A petition in the High Court wants to stop the IEBC from utilising the national tallying facility. Senator Okiya Omtatah from Busia has asked the Milimani High Court to rule that the National Tallying Centre is illegal.
He thinks that the centre, which is normally in the Bomas of Kenya, might hurt the honesty of the presidential election in 2027.
He says that the way results are processed at the national level has made it possible for meddling, manipulation, and delays that make people less likely to believe elections.
Omtatah adds that the centre has set up a system in which the final results from constituencies are seen as preliminary, even though they should be final and binding.
He says that this system is against the Constitution and lets anyone modify or affect the result of the presidential election after all the votes have been tallied at the constituency level.
He says that once the results are counted and declared at the constituency level, they should not be changed at the national level.
He posted a message on his X account on Sunday, November 24, claiming he had filed Constitutional Petition No. E757 of 2025 to voice his concerns.
Before the 2027 elections, his objective is to keep the presidential election process from losing its legitimacy. He thinks that the nation can’t have another election with a system that has let prior problems and distrust happen.
Omtatah asks the court to block the IEBC from utilising a central place to count votes and check the final presidential results.
He maintains that the Constitution already sets clear rules on how to handle votes, and he thinks those rules should be followed exactly as they are without adding more centres that he thinks are unneeded and dangerous.
His petition is putting pressure on the IEBC and the government to reply. The High Court will then rule whether the National Tallying Centre will still be part of the 2027 election process.
Omtatah Challenges Bomas Tallying Centre Constitutionality
