
The IEBC's electronic result transmission systems, deployed since 2013 and modified for 2017, faced persistent reliability and security challenges. During the August 8 counting process, the electronic transmission systems again experienced technical failures and connectivity challenges, forcing some polling stations to rely on hardcopy result forms. Additionally, allegations emerged that unauthorized individuals had accessed the IEBC's electronic systems during the result transmission process, potentially allowing manipulation of transmitted results. The Supreme Court's subsequent judgment would focus substantially on these allegations of unauthorized system access.
Internal IEBC divisions emerged publicly during the results announcement process. Four IEBC commissioners (Roslyn Akombe, Consolata Nkomo, Brahim Mohamed, and Ahmed Hassan) issued a statement during the official results announcement indicating that they had not endorsed the announced results and that they possessed reservations regarding the tabulation procedures followed. The four commissioners' statement, made during the live results announcement by chairman Chebukati, represented an unprecedented public institutional division and signaled that significant portions of the commission did not stand behind the announced results. This internal dissent would provide the Supreme Court with grounds to credit allegations that the election administration had violated procedures.
Roslyn Akombe, one of the dissenting commissioners and a respected international election administration expert, subsequently resigned from the IEBC after the election, citing concerns regarding the commission's institutional independence and procedural integrity. Her resignation, announced publicly with explanatory statements, further damaged the IEBC's credibility and suggested that institutional corruption or compromise had occurred.
The IEBC's management of the crisis was further complicated by the commission's inadequate IT security infrastructure. While the organization deployed sophisticated electronic systems for result transmission, its cybersecurity capacity remained underdeveloped. The commission lacked the security protocols, monitoring systems, and incident response procedures that would have been standard in more developed electoral administration contexts. This gap between technological sophistication and security infrastructure left the systems vulnerable to compromise.
The IEBC's institutional crisis during 2017 would have long-term consequences. The commission's credibility, already damaged by the 2013 technology challenges, deteriorated substantially following the 2017 nullification and internal dissent. Rebuilding institutional trust would require substantial reform, staff changes, and demonstrated commitment to institutional independence that would not fully materialize in subsequent years. The 2017 election thus represented a nadir of IEBC institutional confidence, despite the commission's nominal existence as a constitutionally independent electoral body.
See Also
2017 Election 2017 Election Chris Msando 2017 Election August 8 Vote 2017 Election Supreme Court Nullification 2017 Election October Re-run
Sources
- Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. (2017). Post-Election Audit and Assessment Report. Retrieved from https://www.iebc.or.ke/
- Akombe, Roslyn. (2017). Resignation Statement and Institutional Assessment. Retrieved from https://www.iebc.or.ke/
- International Foundation for Electoral Systems. (2017). Kenya 2017: Electoral Management and Institutional Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.ifes.org/