Ms. Dorcus Phanice Olasya is a PhD student at the University of Nairobi, Department of Diplomacy and International Studies, pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in International Studies. Ms.Olasya is also a Cyber Security Specialist with over 10 years of experience in the Cyber Security arena. She has hands on experience in Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing of critical infrastructure that include OT, Mobile device security, Information Security policies, Social Engineering techniques, Cyber Security awareness and capacity building. With her experience, Ms.Olasya desires to grow her skills in Cyber Policy focusing on how societies can manage emerging cyber risks in view of the dynamics related to technology.

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On 9th August, right after the 2017 General Elections in Kenya, the opposition leader, under the opposition party National Super Alliance (NASA) alleged that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s (IEBC) database had been hacked. The hack supposedly created an algorithm where an 11% gap was created in favor of the incumbent President. To support the claims, the opposition presented a log file giving an account of how and when the IEBC database was hacked into. What followed was a court petition whose ruling nullified the Presidential elections calling for a rerun. Fast forward, in August 2022, The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance once again challenged the IEBC final presidential results, claiming inconsistencies in voter turnout as captured in the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits and Form 34C. Equally, reports emerged of an Israeli disinformation specialist, hired by unknown individuals, infiltrating Gmail and Telegram accounts of one of Kenya’s Presidential candidate’s close political advisors. These among other instances represent some of the challenges Kenya is facing with the widespread adoption of technology into the different societal aspects. In the electoral process, technology was meant to enhance transparency and accountability to a process previously tainted by massive voter theft and result manipulation. However, with the new technological developments, new challenges such as data privacy issues have emerged. Further with the penetration of the internet and social media adoption, new forms of manipulation have been encountered. Using the concept of digital democracy therefore, this paper demonstrates how novel technologies have influenced the electoral process in Kenya. Focusing on misinformation and disinformation, fake news and hacking claims, the study highlights the implications of these forms of manipulation during past general elections. To mitigate against future interferences, a multifaceted approach with the involvement of all key stakeholders is proposed. The study adopted a qualitative and analytical research design with secondary data gathered from existing records, journals, reports, internet sources, policy papers, presented papers and books.