IEBC needs Ksh.61.7B allocation for 2027 polls

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says it requires Ksh.61.7 billion for the 2027 general election.

Deputy CEO Obadiah Keitany told Parliament on Tuesday that the commission’s budget for boundary delimitation is Ksh.7 billion, but still awaits court advisory.

“The commission projects an additional 5.7 million new voters, to have a total of 28 million in the 2027 election,” Keitany said.

IEBC said 14 by-elections are still pending, which are projected to cost about Ksh.480 million.

At the same time, the electoral body said some 45,352 Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits, which IEBC uses to electronically capture voters’ facial images, fingerprints and civil data, need replacement.

“There will be a total replacement of 45,352 KIEMS kits, except for the 14,000 bought in 2022. In total, 59,352 kits are required,” said IEBC Finance Director Osman Ibrahim.

Ibrahim explained that KIEMS kits become obsolete after 10 years and that the total cost of replacing them is Ksh.7 billion, going by the Ksh.65,000 cost of each.

IEBC says it has not registered new voters since 2022 because they do not have a budget or commissioners.

The commission has not been constituted since the remaining former commissioners left in 2023 and its selection panel is in the process of recruiting a chairperson and new commission members.

Kenya’s 2022 general elections involved 22,120,258 voters and were among the most expensive in the world, at a tune of Ksh.44.6 billion.