The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson, Erastus Ethekon Edung, has openly and frankly said nobody has ever stolen an election in Kenya, especially at the presidential level.

Speaking during a roundtable media engagement on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, Edung insisted that Kenya’s electoral process is too regulated to allow vote theft and that any disputes are resolved through established legal channels.

Ghost polling stations

“To be fair, I did not expect that we were coming here to answer some of these questions. On ghost polling stations, to be honest, I am not aware of any, but I know they exist, and that is why we have the national operations team working on getting to know where they were and when.

“We will share all gazetted polling stations and counter-check any of them,” he said.

The IEBC boss noted that such concerns would be handled systematically ahead of the 2027 General Election to improve public trust.

Impartiality and vote-stealing claims

Addressing perceptions of bias, Erastus said the debate was often driven by opinions rather than evidence. “Again, on the issue of impartiality, let’s all agree it is an issue of perception and not facts,” he explained.

He rejected allegations of vote theft, saying, “Stealing votes again? I think our elections, as I said earlier, are very regulated. We go to the election process, we vote, we tally them and announce, and if there is any challenge, there is a legal way where one can file a petition.”

Plans for 2027

Looking ahead, the IEBC chairperson promised to tighten any remaining loopholes in the system. “Going forward to 2027, I will ensure stealing of votes will be equal to impossible, and if there are loopholes one can see, just tell us,” he said.

Erastus closed by reminding stakeholders of the commission’s mandate.

“In IEBC, we deal with numbers, not emotions,” he stated, underscoring the body’s commitment to data-driven decision-making and legal compliance in all electoral matters.