Lawyer Willis Otieno has dismissed former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s proposal to make constituency-level results final in presidential elections, arguing that Kenya’s Constitution already protects the voter’s will at the polling station.
In a statement shared on X, the Safina Party deputy president designate said Gachagua’s suggestion, though seemingly reformist, misses the core principle of Kenya’s electoral law.
“The polling station is the primary point of sovereignty; that’s where the voter’s will crystallizes and becomes law,” he stated.
Otieno said the current system—where results are declared first at the polling station before being transmitted to higher tallying centres—was deliberately designed to prevent manipulation.
“The law already makes the polling station results final. What is needed is compliance, not another layer of declaration,” he added.
Gachagua had proposed that once results are announced at the constituency level, they should be treated as final to reduce rigging and interference at the national tallying centre.
He argued that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) should have 290 returning officers handling presidential results instead of one at Bomas of Kenya.
But Otieno countered that the former deputy president’s idea could create more confusion and contradict the Constitution’s intention to keep the voter’s will at the most local level possible.
“Tampering doesn’t happen because of where we tally; it happens when officials disregard the law,” he remarked.
Otieno urged political leaders to focus on strengthening transparency, accountability, and technology in the electoral process rather than proposing structural changes that could weaken existing safeguards.
His remarks add a legal voice to the ongoing debate on election reforms as Kenya prepares for another heated political season ahead of the 2027 polls.