There’s nothing wrong with auditing IEBC servers if elections were free, fair – Senator Eddie Oketch

By Robert Mutasi

Migori Senator Eddie Oketch has insisted that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) servers that were used during the 2022 general election must be audited.

Oketch argues that if the presidential election was free and fair, their demand to open the servers for auditing should not be an issue.

Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV, Friday, the ODM Senator noted that the issue of opening servers is one of their major concerns as the opposition.

It has already been listed as one of those to be handled in the bi-partisan talks that President William Ruto agreed to.

"Issues that we felt need to be addressed and we have been very forthcoming with, one of them is the election that has just passed," he said.

The legislator also noted that once the government agrees to open the servers for auditing, they must be involved in the process.

"How can the servers be audited and that forensic audit is not a lack of imagination by Azimio Community," Oketch said.

The senator has further said the audit of servers is meant to assess if the elections were free of irregularities as per the constitution. 

According to Article 86 of the new Constitution, at every election, the IEBC shall ensure that whatever voting method is used, the system is simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent. 

The opposition has been claiming that the results of the presidential election where William Ruto was declared winner were manipulated.

Their arguments were however dismissed by the Supreme Court.

But according to the Migori Senator, the opposition's request to audit IEBC servers is as per the Election Act of 2011.

The act provides for election dispute resolution.

In the 2022 general election, IEBC declared Ruto, vying on a Kenya Kwanza ticket the winner of the presidential poll, after garnering over 6.1 million votes.

Azimio candidate Raila Odinga was second with 5.9 million votes.

However, the opposition claim data from an alleged whistler blower shows that Raila was the winner,