Why Raila Wants Kenya to Adopt US-Style Devolved Electoral System

Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party leader Raila Odinga has called for a devolved electoral system similar to the one in the United States.

Odinga argues that devolving the electoral commission would increase credibility and transparency as opposed to the current system that is centralized. He similarly proposes that political parties be allowed to second their members to be part of the electoral agency.

“There is always the question of centralization of election management. Do we need one electoral body to manage our elections or should elections management be devolved to the state regions or counties as in the case of the United States? Should parties be allowed to second their members to the election management bodies? My answer to these two questions is yes,” said Odinga.

Odinga, who spoke at the 14th edition of the Leadership Annual Conference and Awards in Abuja, Nigeria, this week, also raised concerns about the use of technology in elections.

 “There is a need to rethink the use of technology. Either we adopt reliable election technology, including voting machines that generate a voter-verifiable audit trail, so voters can confirm that their choices are being recorded accurately, or we go fully manual,” said Odinga.

He faulted the Supreme Court ruling that the technology used in Kenya’s 2022 election met the constitutional standards of integrity, verifiability, security and transparency, saying it is unclear on what objective criteria the judges arrived at this conclusion.

 “Existing electoral laws are not seen to assemble an election system that people believe is transparent, accountable and democratic. There is, therefore, a need for further reforms to make the voting process more accessible and reliably enhance protection against mistakes, irregularities, confusion and fraud,” he added.

Odinga warned that there is a high likelihood of voter apathy come 2027 if the issues surrounding the August 2022 general election are not fully addressed.

“Kenyans may lose all faith and decide to boycott future elections because they believe that their votes do not matter. Kenya has become a laboratory for bad election practices and others borrow in the continent,” he said.

Even though the apex court ruled that President Ruto was validly elected, Odinga, 78, has maintained that the last presidential election was rigged in favor of the former deputy president.