Forced IEBC budget cuts spark fears of State's bid to suppress democracy

Repeated utterances by the political class and a fresh resolve by Parliament to force the IEBC to slash its elections budget have raised concerns over what could be a well calculated move by the State to incapacitate the Commission's preparedness for the 2027 elections.

A report by the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) tabled yesterday reveals that the House team has settled on only allocating Sh41.3 billion to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) to fund the elections, against a requirement of Sh74.8 billion.

This leaves the Commission with a Sh33 billion funding gap which Commissioners say could hamper operational logistics- a development that could impede on the possibility of a free, fair and credible election.  

“...A critical review and rationalization of the IEBC proposed election budget is of utmost importance to strike a balance between the other needs of the economy and having credible elections,” reads the report in part.

That, coupled with utterances recently made by Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula, which seemed to encourage electoral malpractice, have a cast a shadow of doubt over the government’s intent to hold credible elections and ushered in claims of planned vote rigging from the opposition.

Savula who was speaking during a UDA delegate’s meeting in Lugari, claimed that President William Ruto’s government cannot fund the national budget, pay IEBC and still lose the 2027 General Election.

The Deputy Governor, who is also coordinating President Ruto’s re-election campaign in Western Kenya, said his statement had been misinterpreted, insisting that he was only expressing political confidence in the Kenya Kwanza administration’s chances of retaining power.

“I want you, as UDA delegates when you go to the polling stations in 2027, make sure you do some fixing for Ruto. I have served in Parliament for three terms and I know how these things are done,” stated Savula.

His utterances have since drawn contestations from opposition leaders, religious groups and civil societies even as analysts warn that his remarks risk eroding public confidence in IEBC.

Critics have also held that with the Sh33 billion budget deficit threatening to cripple key programmes such as voter registration, procurement of new KIEMS kits and time-sensitive logistics, the renewed push by MPs to slash IEBC’s budget downwards could amount to a calculated attempt to engineer a crisis for the commission.

Pundits argue that by delaying the release of funds and forcing IEBC to operate under severe constraints- while simultaneously demanding for a flawless electoral process- the political class risks creating a “perfect storm” that could compromise the integrity of the 2027 general elections that is just under 14 months away. 

A budget breakdown presented by Deputy Commission Secretary - Support Services, Obadiah Keitany before the JLAC Committee earlier this month shows that IEBC’s  top expenses include Sh10.7 billion on KIEMS kits, Sh7.6 billion on biometric verification, inspection and register maintenance, Sh4.8 billion on the purchase of election materials and logistics, Sh1.23 billion on security and clerks, Sh3.5 billion on field mobility and a further Sh 6.8 billion on the purchase of ballot papers.

Others include Sh268.2 million on Human capital development, Sh1.7 billion on staff welfare, Sh294 million on fleet maintenance services, Sh438 million on the purchase of motor vehicles, Sh2.6 billion on public communication and a further Sh2.6 billion on citizen engagement Sh2.6 billion. A further Sh1.1 billion will go towards the election conference among others.

“The commission appeals that the committee considers funding the shortfall of Sh33.4 billion to ensure that there is effective implementation of our programmes,” said Keitany.

The lawmakers were however critical of the electoral agency’s priorities questioning the budgetary increment while simultaneously pointing out what they termed as duplication of allocations across the various vote heads.

“From your presentation, it seems that the budget has now become a moving target. The last time you were before Parliament you were asking for Sh61.7 billion but now you seek Sh74 billion. Is it that you are trying to throw taxpayers under the bus? What has changed since then?” posed Wajir MP Mohammed Daudi.

Committee Chairperson George Murugara was appalled by the seeming duplication of allocations while Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo questioned a Sh10.7 billion allocation required for the purchase of new KIEMS kits, noting that there was no evidence that the current kits were obsolete. Kanduyi MP John Makali poked holes into the commission’s plan to increase the number of voter registration centers abroad from a current 18 to 55.

In its response, IEBC cited the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR), an increase in the number of registered voters, a plan to expand the voter registration to other countries and mounting operational costs as reasons for the budgetary increase.

“I can assure you that the items stated are not duplicated and relate to each other. Technical areas are some of the cost drivers in the budget. For instance, we have requested for an additional Sh700 million because we want to hold the second round of ECVR. The funds will go towards increasing the number of clerks, logistics and transport as well as the processing of data,” submitted Commissioner Anne Nderitu.

And speaking to The Standard, IEBC Vice chairperson Fahima Araphat, while refuting that the government delays were aimed at sabotaging IEBC, painted a picture of what was at stake in light of the delayed funding amid calls for the implementation of budget cuts.

“As a commission we are committed to enhancing the transparency, credibility and efficiency of the elections thus after deliberations we found out that our budget has gone up and we have a deficit of 33B and we believe that we have presented our request to the JLAC committee and they have promised to fund us,” said Araphat.

Adding, “We didn't put all the proposals we had before the committee, for example instead of solar lamps we are thinking of solar powered generators which will not only lamp the station in case of a power failure but power even laptops and charge phones if we propose this the cost will be higher.”

She however noted that key programmes would be affected by the delay or lack of additional funding; they include a second phase of the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration exercise which seeks to employ four kits per ward compared to the first one which utilized three kits per ward, and the geo- referencing coordinates for the 28,000 plus 3,000 new polling centers.

“We are enhancing the technology to improve results transmission time and speed of voting to enable queues to move faster. We also have increased the amount of wages for temporary polling personnel. We can't keep paying them 1,000 shillings since the time of former Chairman Samuel Kivuitu… The delay in funding threatens these and other programs but we are confident that the State will avail the funding in good time,” stated Araphat.

Critics now argue that delay of funds and forced budget cuts ensure that IEBC cannot adequately prepare for the elections, leading to inevitable logistical failures, public trust deficit and contested results as witnessed during previous election cycles. But then again, they note, there is a need to confront the issue of wasteful expenditure in conducting elections in the country.

Professor Herman Manyora avers, “It is quite possible that delayed and slashed funding can be used to manipulate elections in favour of those in power. It has been done before. Some outside claims have also been made that that is what is happening now. But on the flipside, the MPs are right to ask for a budgetary reduction by IEBC because a third world country should not be using such an amount of money just to hold elections.”

“…that is money that can build various hospitals. We must relook at our elections and figure out if we need to go digital to save on costs but we must deal with the monster that is wasteful expenditure,”added Manyora.

This is affirmed by IEBC’s Post-Election valuation report that notes that during the that delays in disbursements from the exchequer has, in each election cycle, compromised its adherence to statutory timelines. 

During the 2022 general elections, for instance, the report detailed that the delayed funding compromised IEBC’s ability to clean up the voter register. It notes that IEBC’s clean-up of the voter register was impeded by IDEMIA’s refusal to hand over voter data to Smartmatic. This was reportedly due to non-payment by IEBC.

A similar situation had presented itself in 2017, where a delay in the cleanup of the voter register led to massive irregularities. While the Elections Act requires the IEBC to conduct an audit of the voter register not less than 6 months before the elections, KPMG was instructed to audit the register in March. And even before this audit was complete, the IEBC admitted that the voter register was breached, and voter data unlawfully transferred. Over 1 million voters were affected, with some voters who were registered in Nyeri County being transferred to counties in the former North Eastern Province. The then IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati however announced that the responsible officers have been identified and would be prosecuted.