Network Coverage on Election Day 2022: Which Counties Had Connectivity Problems

When Kenyans voted on August 9, 2022, the IEBC's plan was simple: every one of the 46,229 polling stations would transmit an image of the presidential results form (Form 34A) electronically via KIEMS kits to the national tallying center at Bomas of Kenya. The technology worked in 98.1% of stations. But the 1.9% where it didn't — roughly 879 stations — became ground zero for the post-election dispute.

What makes this story important isn't the number of failures. It's the pattern. The stations that couldn't transmit results electronically are concentrated in specific counties, and those counties share a common characteristic: they are among the most underserved by Kenya's telecommunications infrastructure.

The Connectivity Map

Kenya's mobile network coverage is extensive but uneven. Safaricom, the dominant carrier, claims 96% population coverage with its 4G network. But population coverage is not geographic coverage. Vast swathes of Kenya's northern and eastern counties have no reliable mobile signal.

The IEBC contracted Safaricom and Airtel Kenya to provide dedicated network capacity for KIEMS kit transmissions. This included mobile signal boosters at selected polling stations and satellite uplink facilities for areas with no terrestrial coverage. Despite these measures, connectivity gaps remained.

Based on IEBC data and media reports, the counties with the highest rates of transmission failure were:

• Turkana: Estimated 8-12% of stations failed to transmit — the county's vast geographic area and sparse population make network deployment uneconomical for carriers
• West Pokot: Mountainous terrain blocked signals in multiple constituencies, with an estimated 6-9% failure rate
• Samburu: Similar terrain challenges, with 5-8% of stations affected
• Tana River: Seasonal flooding had damaged network infrastructure in the weeks before the election
• Marsabit: Kenya's largest county by area, with vast stretches of desert between cell towers
• Mandera: Security concerns limited network maintenance crews' access to cell towers near the Somali border

By contrast, Nairobi, Kiambu, Mombasa, Nakuru, and other major urban centers had near-100% transmission rates. The digital divide in results transmission mirrors the broader digital divide in Kenyan society.

Why 879 Stations Mattered

In absolute terms, 879 stations out of 46,229 is a small number. But in a presidential race decided by 233,211 votes — a margin of just 1.63% — every untransmitted result creates uncertainty.

The Azimio la Umoja coalition, in its Supreme Court petition, argued that the failure to transmit results from these stations meant there was no independent electronic verification of the physical results. They contended that results could have been altered during the physical transport of forms from polling stations to constituency tallying centers.

The IEBC responded that physical delivery of forms is a legitimate backup under Section 39 of the Elections Act, and that all 879 forms were eventually received and counted. The presiding officers at these stations still had access to Form 34A carbon copies, and party agents at each station could verify the count independently.

The Supreme Court agreed with the IEBC, noting that the petitioners had failed to demonstrate any specific instance where a physically delivered form contained different results from what agents had witnessed at the polling station.

The Infrastructure Reality

Kenya's telecommunications infrastructure has improved dramatically over the past decade. In 2013, the first election using electronic identification, the biometric verification failure rate was estimated at 20-30% in some counties. By 2022, it was down to 3% nationally.

But the remaining gaps are the hardest to close. The counties with connectivity problems are characterized by:

• Low population density: Turkana has 13 people per square kilometer, compared to Nairobi's 6,247. Building cell towers for 13 people per sq km is not commercially viable.
• Difficult terrain: West Pokot and Samburu have mountainous terrain that limits signal propagation. A single cell tower that covers 20 km in flat terrain might cover only 3 km in mountains.
• Security challenges: Parts of Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa have active security threats from Al-Shabaab, limiting maintenance access.
• Extreme weather: Turkana's heat (regularly exceeding 40°C) degrades electronic equipment faster than in temperate areas.

The IEBC attempted to mitigate these challenges by deploying portable satellite terminals (VSATs) to the most remote stations. However, satellite connections are slower and less reliable than terrestrial mobile networks, and some VSATs also failed — often due to power supply issues rather than connectivity itself.

The Power Problem

Network coverage is only half the equation. The KIEMS kits themselves need power, and the stations they're transmitting to need functioning base stations — which also need power.

An estimated 30% of Kenya's polling stations have no access to grid electricity. In the 2022 election, the IEBC provided power banks and solar chargers for KIEMS kits in off-grid locations. But some kits ran out of power before transmission was complete, particularly in stations with long queues that extended voting past the planned closing time.

In Turkana North constituency, multiple presiding officers reported that their KIEMS kits' batteries died during the counting process, after the extended voting period pushed operations past 10 PM. The forms from these stations had to be delivered physically — sometimes by motorcycle across unpaved roads — to the constituency tallying center.

Lessons for 2027

The 2027 election will face the same infrastructure constraints unless significant investment is made. Several developments could help:

• Starlink and LEO satellites: Low-earth orbit satellite internet services are now available in Kenya, offering connectivity in areas with no terrestrial coverage. The IEBC could contract satellite providers as a backup for the most remote stations.
• Last-mile solar: Kenya's off-grid solar market has exploded, with companies like M-KOPA and d.light providing affordable solar systems. Permanent solar installations at polling stations could solve the power problem.
• Mesh networking: Newer KIEMS kits could use mesh networking protocols that allow kits within range of each other to relay data to the nearest connected node, extending effective coverage.

The 879 stations that failed to transmit in 2022 represent a solvable problem. But solving it requires coordination between the IEBC, telecommunications companies, the energy sector, and county governments. The question is whether the political will exists to invest in infrastructure that primarily serves Kenya's most marginalized communities.

Those 879 stations serve roughly 550,000 registered voters. Their right to have their votes counted — and verified — is no less important than voters in Westlands or Kilimani.

Don't let connectivity gaps create data gaps. Votrack's hybrid online-offline system ensures your parallel tally is complete even when KIEMS transmission fails. Contact us to learn how campaigns in connectivity-challenged counties stay informed.