Political leaders who lose in the 2027 General Election must be ready to accept the outcome, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has warned, saying refusal to concede could raise tensions and put the country at risk of violence.
IEBC Commissioner Hassan Noor Hassan on Wednesday said candidates and political parties had a responsibility to accept the results and allow the electoral process to take its course as Kenya prepares for the August 2027 polls.
“Our appeal to the political class is to accept defeat graciously as and when it happens,” Hassan said.
He said peaceful elections in many countries were possible because political contestants accepted defeat instead of disputing the outcome in ways that could trigger unrest.
“Many of the countries you hear there was no violence in are because the contestants accepted defeat,” he said.
Hassan was speaking during a national election security roundtable consultative forum organised by the electoral agency. The meeting brought together institutions involved in election management and the flow of information ahead of the 2027 polls.
Among those represented were the Media Council of Kenya, the Communications Authority of Kenya and the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.
The commissioner said accepting the outcome early could help lower political temperatures, especially as votes are tallied and results announced.
“The moment you accept defeat even before the results are announced, then you tone down the tension,” he said.
He said the IEBC would continue holding talks with political parties and candidates before the election to promote peaceful competition and encourage contestants to accept the results.
“That is our appeal to the politicians, but we will also create time to engage with them,” Hassan said.
The commissioner also expressed confidence in the IEBC’s preparations, pointing to the 32 by-elections conducted over the past year as evidence that key parts of the electoral process were working.
“What gives us hope is that, in the last one year, we have conducted 32 by-elections,” Hassan said.
He said the by-elections had allowed the commission to test important areas of election management, including recruitment of election officials, acquisition of election materials and the results management system.
According to Hassan, the commission achieved a 100 per cent success rate in the areas tested during the by-elections.
“The IEBC systems are working perfectly: recruitment of staff, sourcing of materials, results management systems. It was 100 per cent,” he said.
Hassan also defended the use of technology in elections, saying the systems used in recent polls had remained operational.
“Our technology has not failed,” he said.
He assured stakeholders that the commission was working towards a credible and efficient electoral process in 2027.
“We want to guarantee you a perfect system,” Hassan said.
He added that the IEBC was developing a system that would make it difficult for candidates to reject election results without credible grounds.
“It will be a system that will be very difficult for anybody to say no to it,” he said.
However, Hassan acknowledged that a well-prepared electoral system and technology alone could not guarantee a peaceful election. He said the conduct of political leaders and contestants would remain an important factor in determining whether the 2027 polls were held without violence.
The commissioner warned against a repeat of the violence that followed the disputed 2007 General Election, which left more than 1,000 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands.
“We cannot go back to 2007/2008. History has taught us a lot. We cannot even contemplate about electoral violence,” he said.
Hassan identified political competition, ethnic mobilisation, misinformation and unresolved grievances among the risks that could threaten the electoral process.