The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced that it requires Ksh 40.9 billion to conduct the 2022 general elections.
"For purposes of the 2022 general elections, the commission requires Ksh 40.329 billion and a further Ksh 588 million for the purposes of procuring items in the Covid 19 protocols," Wafula Chebukati said.
The IEBC Chairman was speaking on Monday at a consultative forum held with the media in Mombasa.
IEBC officials in a past election/Photo Courtesy
Read More
He announced that the commission had been granted Ksh 26 billion and IEBC thus had a deficit of Ksh 14 billion.
He described the Ksh 40.9 billion it had requested as a minimum saying the electoral process, including voter registration, would be affected if they did not receive the funds.
The IEBC budget features a Ksh 600 million kitty for purchasing COVID19 items including sanitisers.
The Ksh 40.9 billion budget would make the elections the most expensive in Kenya's history.
The 2017 election cost the taxpayer Ksh 30 billion with the repeat presidential elections costing an extra Ksh 11.9 billion.
Mr Chebukati also announced that public officers who intend to vie in the 2022 general elections had until February 9th, 2021 to resign from their jobs.
"This is captured in Section 43.3 of the elections act which states that public officials who intend to vie in an election will resign six months before that election," Chebuati said.
He noted that a court judgement that allowed public officials to vie in elections without resigning had received a stay order.
Public officials now have precisely 6 months to serve on office if they are to be on the ballot in August 2022.
