The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Erastus Edung Ethekon (center, podium) briefs the media on April 30, 2026, on the completion of the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR). With him are fellow IEBC Commissioners.

📋 Breaking It Down

A proposed law giving the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) full ownership of election technology and unhindered access to election result servers has cleared a major hurdle after sailing through the debate stage in the National Assembly.

The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which progressed in the House last week, seeks to have election servers hosted in Kenya and ensure they are accessible for scrutiny by candidates, courts and other authorised persons.

The Bill also mandates the IEBC to provide access to information, including technology used in elections, without charging a fee where the information is requested in soft-copy format.

📌 What You Need to Know

The scrutiny would be conducted in accordance with the Constitution, the Access to Information Act, the Elections Act, the Data Protection Act and the IEBC Act.

Clause 23 seeks to amend Section 44(4) of the Elections Act by inserting a new provision granting the IEBC ownership of intellectual property rights in election technology and access to the servers.

“In procuring the election technology, the commission shall ensure that intellectual property rights to the technology vest in the commission,” the proposed provision states.

Read: Who will control elections tech and servers? Bill languishes as 2027 nears

The changes would, however, only take effect if the Bill is passed and signed into law in its current form.

The Bill, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho) and Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo, is based on recommendations of the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report, which was adopted by the Senate on February 21, 2024, and by the National Assembly a day later.

📰 Source: Nation Africa