Former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Faith Odhiambo has urged Parliament to strengthen electoral transparency by expressly requiring the livestreaming of results announced at polling stations ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Odhiambo said Kenyans deserved to witness how their votes were translated into election results rather than being asked to trust electoral institutions without sufficient public scrutiny.
Her remarks follow the passage of the Elections (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2024, by the National Assembly on October 22, 2026, with calls mounting for Parliament to publish the approved text and clarify its implications for transparency.
In a statement, Odhiambo questioned whether the amendments approved by MPs retained an explicit requirement for livestreaming the announcement of results at polling stations.
She noted that Clause 22 of the published Bill, which seeks to replace Section 39 of the Elections Act, provides for electronic transmission and online publication of results forms but does not expressly require livestreaming of results announcements.
“This is not a ban on livestreaming,” she clarified, adding that transmitting results electronically to election officials and allowing citizens to watch their announcement served different purposes.
Odhiambo called on Parliament to clarify whether the omission in the published Bill remained in the version passed by MPs, arguing that public access to the declaration process was essential for building confidence in elections.
She cited the court battles surrounding the livestreaming of election results, noting that the High Court, in a ruling delivered on April 6, 2018, in Katiba Institute v Attorney General, invalidated Section 39(1G) of the Elections Act.
The provision had required livestreaming but restricted the streamed results to public information, excluding them as a basis for declaring election outcomes.
According to Odhiambo, the court rejected the restriction because it undermined transparency and accountability. The Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the invalidation on October 6, 2023, in National Assembly v Katiba Institute.
She argued that the legislative responsibility was to establish a constitutionally sound requirement for livestreaming rather than relying on a provision that had already been invalidated by the courts.
Odhiambo further invoked Article 86 of the Constitution, which requires the electoral system to be transparent, accurate, verifiable, secure and accountable, with prompt announcements at polling stations and open, accurate collation of results.
With the 2027 General Election approaching, she urged Parliament to expressly guarantee public access to live results announcements and called on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to explain how voters would follow and scrutinise the electoral process.
She warned that electoral reforms should strengthen the public’s ability to verify results instead of leaving transparency dependent on the discretion of electoral institutions.
“The ballot is secret but the count must be open,” Odhiambo said.