Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka at a past event. Photo/ the-star.co.ke
Chairman of the Council of Governors ICT committee Governor Kenneth Lusaka has rooted for a manual back-up of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) systems during the August polls.Lusaka said there is need for such a credible backup which should be devoid of manipulation to complement the digital system.The Bungoma county chief warned that manipulation of election results could throw the country into a crisis.He added that the greatest fear is the hacking of the IEBC systems which could lead to manipulation of results thereby subverting the will of voters.“This is why we have one set of leaders saying let us have a manual back-up because this system might even breakdown so that we don’t throw this country into a crisis. This is something that must be addressed,” said Lusaka as reported by the Nation.“Let us use this summit to change ideas and come up with solutions to help this country,” added Lusaka on Monday during an ICT summit at Leisure Lodge Resort in Kwale County.In January, President Uhuru signed into law the controversial Election Laws (Amendment) 2016 which allows IEBC to revert to the manual system in the event the electronic one fails.However, the opposition has objected its use claiming it is subject to manipulation and rigging.Lusaka also urged his colleagues to automate their systems to curb graft in counties.“There was some misconception that counties did not want to use the integrated financial management information system. That is far from it. We want efficiency. One way of fighting corruption is to go ICT especially in revenue collection and procurement systems,” Lusaka noted.