Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission CEO Ezra Chiloba. PHOTO | FILE
Kenya’s electoral body has doubled the number of clerks to handle the voter registration that kicks off on Monday after foreign donors stepped in to fill a financial gap.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Thursday said it would now involve 5,700 voter registration clerks, up from 2,878 it had initially planned to enlist owing to a shortfall of Sh2 billion.
IEBC chief executive Ezra Chiloba said that the agency had received Sh153 million ($1.5 million) from the US and the UK, enabling the doubling of clerks who will register voters using biometric kits.
The European Union Thursday also committed Sh570 million to the agency in the period leading to the General Election next year.
“This doubled because of the support from donors,” said Mr Chiloba, adding that the agency still has a Sh1.2 billion hole.
Last month, the IEBC said it only had Sh500 million for the month-long mass voter registration exercise, a situation which would have limited the exercise to the ward level while leaving out polling stations.
IEBC had early last year requested for Sh2 billion for the exercise but the Treasury did not allocate any funds.
The agency targets to register eight million new voters before the polls on August 8 next year. This will be the first of two mass voter registration exercises with the next one held in early 2017.
There are 1,450 wards in the country with each set to have two registration clerks. This number is far less than the 24,000 polling stations that were used during the last polls in 2013.
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