The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced that it will need Ksh.61.7 billion to conduct the general elections scheduled for 2027.
During a session with Parliament, Deputy CEO Obadiah Keitany revealed that the budget allocated for boundary delimitation stands at Ksh.7 billion, although the commission is still awaiting guidance from the court on this matter. Keitany also projected that there will be an increase of approximately 5.7 million new voters, bringing the total to around 28 million for the upcoming election.
Additionally, the IEBC is facing the challenge of 14 pending by-elections, which are estimated to cost about Ksh.480 million. The commission highlighted the urgent need to replace 45,352 Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits, which are essential for electronically capturing voters’ facial images, fingerprints, and civil data.
Finance Director Osman Ibrahim stated that all but 14,000 of the kits purchased in 2022 will need to be replaced, resulting in a total requirement of 59,352 kits. He noted that these kits become obsolete after a decade, with the replacement cost estimated at Ksh.7 billion, based on a unit price of Ksh.65,000.
Furthermore, the IEBC has not registered any new voters since 2022 due to a lack of budget and the absence of commissioners, as the commission has not been fully constituted since the departure of the remaining former commissioners in 2023.
A selection panel is currently working to recruit a new chairperson and additional commission members. In comparison, the 2022 general elections in Kenya saw participation from 22,120,258 voters and were among the most costly globally, amounting to Ksh.44.6 billion.
