IEBC says it has no money to extend voter registration exercise
Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission has said it will not extend the mass voter registration exercise that is poised to end on November 2.
Speaking to the Parliamentary Budget and Appropriation Commission, IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati said that the commission is currently under tight budget and cannot extend the registration exercise.
"After November 2, we don't have any other money for the mass registration exercise. This is the trouble of budget expenses," Chebukati said.
The chair also revealed that the commission needed more funds from the government to conduct next year's elections. According to him, the commission has a deficit of Ksh 4.6 billion.
Chebukati said that the IEBC needs Ksh 40.9 billion to conduct 2022 general elections but it has only received Ksh 36.5 billion from the government.
He also said that the commission received only Ksh 2.1 billion out of Ksh 2.4 billion that was required for the mass registration.
Chebukati also said that the commission needed another Ksh1.3 billion to audit the voter's register and to cater to other expenses.
IEBC's decline to extend the voter registration exercise comes amid calls for it to extend the registration for a longer period after it registered poor voter registration turn out.
As of week two of the registration exercise, only 760,000 Kenyans have registered as new voters against IEBC's target of 4.5 million.
