Siaya Senator James Orengo on Tuesday clashed with Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioner Boya Molu about the disputed 2017 elections.
This happened as Molu appeared before Senate's Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee for the post-election evaluation.
Orengo took issue with Molu's defence on the election's expensive nature, faulting his claims that the same is to blame on the sharp sectarian division in the country.
He added that the commission is also forced to spend extra monies to promote trust among Kenyans in a bid to come up with largely accepted results.
“Our elections are expensive because we have decided to legislate trust. We have also decided to automate trust. Kenyans don’t trust their institutions. Kenyans don’t trust their political parties. This is a question we must confront. We must create trust among citizens not just IEBC,” stated the IEBC commissioner.
However, Orengo said that the said divisions are not unique to Kenya, questioning why countries like Brazil and India have managed to hold cheaper polls despite being more divided.
He faulted the commissioner for joining Kenyans in lamenting, saying that his role in the commission should be to propose possible remedies.
“We want to be in a situation where our elections will be less acrimonious. As managers of elections, you must tell us what can be done so that people will accept the results of an election," said the Siaya Senator.
He also questioned IEBC's decision to transmit the results manually as opposed to electronically as had been announced, a situation Molu blamed on the unavailability of 4G network in some parts of the country.
Orengo's ODM party successfully petitioned the August 8 presidential poll which was nullified and a re-run ordered on October 26.