The Commission is hosting the delegation from Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho, who are in the country to learn on various electoral matters so as to improve their own processes.

The team from Lesotho which is on a three-day study tour are keen on learning about register development, maintenance and management; general elections and referenda; results transmission and publication; use of Artificial Intelligence in the electoral process; and deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in elections.

Commission Secretary and CEO Mr Marjan Hussein Marjan, MBS welcomed the Lesotho delegation noting that the Commission does not take for granted their visit, which serves as a confidence vote in the electoral process in Kenya.

“I welcome you to Kenya. You have stated in your request that you want to learn about issues to do with election operation, management and referendum. We have a good team here to guide you and I hope our experience and what we share here will help you to improve your election management,” said Marjan.

Also present was Deputy Commission Secretaries for Operation Ruth Kulundu and Support Services Obadiah Keitany.

The Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho was led by its Chief Executive Officer Mpaiphele Maqutu, who lauded the IEBC for great job conducting the 2022 General Election, which offers hope to other Election Management Bodies (EMBs) as they endeavor to attain similar standards.

“We have come to Kenya to learn from your experience on the successes you have recorded in conduct of your election. We would like to know the technologies you used and how we can learn from it,” said Maqutu.

The four-member Lesotho delegation had Maqutu (team leader), Motloi Sekoala, Silas Tsoeu the IECL Systems Administrator and Phenethe Mapepe, the IECL Senior Database Administrator.

Michael Ouma, the Commission’s Director of Information, Communication and Technology who is the chairperson of the delegation, reiterated that Kenya’s election is conducted manually and not electronic.