The continuous voter registration exercise is now in doubt following a massive budget cut to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC) in conformity with the austerity measures announced by President William Ruto.
The electoral agency told the National Assembly Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs on Wednesday that the Sh870.5 million budget slash it has suffered will impact its ability to maintain the Kenya Integrated Election Management Kits (Kiems Kits) and licenses which are critical for registering voters and conducting by-elections.
The Sh4 billion Kiems tender was awarded to a Dutch company, Smartmatic, and involves maintenance of software and hardware equipment and accessories for the voting kits.
The move may not sit well with Gen Z, who are clamouring to register as voters and recall MPs as they wait to participate in the 2027 general elections.
The commission's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hussein Marjan also told the committee that the pending by-elections in Banisa constituency and three wards in Western, voter registration and preparations for the 2027 General Elections are also in limbo due to the budget cuts.
Some of the areas that the commission has suffered budget cuts include communication supplies, which has a Sh42,702,613 budget cut, domestic travel reduced by Sh135,120,392, printing advert and information, by Sh15,576,613, routine maintenance-ICT contract (election technology) slashed by Sh111,410,470, foreign travel reduced by Sh6,280,000 among other areas.
Mr Marjan expressed fears that the budget cut it has suffered will affect key critical areas and will hinder the commission from performing its core mandate.
Also in limbo due to the budget cuts are voter education, delimitation of boundaries, medical insurance of its staff, construction of offices, and fuelling of motor vehicles in their constituency offices.
“The net effect is that the commission will not be able to deliver on its mandate as it is dependent on the line items affected by the supplementary budget cuts,” Mr Marjan told the committee.
“The commission therefore requests for exemption from the reductions effected and adequate funding for the activities including the pending upcoming by-elections,” the CEO said.
The electoral agency also told the lawmakers that following the budget cuts, it will not be able to settle accumulated pending bills of Sh3, 895,907,466 emanating from the August 2022 General Election.
The pending bill which is mostly made up of legal fees for the General election including a presidential election petition of Sh502 million also includes Sh399 million owed to the Postal Corporation of Kenya which provided transport and logistics during the polls.
The agency said it will not be able to settle court awards against the commission amounting to Sh401, 778,417, expressing fears that the amount continues to attract interest every month.
Mr Marjan told MPs that settling of some of the pending bills that were carried over in the previous financial year will also be affected.
“This impacts negatively on the activities of the commission as they have to be scaled down completely,” Mr Marjan said.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u, in a circular to all accounting officers, said that only pending bills carried from the previous Financial Year 2023/2024 will be prioritised and that no new tenders should be awarded.
The commission urged MPs to reinstate Sh149 million for the medical insurance of their staff, Sh111,410,470 million for the routine ICT equipment and license renewal costs, Sh24.32 million development vote that was meant for the completion of their warehouse to reduce the cost of rent.
The commission also complained that the membership, dues and subscriptions to professional bodies have been completely removed, which has a huge impact, especially on their staff in the legal, accounting, procurement and human resource departments.
The law requires such professionals to be fully subscribed members of the professional bodies and be in good standing.
“The staff usually give professional advice to the commission secretary, sign legal documents or represent the organisation in petitions in courts. We, therefore, request the reinstatement of the membership fees, dues and subscription to professional bodies,” Mr Marjan told MPs.
The 2024/24 Financial Year budget was to be funded through additional revenue measures amounting to Sh344.4 billion as contained in the Finance Bill, 2024
However, following sustained protests over the Bill and rejection by various stakeholders, President Ruto declined to assent to it, creating a gap of a similar amount.
President Ruto has since announced far-reaching measures to raise the money, including the scrapping of 47 State corporations and the reduction of advisors that have been gobbling billions of taxpayers’ money by half.
