International partners have reassured the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) support as it prepares for the 2017 General Election.
Officials of the cash-strapped commission yesterday met with ambassadors and heads of foreign missions in Kenya, where discussions on the preparations for the upcoming national polls were held.
Last week, IEBC released a statement saying it has no money to carry out countrywide voter registration, which had been planned to start between November and December. Parliament was blamed for starving the electoral body of resources.
According to a joint communique issued by the heads of the foreign missions in the country, the meeting also reviewed current donor support to the commission. Ambassador Robert Godec (US) and outgoing UK High Commissioner Christian Turner were in attendance.
"We reaffirmed our commitment to free, fair, peaceful and transparent elections and discussed the steps the IEBC is taking to strengthen its capacity and improve public trust and participation in the electoral process," read the statement in part.
The meeting, also attended by high commissioners John Feakes (Australia), David Angell (Canada) and European Union Ambassador Stefano-Antonio Dejak, agreed that the commission should regain public confidence.
"We agreed on the importance of rebuilding of public trust through proactive and effective public engagement and communication," notes the joint communique.
It adds: "We emphasised the need for widespread voter registration to ensure the right to vote among all groups of society; and that all stakeholders should work together to secure the credibility and capacity of the IEBC, including through sufficient funding for the electoral process."
Ambassadors Tarja Fernández (Finland), Remi Marechaux (France), Jutta Frasch (Germany), Victor Rønneberg (Norway) and Johan Borgstam (Sweden) were also party to the joint statement.
During the talks, the commission briefed the diplomats on the draft election operation plan setting out the timeliness for the 2017 elections, to be released soon.
The commission needed Sh2 billion for voter registration this year but was allocated only Sh500 million in the current 2015-2016 budget.
IEBC said it is faced with insufficient funds for its core activities, which have an impact on the preparations.
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