NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 10 – The National Assembly is now demanding answers from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) following its revelation that it requires Sh40 billion to conduct next year’s General Election.
The National Treasury has allocated the electoral body Sh26.3 billion for the election set for August 9, 2021 but the commission insists that this is not enough.
Chairman Wafula Chebukati on Monday told a media stakeholders forum in Mombasa that it needs S40 billion to handle the election.
“We are engaging the Treasury on it because it is our main source of funding,” he said.
National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya said the IEBC budget is exaggerated and unnecessary.
“I know in India an election that takes millions and millions of voters if you look at per capita cost per vote in this country you can tell that we are actually being taken for a ride,” he protested on Tuesday during debate on the floor of the House.
The Kipipiri lawmaker lamented that it was unimaginable for that amount of money to be pumped into an election exercise at the expense of Kenyans.
“We cannot be spending Sh40 billion every five years to conduct an election, this is something which is fundamentally wrong,” he said.
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Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa demanded justification of the amount and proposed that the poll officials led by the Chairperson Wafula Chebukati should be invited to Parliament to defend their estimates.
“Let us not cast aspersions on IEBC on budget. I think the relevant committee needs to call them and may be give justification and ask them how they arrived at the Sh40 billion figure.
Garissa Township MP Aden Duale on his part supported the electoral body noting that democracy is expensive.
“What is Sh40 billion if that can give us a credible, free, fair and peaceful election?” he posed.
He added: “This money is not thrown away; it is audited by an independent office of the Auditor General in accordance with the Constitution and the Public Audit Act. Let us not cast aspersions on the credibility of the person who we want to be the referee,” he said.
Chebukati on Monday said the funds will enable the agency conduct an election within coronavirus containment protocols while also ensuring polling stations do not exceed 700 voters, a threshold set out under the law.
In case the funding does not materialize, the commission said it will have to cut down on several activities and take interventions including reducing the number of ballot papers, the number of employees and scale down mass voter registration.
Marjan Hussein Marjan, acting IEBC CEO, emphasized that the cost of 2022 General Election will increase at a reducing rate owing to the reduction of security features on ballot papers.
“We need to register 25 million voters by 2022. This means 5 to 6 million more voters than the current number. This process needs money and thus the issue of cost coming in,” Marjan said.
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To reduce cost, he said, “we need trust. Incorporate security features in ballot papers to ensure there’s no duplicate so as to secure integrity of election needs more money.”
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has also in past criticized the poll agency over its budget estimates.
According to him, the country should be able to conduct a one ballot referendum at not more than Sh2 billion for 20 million voters. He had not commented on the election budget issued by IEBC.
