Information and Communication Technology Integration and Performance of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Kenya
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Date
2023
Authors
Bosire, Enock Erick
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta university
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.
Specifically, this study determined the influence of organizational-level factors on
performance of IEBC; determined the influence of technology characteristics on
performance of IEBC; and determined the influence of individual-level factors 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. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain primary data for this
investigation. Data analysis used a mixture of descriptive and inferential statistics.
Data presentation was by use tables and charts. 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
recommends 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
A Research Project Submitted to School Of Business,
Economics and Tourism in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirement for the Award of the Degree of Master of
Business Administration (Management Information
Systems) of Kenyatta University
Keywords
Information and Communication Technology, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Kenya