Former Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua has asked the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to do away with the National Tallying Centre at Bomas of Kenya.

Gachagua has recommended that the results from the 290 Constituency Tallying be declared final.

He stated that the media can then add the results from the 290 constituencies and announce the winner.

“What I recommend and we want to ask IEBC, is to do away with the Bomers and the National Tallying Center. It is not necessary. The law, as it is today, recognises the constituency as an electoral area for the presidential election,” Gachagua said.

“So the presidential elections are announced in the 290 constituencies. The matter should end there. Even you guys in the press room can just add up the numbers and announce the president.”

Why Gachagua Wants the National Tallying Centre Disbanded

Gachagua claimed that rigging of the presidential election happens at the transmission and at the National Tallying Centre.

He explained that no candidate can interfere with the results from the 290 constituencies.

Besides, he stated that devolving the presidential election will also reduce the time taken to announce the results.

“This thing of Bomers and tallying and transmission is where monkey business begins. The way to have a free and fair election, and we know the results by morning, same day, is to do the presidential tallying at the constituency. Once the elections are announced at constituency 290, the press will take the results and write them down,” he said.

“When they come from all others, people will just add, and we know who the president is, and nobody can tamper with that. It is not possible to tamper with 290 talent centers. But this National Talent Center has been the source of our problems since the year 2007.”

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Was the 2022 Election Rigged?

He mentioned that there were efforts to rig the 2022 general elections but the IEBC portal suppressed them.

“There were efforts, but they were thwarted by the portal. But I’m saying that it is not even necessary because it takes four or five days to ease tension in the country. Let’s devolve the presidential elections,” he said.

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Presidential Results Announcement

Gachagua said the counting of presidential votes is the first at the polling stations and constituency tallying centres.

He stated that it is possible for most of the constituencies to announce the presidential election results at 10 am the next day after the election.

“Even the tallying, they tally the presidential results first. So it’s possible that by morning, more than 240 constituencies in areas that have no challenge with the networking, the results will be known. That is a way to deal with this matter in a very nice manner so that we reduce tension in the country and we lessen room for monkey business or anybody who wants to interfere with the results,” Gachagua said.

“So let there be 290 returning officers for the presidential election so that nobody can interfere with those 290 people.  Instead of having one person at Bomas. And once those results are announced across the constituencies, everybody will just add up the numbers.”

IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon. PHOTO/IEBC.