Outrage over IEBC’s steep nomination fees

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Party chairperson Martha Karua told Capital FM News on Friday that it appeared as if the electoral commission wanted to make money out of proposed nomination fees/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 17 – Narc-Kenya has accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of using the forthcoming elections as a money minting venture.

Party chairperson Martha Karua told Capital FM News on Friday that it appeared as if the electoral commission wanted to make money out of proposed nomination fees.

She argued that it was unlawful for the IEBC to take advantage of political aspirants seeking various elective posts in the forthcoming elections.

“The electoral commission is proceeding from a very wrong premise because they sound like they think they are a business enterprise. We need to go back to more sensible fees,” she said.

She also said that the move was unlawful and discriminatory as it made vying a preserve of the rich.

The Gichugu MP added that the fee raise was also unjust noting that those seeking parliamentary seats would have to part with Sh250,000 and Sh150,000 for youths, women and persons with disabilities up from Sh10,000.

“That’s like raising it 1,000 times. The nomination fee has been Sh10,000 for a parliamentarian so how do you move from that to Sh150,000 upwards?” she asked.

Karua further urged the IEBC to go back to the drawing board and revise the rates saying the proposed fees would be rejected.

She asked fellow MPs to recall the subsidiary legislation and ensure that the fees were revised downwards.

“When an electoral commission starts making money out of people contesting it infringes on the rights of Kenyans to participate because it suggests that only those with money can make it,” she said.

“Leadership does not equal riches,” she stressed.

The IEBC has in the meantime released a schedule indicating that the county women representatives will be charged Sh250,000 not Sh500,000.

Several political aspirants and civil societies have already registered their disapproval over the new rates saying they will bar women from seeking the positions.

Karua however observed that the charges would not only discourage women from participating but would also put off other interested candidates who might not have access to the monies required.

IEBC also said on Friday that the new rates had been arrived at after holding discussion with stakeholders.

“The commission is independent in performing its mandate. The commission however observes the principle of public participation and the requirement for consultation with various stakeholders. Consultations were indeed made vide meeting,” said the IEBC in a statement posted on its website.

The commission also noted that it preserved the right to set electoral regulations as envisaged by the Constitution.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kwessi-Pratt/100000996986819 Kwessi Pratt

    IEBC is assaulting democracy in the cruelest way possible. It has no basis to increase nomination fees at all. Furthermore, why are they trying to charge this money when they have been allocated collosal funds right from the national coffers to do their job? Either they want to go back to their huge initial budget that was rejected, or they simply, as sister Hon. Martha Karua says, to make a kill at the wrong place.

    IEBC was created essentially to make things better for everybody compared to former EC. However, with time, they seem to have diverted from that all important agenda. Kenyans are reforming institutions so that they can become rewarding and easy to make positive things happen to majority. It therefore doesnt make any sense at all to attempt to make institutions exclusive. Perhaps, IEBC has forgotten the premise of the new constituion was to make leadership easily accessible to all citizens.

    Kenyans are finding the going almost impossible because money has become their wisdon, their thoughts, their will, their pride and more importantly, their leadership. Leadership can not be bought. It has to be a gift from God. Nevertheless, Kenyans now are led by clueless bought leadership. I remember those days when university students would come out of their classes and effortlessly, get elected members of parliament. Their contribution to society were swift and dramatic. That they were born leaders was not in doubt at all. But since Nyayo era came up with money as yardstick for leadership, corruption and inspiration became absent words in our vocabulary. Infact, at times, we seem to pretend that we dont have solutions to our problems. That murderous corruption feeds our leadership is conveniently ignored. We have had to move from one crisis to another. IEBC is clearly attempting to reinforce that drift to the wild. It should stop immediately. After all, we have alot of faith in its chair to be treated with this almost thieving contempt!!!