Donors pledge Kenya poll funding

Donors have pledged to foot at least 10 per cent of Kenya’s electoral budget ahead of the next General Election.

At a breakfast meeting with Kenya’s new electoral body, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), in Nairobi Wednesday UNDP, Denmark, UK, Japan and the US promised to compliment the Kenya Government efforts in financing the polls due in 2012.

They said the money would help the IEBC deal with imminent challenges it might meet in preparing for the elections.

“There is hardly a more important task in any democratic society than laying proper preparations to conduct credible elections,” said British High Commissioner Dr Peter Tibber.

“For my country, helping Kenya to prepare for credible elections is our priority.”

The US government representative at the meeting, Mr Zaphaniah Aura, said donors will help the commission in financing staff training as well as party agents for proper election management ahead of the elections.

Other activities will involve supporting domestic observers and the media for accurate and fair coverage of the elections. He said they would make sure the burden to the Commission is greatly reduced for it to handle the elections in a better way.

UNDP had been supporting Kenya’s interim electoral body (IIEC) through what it called the Basket Kitty. IIEC used the money to conduct voter registration ahead of last year’s constitutional referendum.

But on Tuesday, IIEC was replaced by the new constitutionally created electoral agency, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

IEBC chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan, who also chaired the IIEC, said the Kitty would be retained and asked for more donors to come forth to “fill the funding gaps from the government".

“We have completed phase one of the funds, but we now have a committee set up already to manage phase two of it,” he said.

“But this time, you’ll excuse us if our demands are a little higher. We believe that with your kind and generous support, you’ll be able to help us in filling up these funding gaps.”

The new body has just less than one year to do a lot. Within the next four months, it will have to create boundaries for 80 new constituencies as stated in the Constitution.

It will also have to conduct voter education to the public with the help of civil society groups, besides registering voters. IEBC said it would draft rules to guide their collaboration with NGOs  involved in voter education.

Donors said civic education and training of personnel involved in managing elections would be important to avoid mistakes that led to the 2008 post-poll skirmishes.

In its exit report, the IIEC indicated that increasing the number of staff to the required 898, installing of electronic voter registration, survey of political parties, proper financing and the study of best ways of holding multiparty elections could help avoid skirmishes that arose after the 2007 elections.