| Updated Sun, April 16th 2017 at 10:00 GMT +3This interpretation of the Constitution is clearly wrong because the duty to hold presidential elections in the 290 constituencies is vested in the chairperson of the IEBC as the presidential returning officer. To those Kenyans who believe that the 2007 and 2013 presidential elections could have been tampered with by the electoral commission at the presidential tallying centre, the High Court’s declaration has struck a massive blow for them. Under the electoral system established by the 2010 Constitution, there are three kinds of returning officers in Kenya — constituency (290), county (47) and presidential (1) returning officers. On the other hand, the chairman of the Commission is the returning officer in the presidential election. Accordingly, my honest view is that contrary to its noble objectives, the Maina Kiai judgement will promote rather than eliminate electoral malpractice in presidential elections.

Source: Standard Digital April 15, 2017 20:15 UTC