NAIROBI Kenya, Feb 1 – Azimio la Umoja coalition leader Raila Odinga has proposed a return of the manual voting system saying people have taken advantage of technology to subvert the will of the people.
While delivering a keynote address at the 14th annual Leadership Conference and Awards themed; “Credible Elections and Economy in Transition” in Abuja, Nigeria, Odinga said African countries should rethink the use of technology in elections.
“The voting machines should be able to generate voter records so that they can confirm that their choice is being recorded accurately or we go fully manual,” he said.
“Some people have taken advantage of technology to subvert the will of the people.”
Raila stated that Kenya has become a laboratory for bad elections practices that others borrow around the continent.
“Kenyans will lose faith and decide to boycott the next coming elections because they believe there votes does not matter,”he said.
“You can recall,The Kenya 2007 malpractices which became a script for Robert Mugabe.”
He added that the existing election laws are not seen to assemble an electoral system that people believe is transparent and that there is a need for further reforms to make the voting process more accessible and reliable.
He also said before investors decide to finance particular countries, they should first look at the credibility of their elections.
“When a government comes in through a fair ballot, investors get the reassurance that their property will be respected, taxation will be fair, investment rules will be simple and clear and they will not have to resort to corruption and bribery to set up or stay in business,” he said.
“Free and fair election is an indicator to investors that there is a government that is in place legitimately.”
Raila added that elections and democracies are failing in Africa because an organized-elites who are keen on protecting their narrow interests are remaining in power through the formation of strategic alliances.
“In a number of countries, we are witnessing situations in which the majority is increasingly at the mercy of the minority with regard to free, fair, transparent and credible elections,” he said.
