The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has warned that a Sh13 billion shortfall in its 2027 General Election budget could hinder preparations for the polls.
The alert comes as MPs pushed for the operationalisation of the IEBC fund, as provided in law, to strengthen the commission’s financial independence and reduce reliance on discretionary National Treasury disbursements.
The documents presented by IEBC CEO Hussein Marjan to the House’s Committee on Constitutional Implementation Oversight (CIOC) reveal that the main area affected by the inadequate funding is payment of wages to election officials, which requires Sh7.63 billion.
IEBC Chief Executive Officer Marjan Hussein Marjan.
Photo credit: File I Nation Media Group
The commission has also accumulated pending bills to the tune of Sh5.75 billion, largely legal fees, arising from the previous elections.
“These pending bills have been accumulating over time and will adversely affect operations of the commission in conducting the 2027 general election,” the IEBC document states.
The committee chaired by Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, in a report to the National Assembly, warns that the funding gap threatens the commission's ability to discharge its constitutional mandate effectively, as it urged the National Treasury to address IEBC’s budget deficit concerns.
“The committee recommends that the National Treasury addresses the budget deficit raised by the IEBC for the 2027 general election and provides a clear front-loading schedule for the release of funds as requested by the commission to ensure timely implementation of electoral activities,” the report reads.
The commission has also decried the lack of financing to settle the historical election-related pending bills warning; “if these pending bills are not settled, the quantum will not only increase but constrain operations of the commission.” as CIOC weighed in.
“The commission noted that it will have to deal with court cases, especially where legal fees will be taxed upwards of the initial fees and refusal and withdrawal of suppliers of goods and services,” reads the report.
The committee further asserted that settlement of the pending bills will help restore supplier confidence and ensure the commission’s operational capacity is not compromised.
The electoral commission promotes the conduct or supervision of referenda and elections to bodies or offices established by the Constitution, as well as any other elections prescribed by the law.
The commission is also tasked with regulating and delimiting constituencies and wards, voter registration and electoral operations, voter education and partnership, and electoral information and communication technology.
The commission had at the preparation of this financial year’s budget- 2025/26- requested for Sh61.74 billion for the 2027 general election to be funded over three financial years- 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28.
The budget plan, which is Sh55 billion funded by the National Treasury, served as a baseline assumption to be used in the preparation of the 2027 general election.
In its budget plan, the commission had proposed Sh15.3 billion of the entire budget to be front-loaded to the 2025/26 financial year to facilitate pre-election activities “mainly voter registration and acquisition of the election technology software and hardware.”
However, Sh9.33 billion was approved by the National Assembly as affirmed by Controller of Budget (CoB) Dr Margaret Nyakang’o in her national government budget implementation review report of November 2025 for the first quarter of 2025/26 fiscal period.
This is in comparison to the Sh3.82 billion allocated in the financial year 2024/25. According to the CoB report, IEBC had two programmes- management of the electoral process and delimitation of electoral boundaries.
Under the management of the electoral process programme, there is administrative planning and financial services, voter registration and electoral operations, voter education and partnership and electoral information and communication technology.
In the financial year 2026/27, the commission has budgeted for Sh25.4 billion while the 2027/28 fiscal period it has Sh21 billion.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi did not respond to our inquiries sent to his known phone number on the need to finance IEBC adequately to enable it to discharge its mandate as required by the constitution and the IEBC Act among others.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi during a public participation forum on the Budget and the privatisation of government owned institutions at Uasin Gishu County Hall in Eldoret City on January 18, 2026.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group
But even as he kept mum, CS Mbadi has previously been vocal about the high cost of elections in Kenya noting that “something needs to be done” as electoral experts attributed the expensive polls to the trust deficit among Kenyans.
“The IEBC budget should be efficient. We are going to ask tough questions to enable them to use public funds efficiently,” Mr Mbadi said at a previous meeting with MPs as he challenged the commission to be prudent in the management of public funds.
Acquisition of the new Kenya Integrated Election Management System (Kiems) kits to replace the 45,352 kits, considered old and therefore technologically obsolete, is also part of the Sh61.74 billion the commission wants allocated for the 2027 general election.
To finance the kits, the commission is seeking Sh7.04 billion financing and Sh2.6 billion required for the upgrade and maintenance of the election systems.
The kits were procured in 2017 for the 2017 General Election and with the general rule that technology becomes obsolete after 10 years, it means that to ensure the credibility of the 2027 general election, the commission has no choice but to procure new election gadgets.
This means that only the 14,000 Kiems kits purchased in 2022 will be retained for use.
The country requires 59,352 Kiems kits with 3,959 reserved for training during the 2027 elections.
An IEBC official displays a KIEMS kit during a simulation process in the past.
Photo credit: File | Nation
The Kiems kits have a biometric voter registration system that is used to electronically capture voters’ facial image, fingerprints and civil data, used to verify voters’ identification to curb impersonation.
The kits also have a system that enables election officers to transmit election results through specially configured mobile devices.
The gadgets have high-capacity internal batteries and portable power banks capable of carrying it through the voting and transmission of results.
The IEBC projects to register additional 5.7 million new voters, majority being youth who have attained the age of majority for the 2027 general election as it projects to gazette 55,393 polling stations up from the 46,229 used in the 2022 general election.
However, Ms Koki Muli, an expert in elections management, noted that the country should think of reducing “the many polling stations” from the 46,229 in the August 2022 general election by half.
“With this, we can then allow at least 2,000 voters per polling station. This is not something that should depend on parliament as is the case now. IEBC can determine the number of voters per polling station administratively,” says Ms Muli.
