The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has warned that inadequate funding could compromise preparations for the 2027 General Election after the Treasury slashed its initial budget request.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee on Thursday, IEBC Chief Executive Officer Marjan Hussein Marjan revealed that the commission had projected Sh61.7 billion for the polls, but the allocation was cut to Sh57.3 billion.
“The National Treasury allocated Sh49.75 billion, which is not adequate and translates to a deficit of Sh7.6 billion. The deficit will affect the Commission adversely in conducting the elections,” Marjan said.
IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon told MPs that the commission will roll out a continuous voter registration exercise beginning September 29. However, he noted that areas with pending by-elections will only access the service once the polls are concluded.
Commissioner Ann Nderitu explained that the registration drive will focus on increasing youth participation, targeting 70 per cent enrolment among young Kenyans.
“We will mobilise the young people at the grassroots level to register as voters. We will also do the mobilisation online. We have a youth committee which will get to the youth organisations in Kenya. We also have a Gen Z Vice Chair among us,” she said.
The electoral body is projecting to register 6.3 million new voters by 2027. IEBC Director of Legal Services Chrispine Owiye said this figure is based on population data and surveys.
“This number has been arrived at by science and population surveys. Voters in East Africa can vote with their ID cards while the rest use their valid passports,” Owiye stated.
He added that the commission has reinforced its systems to protect credibility. “We have made a column for stray ballots, which did not exist in the Form 34As in 2022. This is in compliance with the Supreme Court decision of 2022,” he said, noting that a full audit of the voter register will be conducted eight months before the election.
Despite the progress, Marjan raised concern over the safety of staff during election cycles.
“We have seen our staff being killed every election cycle. You remember the case of (Chris) Msando?” he said, recalling the 2017 killing of the ICT Manager whose death heightened security fears within the commission.
The commission also highlighted challenges in ballot paper printing, saying mistrust has prevented Kenya from producing them locally.
“The day we will call ourselves as Kenyans and rethink that we can print the ballots at home or even government printer, then that day we will celebrate. But as things stand, we have a trust deficit,” Ethekon said.
He noted that ballot papers are now more expensive than currency notes because of the need for heavy security features. “One ballot carries more than 11 security features. That’s what trust deficit brings to us,” he said. In 2022, the commission revealed that it cost Sh23 to print a single ballot, amounting to Sh3.4 billion for more than 120 million papers.
Committee chairperson Caroli Omondi urged the IEBC to fast-track its preparations, noting that Parliament and the commission had agreed to develop a roadmap covering legislative needs ahead of 2027.
“We have also agreed with IEBC to prepare a roadmap as we head to the 2027 elections, among them legislative needs on about 13 laws. Of immediate interest is that IEBC will launch continuous voter registration tomorrow,” he said.
Ethekon explained that the estimate of 6.3 million new voters was based on National Registration Bureau data rather than census numbers. “Guided by that data, we are projecting that this number of Kenyans will have attained 18 by then. We hope as they churn IDs, we are registering them as voters,” he said.
He further appealed for public trust in the commission, assuring MPs that reforms ordered by the Supreme Court will be observed to prevent internal divisions.
“We understand that there have been challenges before where external interest may infiltrate some of our members to abdicate their roles. When it comes to the presidency, the constitution guides us that its chairman to declare. You pray for me that I will be there to do it, and I will do it,” he said.
On questions about impeached leaders contesting for office, Ethekon declined to give a clear position, saying the issue was legally complex.
“The beauty about the law and lawyers is that we read, and the law is subject to interpretation. Article 75 will say this, Article 99 will say this, while judicial interpretation will say that. You become a client when you are nominated by the party. For now, it will be premature to pronounce ourselves on impeached persons running for office,” he said.
He added that while Article 38 grants political rights to all Kenyans, Chapter Six of the Constitution seeks to restrict impeached leaders from vying, creating a contradiction that can only be resolved at the appropriate time.
Other commissioners assured MPs of their commitment to delivering credible elections. Commissioner Hassan Noor said the team was united in its constitutional duty. “The commission does not operate on its own, but because of the climate outside. We have taken an oath of allegiance to the people of Kenya, the constitution and God. We will endeavour to give you the best,” he said.
Vice Chairperson Fahima Abdalla disclosed that the commission has started mapping new registration centres across the country.
“The mapping of new registration centres, which some of them will translate to polling centres. We started the mapping two weeks ago, and the process is still going on. We shall be gazetting the registration centres, which are about 24,000,” she said.