Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has allowed the embattled Kericho Governor Erick Mutai, to have additional experts to help in the verification of the voting system at the Kericho County Assembly.

Ruling on the eligibility of the voting process, Kingi invoked the Constitution, which allows the House to summon any person.

“I direct the office of the Cerk to immediately contact the ICT Authority of Kenya and request the authority to provide the Senate with two ICT experts to come and assist the Senate in this matter,” he said.

The Speaker directed the Clerk of the Senate to accommodate the experts to sit with the Kericho County Head of ICT, and the governor’s legal team to prepare a report for the Senate.

“The report, which must be brief and concise, should be submitted to the office of the Clerk of the Senate not later than 6pm today,” he ordered.

Kingi sought to determine whether allegations of a faulty electronic voting system could be substantiated, ruling that the Senate required neutral advice on the matter away from the witnesses of the party.

In the report to be tabled before Senate, the Speaker wants the experts to answer whether an electronic vote took place at the Kericho County Assembly.

They will have to verify the number of MCAs who voted and ascertain the voting system, the threshold of the vote, and whether those outside could vote on behalf of the members.

The Senate also wants a clear report on the possibility of multiple voting.

The issue of the voting system dominated debate at the beginning of the session, after Peter Wanyama, Governor Mutai’s lawyer, argued that the electronic voting system breached the data protection laws.

Wanyama pointed out that the impeachment documents tabled before Senate contained personal identification details of MCAs, including their ID numbers and Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD) numbers, which were used as login credentials.

This is after the 33 out of 47 MCAs voted in favour of a motion to impeach Governor Mutai on August 15.

But, 18 MCAs have allegedly disputed the voting record, casting doubts on whether the two-thirds threshold for impeachment was met.

The Speaker has also allowed an IT expert from the governor’s side, Job Oguya, to present reports of a cybersecurity audit of the Kericho County Assembly electronic voting system.