IEBC handed cash boost for polls

Kenya’s electoral body got a Sh2 billion boost on Friday to lay the ground for elections polling in the next General Election.

The money will be used in concluding the on-going exercise of delimiting boundaries, voter education, electoral operations, and building peace in the hotspots that have experienced political violence every election year.

The deal between the government, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on one side; and the United Nations Development Programme together with other donors on the other, was signed on Friday at The Treasury building in Nairobi.

Speaking at the event, the Finance permanent secretary Joseph Kinyua and the IEBC chairman, Mr Isaack Hassan, said the focus was now on ensuring that the commission was well equipped to roll out electronic voter registration in all the 290 constituencies across the country.

The PS said that the support was in no way meant to impinge on the sovereignty of the country, but to fill the Sh2.5 billion hole in the IEBC budget in the current financial year.

Mr Kinyua said the government was ready with Sh11.4 billion but needed additional support to raise the Sh14 billion that the commission needs to prepare for and oversee the first General Election under Kenya’s 17-month-old Constitution.

“The investors do not have to fear that the elections will jeopardise the stability of the country,” said the PS.

He pledged that the government will in the next fortnight release money for the tendering of equipment to handle voter registration as part of the plans to ensure a peaceful, free and fair election.

“The core of credible elections is a credible voter register,” said Mr Hassan.

He said the IEBC had chosen to adopt the electronic version that uses biometric data such as retina scans and finger prints to identify voters.

He said most African countries, for example, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, had embraced the system, and as such it was prudent for Kenya not to be left behind.

Mr Hassan asked Kenyan politicians to tone down on their proclamations regarding the boundaries review process, saying they would have a chance to review the report when it is presented to Parliament.

He added that the emotive debates tinged with inciting remarks were unhelpful to electoral reforms and the on-going process of national cohesion.

While the IEBC has investigative and prosecution powers, Mr Hassan said, there was need to prevent electoral offences from being committed.

The UNDP Resident representative, Mr Aeneas Chuma, said the Sh2 billion boost “was not a donor-driven project” but that it was based on the strategic plan of the IEBC.

“The leadership remains with the IEBC, our role is to enhance support,” said Mr Chuma.

“We believe that the next elections are very critical for this country and we want them to go right. We don’t want anything to go wrong… We have tremendous confidence in the capacity of the IEBC,” said Mr Chuma.

The representatives from the British and the US governments said that while there were “other risks”, they did not consider money and technical capacity as being among those risks.

“Getting this right is not just good got the politics of Kenya but it is also good for Kenya’s economic growth,” said the DFID representative.