Kenya is set to hold another expensive election—with taxpayers expected to foot the $117 million needed for the upcoming presidential poll.
Ezra Chiloba, the chief executive officer of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said the October election will cost about 12 billion shillings, most of which will go towards facilitating human resources and logistics. In an interview with The EastAfrican newspaper, Chiloba said they will present the budget to treasury officials this week.
The announcement comes barely a month after Kenya held one of Africa’s most expensive elections. The Aug. 8 general elections cost taxpayers a whopping $480 million, with the largest allotment going to the electoral commission. The IEBC used over $413 million to hire personnel, procure election materials, conduct awareness campaigns, as well as collecting and transmitting the results of votes for the presidency, national assembly, female representatives, governors, senate, and county assembly members.
But after the opposition leader Raila Odinga challenged the results of the polls, Kenya’s supreme court annulled the outcome of the presidential election on Sept. 1 and ordered a fresh vote in 60 days. Incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta had won over 54% of the now nullified vote, defeating Odinga with a margin of 1.4 million votes. As the new election date of Oct. 17 looms closer, the overall amount needed for the presidential poll might even be higher if one factored the amount other government institutions like the police and intelligence services will need to ensure that everything runs smoothly on election day./Quartez