MPs scrap IEBC guarantee of access to election servers, tech

The National Assembly has scrapped proposed legal safeguards that would have strengthened the electoral commission’s ownership of election technology and required election servers to be hosted in Kenya, reopening questions about who controls the systems used to manage and transmit election results.

The House adopted amendments by Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma to the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2024, removing provisions that sought to vest intellectual property rights in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and require election technology providers to host servers in the country.