NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 7 – The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has been allocated an additional Sh22.9 billion in the current financial year of 2021/2022 to facilitate the August polls.
The current financial year ends on June 30, 2022 paving way for the next Financial Year 2022/2023.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani who tabled the budget statement on Thursday allocated Sh21.7 billion to the Commission for the Financial Year 2022/2023.
The allocation is way short of the Sh40.9 billion the Commission has been demanding for in recent months so as deliver credible polls.
Chairman Wafula Chebukati has been insistent that with the insufficient funds there is a potential risk that the Commission will not be able to satisfactorily conduct the polls as required.
“As a commission we are being exposed to the risk to under-funding,” he said during a previous event.
The poll agency attributed the estimated budget to a legislative framework governing the electoral process which results in expensive elections.
Requirements under the framework include the capping of maximum registered voters per polling station.
“The law says that you cannot have more than 700 voters in a polling station. We’re now targeting to register more than 6 million voters that will mean we will increase our polling station from 40,833 to 53,000 plus polling station. This means we’ll shall employ more election officials,” Chebukati said.
The polls body explained that delayed funding has previously stalled crucial electoral processes exposing the commission to exploitation by vendors and service providers due to the urgency to adhere to our election cycle.
“Over the years the funding of the commission has not been adequate and in tandem with the election cycle. This constraints our activities in the procurement process,” he noted.
The Commission has maintained that in the eventuality of a run-off in the August polls it will be unable to conduct the exercise given their current financial status.
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