Information and Communication Technology Integration and Performance of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Kenya
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Date
2023
Authors
Bosire, E. E.
Mutuku, M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
strategic journals
Abstract
The volatile political climate in Kenya was significantly exacerbated by several electoral frauds and transmission
delays of the presidential results during this election. The Kriegler Commission suggested the adoption of
technology in the electoral process in order to offer effective, transparent, auditable, and credible outcomes,
among other significant reforms. The IEBC which was established in 2011 oversaw the general elections of 2013
and 2017. However, in both instances, the IEBC was questioned on how it conducted the elections. Kenya's
Supreme Court decided that the latter round of presidential election results was invalid due to vote irregularities.
The legitimacy of the official election results, which are frequently rejected, have consequently been at the center
of Kenya's electoral crisis. This has eroded public confidence in the digital technologies at IEBC’s. There are
significant obstacles to integration of ICT in election process due to budgeting and financial costs, lack of sufficient
specialized knowledge, technological drawbacks, low levels of awareness, public employee resistance, information
security, laws, necessary technology, and a lack of faith in e-Government. These factors are broadly categorized
into technology characteristics, organizational, and individual factors. To this end, this study sought to determine
the enablers and impact of ICT integration on performance of IEBC. Diffusion of innovation theory and the
technology-organization environment model served as the study's foundations. For this study, a survey design was
selected. The target population comprised of 373 permanent employees working at the IEBC headquarters as well
as 200 politicians. Purposive, convenience and simple stratified random sampling were applied to select a sample
size of 236 respondents. The findings of this study revealed that organizational-level factors, technology
characteristics and individual-level factors positively and significantly influence performance of IEBC. This study
recommended IEBC to pay particular attention to organizational-level factors that affect ICT integration as they
ultimately affect its performance. In this regard, there is need for IEBC to ensure that it is well-equipped to use
various innovative aspects, have a high availability of appropriate ICT equipment in the organization, utilize prior
expertise in relevant ICT domains, conduct employee training to create a greater understanding, positive attitude,
more usage, and diversified use of innovation, and provide adequate training and aiding staff when they
encounter difficulties utilizing different technologies. Additionally, there is need to provide proper management
support for the adoption and usage of various technologies, avail individual workers with incentives like
recognition and awards for innovation adoption, and train them to promote effective completion of specific task
performance.
Description
Article
Keywords
Technology, ICT Integration, Organizational-Level Factors, Individual-Level Factors, IEBC
Citation
Bosire, E. E., & Mutuku, M. (2023). Information and communication technology integration and performance of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 10 (2), 329 –350.