Maraga Coalition: Bomas Tallying Centre Abolition Urged for 2027 Kenya Election

• A coalition led by former Chief Justice David Maraga proposes abolishing Kenya's national presidential tallying centre at Bomas of Kenya before the 2027 General Election.
• The group argues the Constitution does not provide for a central tallying facility and that results declared at polling stations are final, citing the Maina Kiai Supreme Court decision.
• They advocate for the electoral process to conclude at the constituency level, limiting the IEBC chairperson's role to declaring results based on constituency tallies.
• The reforms aim to prevent the IEBC from re-tallying, re-verifying, or altering results already declared by lower-level officers.
• These changes would significantly redefine the legal framework for presidential elections and the powers of the IEBC leadership in Kenya.

These proposed changes represent a significant push for Kenya electoral reforms ahead of the 2027 election, aiming to fundamentally reshape the legal framework governing presidential election tallying and dispute resolution.

A prominent coalition, led by former Chief Justice David Maraga and known as the People’s Coalition on Electoral Reforms, is advocating for a significant overhaul of Kenya's presidential election process. Their primary demand is the abolition of the national tallying centre, traditionally located at Bomas of Kenya, before the upcoming 2027 General Election. The coalition asserts that the nation's Constitution does not envision a centralized facility for the aggregation of presidential votes.

Under their proposed framework, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) would be prohibited from re-tallying, re-verifying, or altering presidential results that have already been counted and declared at polling stations and subsequently tallied at the constituency level. Instead, the coalition suggests that the electoral process for presidential results should culminate at the constituency level. This would confine the role of the IEBC chairperson to merely declaring the final outcome based solely on the results transmitted from these constituency centers. These proposed changes would fundamentally reshape how presidential elections are conducted in Kenya, eliminating the national-level aggregation stage currently performed by the IEBC.

The People's Coalition on Electoral Reforms grounds its position firmly in the Kenyan Constitution, specifically citing Article 138(2), which mandates that a presidential election must be conducted in each constituency. Further support is drawn from Articles 86 and 138, which stipulate that votes must be counted, tallied, verified, and their results announced at both polling stations and constituency tallying centres. The coalition argues that the Constitution contains no explicit provision for a national tallying centre, questioning the legal basis for using Bomas or any other facility for such a purpose.

A cornerstone of their argument is the Supreme Court's landmark Maina Kiai decision, which unequivocally established the finality of results declared at polling stations. According to the coalition, once a presiding officer announces results at a polling station, these outcomes are definitive and cannot subsequently be modified by the IEBC or its commissioners. This interpretation underscores their belief that the Constitution does not grant the IEBC authority to re-tally results already declared at lower levels.

Beyond the structural changes to the tallying process, the coalition is also pushing for a clearer delineation of the powers vested in the IEBC chairperson and its commissioners during the concluding phases of a presidential election. While Article 138(10) assigns the chairperson the responsibility of declaring the presidential election results, the coalition contends that this provision does not empower the office to undertake a fresh tally or verification of results already announced at polling stations and constituency levels.

The proposed reforms would, therefore, explicitly prohibit the IEBC chairperson and commissioners from re-tallying, re-verifying, or altering results that have been declared by presiding officers and constituency returning officers. The coalition points to the proceedings surrounding presidential election petitions following both the 2017 and 2022 elections, suggesting that the national tallying process at the central level has historically presented opportunities for opacity and disputes. This experience reinforces their call for a more constrained and constitutionally aligned role for the IEBC leadership.

These proposed changes represent a significant push for Kenya electoral reforms ahead of the 2027 election, aiming to fundamentally reshape the legal framework governing presidential election tallying and dispute resolution. Should these reforms be adopted, they would profoundly impact the finality of results declared at the lowest electoral units and redefine the scope of authority held by the IEBC chairperson. The coalition is also challenging existing provisions within the Elections Act and related regulations that currently establish or support a national tallying centre.

For legal professionals, particularly lawyers advising political clients or engaged in electoral litigation, these developments warrant close monitoring. The potential alteration of the legal landscape for presidential vote aggregation and verification could introduce new precedents and procedural challenges. Understanding the nuances of these proposed constitutional interpretations and their practical application will be crucial for navigating the electoral environment in the lead-up to and during the 2027 polls.

Lawyers advising political clients or involved in electoral litigation should monitor these proposed reforms closely, as they could fundamentally alter the legal framework for presidential election tallying and dispute resolution in Kenya, particularly regarding the finality of results declared at lower levels and the role of the IEBC chairperson.

Source: Original reporting via Kenyan news sources