Time is running out for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to carry out voter education across all parts of the country.
In case you missed it, this is a critical component of the electoral process under the new Constitution because devolution and the new county governments.
IEBC chairman Isaak Hassan and his team have in the recent past expressed concern that funds allocated the electoral body might not be enough to fund both voter registration and civic education.
Culture of rigging
Now that Government has held its ground and refused to commit more funds to the elections regulator — beyond the Sh17.5 billion to be approved by Parliament — it might be that comprehensive civic education becomes one of the items axed from the budget.
We are not saying this is the case, but it remains a possibility and that would be a pity because our MPs would rather earn ridiculous gratuities after serving their term than do their bit to entrench democracy in Kenya.
One of the tragedies of national elections since Independence is that the level of rigging has increased with every poll.
In 2007 the problem was measurably worse and it would be safe to say that many MPs currently in the Tenth Parliament would not have made it were it not for massive voter bribery, stuffing ballot boxes and altering results from polling stations.
All these ills are what voter education are meant to cure.
The IEBC’s predecessor, the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) designed a handbook for educating voters, but it is not clear how many have access to the same.
The mock elections that the IEBC has been carrying out, and that are meant to give voters a feel of the General Election proper are a step in the right direction, but more will need to be done but the fear is that time and budget are not enough.
