Attorney-General Githu Muigai has supported the use of a manual backup voting system for the 2017 elections, saying an electronic one could fail.

The AG told the Senate Legal Affairs Committee on Tuesday that contrary to what critics have said, Kenya has a manual system supported by electronic components.

But his comments were faulted by Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar, who said Mr Muigai’s claim that Kenya’s system is manual is false.

“We don’t want dead voters to vote. We want to cure mischief through [the] electronic system,” Mr Omar said.

He said the election laws came from a negotiated process and one political wing cannot single-handedly amend them.

Mr Omar said the move has created suspicion and the tension.