United Green Movement Party presidential candidate David Maraga on Thursday delivered a keynote speech at the 2026 Kenyan Nurses Association of America conference in Towson, Maryland.
More than 300 nurses are attending the convention of the Kenyan nurses’ umbrella body, founded by Dr. Jelia Akombe.
Maraga started his diaspora leg of the Ukatiba Caravan on Wednesday and his presence at the nurses convention follows a busy day in Washington DC, where he held meetings with diplomats and the US Congressional leadership.
The former Chief Justice emphasized his commitment to constitutionalism, telling the nurses that “if elected president I will be the first to follow the law”.
“I will not steal your money and I will not interfere with the work of public servants doing their job as long as they are doing it as it should be,” he told the delegates, reiterating his position against a national tallying center anywhere in the country.
“The IEBC has no business having a national tallying center at Bomas because the Maina Kiai decision is very clear that the results announced at the polling station are final.”
On the diaspora Kenyans’ right to vote, Maraga maintained that time had come for the IEBC to ensure that Kenyans living abroad are facilitated to exercise their political rights.
“We are demanding an amendment to the Elections Act to provide for electronic voting for diaspora because that is the voting system we eventually want to have in place.
“Everywhere in the world, that is the trend. It is only a few countries mostly in Africa that electronic voting is being delayed and the excuses that people in the villages have no access to technology is not sustainable.”
Questionable electoral credibility
Earlier in the day, Maraga held consultative meetings with the congressional Foreign Relations Committee.
During his meeting at Capitol Hill, Maraga outlined a series of structural weaknesses that continue to undermine the credibility of national polls, especially the existence of a national tallying centre, which “has no constitutional basis and creates opportunities for manipulation” of results.
He pointed out how the country had gone several years without a credible audit of the voter register, leaving dead voters, ghost entries, and unpublished data unaddressed ahead of the 2027 elections.
“(Former) CJ Maraga urged for collaboration of all stakeholders, especially international partners like the United States to focus on critical reforms to the IEBC meant to guarantee accountability for electoral officials,” a source present at the meetings told Kurunzi News.
“The opaque deployment of technology, and the politicization of returning officer appointments are evidence that past failures in results transmission remain pertinent and must be resolved in good time before Kenyans go to the polls.”
