- Marjan said the three-day court extension did not yield much.
- Enhanced voter registration began on October 4 ,was set to end on November 2 but court gave three-day extension. People can still register after the drive.
Image: JACK OWUOR
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission spent about Sh1,000 to register just one voter during the three-day extension ordered by the court.
IEBC acting CEO Hussein Marjan on Monday told MPs the Commission registered fewer than 100 new voters despite spending Sh72 million for the three extra days.
Marjan said the three-day extension did not yield much, as a negligible number of voters turned up to be listed nationwide.
“We did not realise significant figures after the court forced us to extend the voter registration,” Marjan said.
The CEO was appearing before the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriation Committee chaired by Kieni MP Kanini Kega to, among others, discuss the Commission’s budget for 2022 general election.
Voter Patrick Cherono early this month filed a petition before the High Court in Eldoret barring the Commission from ending the enhanced voter registration exercise.
Initially, the enhanced voter registration which began on October 4 was to end on November 2 but after court order it extended to November 5.
During the one-month period, the electoral agency said it managed to add to its register 1,519,294 new voters against a target of six million new eligible voters.
In a statement, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said the new voters translate to only 25.3 per cent of the targeted eligible voters.
"During the ECVR exercise, the Commission enrolled a total of 1,519,294 new voters out of the projected target of approximately 6 million eligible voters, being 25.3 per cent of the target," he said when he released the results.
The commission also transferred another 421,057 registered voters who applied to move from their previous registration centres to new ones.
On Monday, the Kanini Kega-led team told the Commission to harmonise its budget and give an itemised document for tabling in the House.
IEBC had submitted a Sh41 billion budget for the 2022 elections.
Speaking in Mombasa during a media stakeholders’ workshop in August, Chebukati said they have only been allocated Sh26 billion by the National Treasury, leaving a deficit of over Sh14 billion.
He said Sh588 million would be spent on procuring items for Covid-19 prevention protocol such as thermometer guns, sanitisers, soap and washing points.
(Edited by V. Graham)