IEBC CHAIRPERSON ETHEKON SOUNDS ALARM OVER BUDGET CUTS THREATENING 2027 ELECTION PREPARATIONS
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Erastus Ethekon has warned that budget cuts imposed by Parliament could significantly impact preparations for Kenya’s 2027 General Elections.
Speaking in an interview with KBC Ethekon expressed concern that slashed funding could compromise the deployment of crucial technology and personnel necessary to ensure a credible and secure electoral process.
Ethekon revealed that the commission initially proposed a budget of Sh61 billion, which Parliament reduced, placing essential upgrading of Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS) kits and recruitment of adequate staff at risk.
The outdated kits, originally procured in earlier election cycles, are critical components of the voter identification and results transmission systems, and failure to upgrade them could expose the elections to operational hitches.
“Our elections are largely technology-driven. The kits that we bought for the 2013 and 2017 elections, some became obsolete, and so we need to buy new kits with more advanced technology,” he stated.
He emphasized that about 53 percent of the total election budget goes toward staffing, including officers manning polling stations and national tallying centers.
In the 2022 elections, the IEBC deployed over 500,000 personnel a level that would likely be unsustainable with reduced funding.
“Reducing the resources we need will definitely have a big impact on the elections. When you look at the breakdown of the budget, a huge part of it was dedicated to the deployment of the personnel officers who will oversee the elections. If you reduce the budget, it will affect the level of deployment,” Ethekon said.
The chairperson also raised concerns about changes in prosecutorial powers transferring election offense prosecutions from the IEBC to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which, he noted, may weaken accountability and public trust.
Despite these challenges, the commission has begun preparations including continuous voter registration (CVR).
Ethekon urged Kenyans to register to vote while calling on Parliament and the Treasury to address the funding gaps to safeguard the integrity and smooth running of the elections.
This warning signals an urgent need for adequate investment in both the technological framework and human resources to uphold Kenya’s democratic standards in the upcoming polls.