Nairobi, Sept. 18 – The High Court is set to rule on a petition by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah seeking to have the national tallying of presidential election results declared unconstitutional, in a case that could reshape how Kenya announces presidential winners ahead of the 2027 General Election.
In his petition, Omtatah argues that the Constitution designates constituencies as the final and definitive level for tallying and verifying presidential election results, and that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairperson’s role at the national level should be confined to collating already-verified constituency results and formally declaring a winner. He contends that requiring a further round of tallying and verification at the National Tallying Centre at Bomas of Kenya amounts to an unconstitutional duplication that opens room for manipulation rather than closing it.
The petition specifically challenges Section 39 of the Elections Act and Regulation 83(2) of the Elections (General) Regulations, which Omtatah says exceed the bounds of constitutional authority by creating additional verification layers for results that have already been declared final at the constituency level. He is further pushing for presidential results to be published immediately in the public domain as they stream in, rather than being confined to the IEBC’s own results portal.
The senator’s push has found an ally in the People’s Coalition on Electoral Reforms, led by retired Chief Justice David Maraga, which has separately called for the scrapping of the Bomas tallying centre altogether, arguing that its role is not expressly provided for in the Constitution.
The IEBC, however, is opposing the petition, defending the current tallying architecture as consistent with the law when the Constitution is read alongside the Elections Act. Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has also publicly defended the Bomas arrangement, arguing that the national tallying centre plays a necessary verification role rather than an unconstitutional one.
The case touches a nerve in Kenyan politics, where the Bomas tallying centre has been at the heart of disputes in past presidential elections, with losing candidates repeatedly alleging that figures are altered between constituencies and the national centre. A ruling in Omtatah’s favour would force a fundamental redesign of how presidential results are announced just over a year before Kenyans next go to the polls.