Harrison Keter declared IEK's president-elect, pledges to unite profession

The elections held on Monday, which had been delayed for more than six months, were conducted through a fully electronic voting system.

Chairperson of the Scrutineers Committee, Engineer Stephen Auma, said the platform generated provisional results after 2,181 members cast their ballots, translating to a voter turnout of more than 75 per cent, the highest participation recorded in IEK elections.

"We are happy to report that all members of IEK who were in the register of voters and turned up to vote were able to vote. That is unprecedented in the management of elections in our institution," said Auma.

In his acceptance speech, Keter pledged to unite the engineering profession and prioritise engineering education, mentorship and workforce development, particularly for young engineers.

"Our immediate priorities are to restore unity and strengthen engagement across our membership while strengthening engineering education, mentorship and workforce development, especially for our young engineers," he said.

Keter will serve a two-year term until 2028, challenging policymakers to ensure that major infrastructure investments create employment opportunities for local engineers and reduce reliance on foreign expertise. 

He urged engineers to take a more active role in shaping national policy, arguing that the profession must move beyond project implementation to influencing strategic development.

"The time has come for us to occupy our rightful space as engineers not through entitlement, but through excellence, innovation, professionalism and integrity," he said.

The president-elect further committed to strengthening collaboration across the engineering fraternity, bringing together consulting engineers, professional engineers, technicians, artisans and students to advance the profession and support national development.

The official declaration of the results will be made during the IEK Annual General Meeting (AGM) on August 19 at Daystar Auditorium, in line with the institution's constitution.

The Scrutineers Committee will now compile its final report ahead of the AGM.