IEBC projects Sh61.7 billion budget for 2027 election
Deputy Commission Secretary - Support Services Obadiah Keitany (left) who represented the Commission Secretary/CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan, before the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Departmental Committee to consider the 2025 Budget Policy Statement.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced that it requires KES61.7 billion to successfully conduct the 2027 General Election.
Appearing before a National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Departmental Committee on Tuesday, IEBC deputy commission secretary Obadiah Keitany, who represented the CEO, told lawmakers that the commission has allocated KES7 billion for boundary delimitation but is awaiting a court advisory before proceeding.
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“The commission projects an additional 5.7 million new voters, to have a total of 28 million in the 2027 election,” noted Keitany.
Additionally, the IEBC requires new Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits for capture voters’ facial images, fingerprints and civil data.
“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Ibrahim explained that KIEMS kits become outdated after 10 years and that the total cost of replacing them is KES7 billion, going by the Kes65,000 cost of each.
Further, Mr. Obadiah Keitany noted that a total of 14 pending by-elections are poised to cost the taxpayer KES480 million. IEBC is expected to conduct by-elections upon the reconstitution of the Commission. The by elections will involve one for Senator position, four vacancies for Member of National Assembly and nine polls for Member of County Assembly.
At the same time, the IEBC requires money to pay election officials who are hired to oversee the elections at the constituency, county and polling station levels. According to the Deputy CEO, KES7 billion has been budgeted for the poll officials. During the 2022 polls, over 500,000 officials were hired by the IEBC.
"Going by the last election, we had 500,000 temporary polls officials and the budget if you look at it is around KES7 billion," he stated.
IEBC says it has not registered new voters since 2022 because they do not have a budget or commissioners.
Notably, Kenya's elections are one of the most expensive polls in Africa and the world. This is attributed to the technology and personnel required during the elections. For example, Kenya’s 2022 General Election cost about KES44.6 billion.
