Kenyan parliament passes controversial election law

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – The national assembly of Kenya has passed a controversial amendment to the country’s electoral laws which now paves the way for a manual voting and tallying system in case an electronic system fails.

The opposition led by the country’s former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, strongly opposed the move made on Thursday, but President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ruling party utilized its numbers in the house to pass the amendment anyway.

The opposition accused the ruling government of planning to rig next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections by not using a more reliable electronic system which has worked in countries such as the U.S. and is said to be not susceptible to vote tampering.

They called for mass demonstrations across the country starting on Jan. 4 to protest the change in electoral laws.

In May, more than 30 people were killed in nationwide demonstrations when the opposition called for protests demanding for the commissioners of Kenya’s electoral body to step down,

In 2013, Kenya seemed all set to use a modern electronic election but just days before the election the system reportedly malfunctioned, forcing the nation to revert back to the manual system.