[Judges during the ruling. They said use of technology was not properly utilised during the last polls.] (Photo/Star)
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission failed to comprehensively use technology in the August 8 elections.
During the full judgment that was made on Wednesday, the Supreme Court judges said that although technology was used, the final results delivered by the system were affected in a big way.
The judges further pointed out that the fact that the commission failed to allow for scrutiny of their servers and technology systems raised further concern.
“If IEBC had nothing to hide it would have readily provided access to ICT logs and servers to disapprove the petitioner’s claim. But what did IEBC do with it? It contemptuously disobeyed the court orders in these very critical areas,” the judges said.
The judges were in agreement that technology did not work well in the 2013 elections, being the first time it was used, but the IEBC had enough time to prepare and ensure their systems were in good shape before going to the polls.
Use of technology was suggested by the Kriegler commission, which said results manipulation could only be avoided with the use of ICT.
The judges further raised concern on the constant 11 per cent difference between Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga during result transmission, which was an indication of interference on the system.
During the presentation of the cases before the judges, NASA lawyers raised the issue, saying there was an algorithm that was used during the transmission of results.
“On consideration of of the affidavits filed by the petitioner and the respondents, we find that the electronic transmission of results was fundamentally flawed. The electronic transmission had no security, transparency, security, or verifiability,” the court ruled.