Willis Otieno: Why Kenya must do away with Bomas tallying centre

Lawyer Willis Otieno has urged the incoming Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson and commissioners to abolish the concept of a national tallying centre in the 2027 elections.

Traditionally hosted at the renowned Bomas of Kenya, the centre has become ingrained in the minds of Kenyans as the place where a new president is unveiled after days of anticipation and tension, as seen in the 2013, 2017, and 2022 elections.

Willis argues that the idea of a national tallying centre is not only contrary to constitutional provisions but also a setup that makes it easier for election results to be manipulated.

“For us to achieve a free and fair election, we first need to do away with Bomas. We don’t need a national tallying centre,” Willis said during an interview on Spice FM.

“The spirit of the court’s decision in the Maina Kiai petition was that votes should be cast, counted, and results announced at the polling station before the first tallying at the constituency level,” he added.

According to the lawyer, the presidential vote should be declared by the constituency returning officer.

“In fact, this position of a national returning officer, as Chebukati used to call himself, is an anathema to our laws—we do not recognise it,” said Willis.

The IEBC has suffered a significant trust deficit, with several of the elections it has conducted ending up in court.

Willis contends that under an ideal system, with the current electoral process where voting ends at 5 PM, presidential results should be known by the close of election night.

This, he says, mirrors the system in the United States, where electoral units make results public in real time, allowing media houses to project winners and call elections.

By contrast, Kenyan media are not allowed to announce results and must instead wait for the IEBC’s official declaration.

With the IEBC projecting a budget of Sh62 billion for the 2027 elections, a significant portion of this amount is allocated to the national tallying centre alone.

“Whoever the next commissioners are, we must demand that we do not spend Sh12 billion on a national tallying centre when results can be declared at the constituency level,” Willis stated.

He pointed to the 2002 election—which was widely accepted—as an example of an election conducted at the constituency level, rendering the electoral commission powerless in influencing results.

He noted that the then-chairman, Samuel Kivuitu, released the results without the grand announcements that have since become a hallmark of IEBC declarations.

“Kivuitu didn’t even have a tallying centre—he was doing the tallying in his boardroom,” Willis said.