How to Set Up an Election War Room in Kenya

A war room is not a big screen and a noisy WhatsApp group. It is a small team that knows what is happening on the ground, decides what to do and makes sure someone does it. Here is how to set one up for a Kenyan election.

Decide what your war room is for

A campaign war room has three jobs on election day: keep an agent in every stream, deal with problems quickly, and collect and check results forms. Anything else is a distraction.

Size it to your seat. A presidential campaign may run a national room and a room in each county. An MCA campaign may need three people, a laptop and a phone in the ward office. Both are war rooms.

Remember that only IEBC declares results. Your job is to know your own numbers and back them with signed forms. Announcing victory from half the results damages your credibility and can heat up the ground.

Agree before polling day

Staff the room in shifts

Give each desk one clear job. A typical room has a room lead, an agents desk that tracks check-ins by ward, an incidents desk, a tally desk for results forms, a logistics desk for transport and M-Pesa payments, a lawyer on call and one person who speaks to the media.

Election day runs from 5am to well past midnight, and tallying can take days. Plan at least two shifts. Tired people make mistakes with numbers.

Protect the basics: backup power, internet from two different providers, spare phones and power banks, and a printed list of every ward coordinator’s number in case the network fails.

Use one simple report format

Every report from the ground should answer the same questions: where (ward, centre and stream), when, who is reporting, what happened and what they need. Teach ward coordinators this format before election day.

Say how sure you are. “I saw it”, “someone told me” and “it’s on social media” are very different. Rumours spread fast on election day. A social media post is not a fact until your own person confirms it.

Sort problems by urgency. Red means safety, violence, an agent thrown out or a problem with the ballot box, and needs action within minutes. Amber means a KIEMS kit failure, a late opening or missing materials, and needs follow-up within the hour. Green is a routine update.

A good report says

Close every problem, don’t just forward it

Every problem needs one owner until it is closed. “Sent to legal” is not closed. Record what was done, by whom and when.

Some problems belong outside the campaign. Violence goes to the police. Polling problems go to the presiding officer or the IEBC returning officer, and your agent should write the complaint down. Legal questions go to your lawyer.

Handle evidence with care. Record who took each photo or video, when and where, and never edit the original. It may be needed in a petition.

Track results forms to the end

As counting finishes, your tally desk should receive a photo of the form from every stream. Have two different people enter the figures and compare them. This catches most typing mistakes.

Compare your figures with the forms IEBC publishes, stream by stream. Send any difference to your lawyer with the photo attached.

Tallying continues after polling day at constituency and county tally centres, where the 34B, 37B and similar forms are filled. Keep agents at those centres too. After the declaration, keep all your records. Petition deadlines are short: 7 days for president and 28 days for other seats. UshindiOS EWR gives your war room one shared record of agents, incidents and forms. It does not replace IEBC or official results.

At the end of every shift, check