The National Assembly has removed proposed requirements to host election servers in Kenya and vest election-technology intellectual property rights in the IEBC, while retaining a provision for lawful scrutiny of the technology.
The changes were made during consideration of the Elections (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill on October 22. Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma moved the amendments, which also removed a proposed supplier-screening provision.
The surviving text requires technology to be accessible for scrutiny by candidates, courts and other legally entitled persons, subject to the Constitution, the Elections Act and data-protection law. It would therefore be inaccurate to describe the vote as removing every legal access safeguard.
Ownership, hosting and access address different questions: who controls a system, where it operates and who can examine it. A scrutiny clause does not by itself resolve the other two issues.
Nation’s reporting places the proposals within efforts to strengthen IEBC’s control over election systems. The parliamentary record confirms that the House changed the proposed wording; it does not establish that the amended Bill is already law.
The Bill returns to the Senate for consideration of the National Assembly’s changes. The final agreed text and completion of the legislative process remain the developments to watch.
Photo details
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
- The amended election Bill distinguishes ownership and hosting requirements from access to election technology.
- See the linked source records for the reported decision and its limits.
