Inside the costly cycle of IEBC’s frequent tech overhauls before polls

Tough questions have emerged over IEBC’s frequent overhaul of multi-billion election technology that would see the poll budget hit a historical Sh70 billion.

The electoral commission is pleading with MPs to allocate it with Sh74.8 billion to run the 2027 General Election, a new budget jump of over Sh10 billion. 

With the National Treasury having allocated only Sh41.3 billion so far, the polls agency faces a funding shortfall of Sh33.4 billion.

At the core of the budget crisis is a familiar and expensive problem: election technology.

The IEBC wants Sh10.7 billion for new Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits, the handheld devices used for voter identification and results transmission.

So far, Treasury has allocated only Sh1.5 billion for the equipment, leaving a gap of Sh9.2 billion, excluding software maintenance costs.

But for MPs, the real question is not just about money.

It is why the commission keeps buying expensive election technology every cycle, only to declare it obsolete a few years later.

The current KIEMS infrastructure was first procured for the 2017 election at Sh6.2 billion.

Ahead of the 2022 election, the IEBC spent another Sh4.2 billion on election technology, including 14,100 new kits supplied by election technology firm Smartmatic.

At the time, the commission said about 41,000 older kits were still functional.

Now, barely three years later, the IEBC says up to 45,352 kits require replacement.

After acquisition of the system, IEBC also spent millions in software upgrades.

The commission argues that many of the kits have failing batteries, expired manufacturer support and outdated software, making them unreliable for a high-stakes national election.

However, the ICT ministry is yet to complete an audit to determine how many of the devices can still be used.

Despite the pending audit, the IEBC has urged MPs to approve additional funding for a full replacement.

“From our perspective, the audit could say some kits are usable on face value, but we cannot take the risk,” IEBC commissioner Francis Aduol told the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

“Any single failure can cause problems,” he said, noting that the number of polling stations is expected to increase in 2027.

Aduol disclosed that about 14,000 kits procured in 2022 experienced integration challenges with the older system, further complicating the commission’s technology plans.

“We are not sure we are going to use Smartmatic. We are going to open this for tender, and we foresee a challenge of integrating the new and old systems,” he said.

“If we find we cannot use them with the new vendor, we can use them for voter registration. The challenge is how we integrate the two. Hence, we want a full new set.”

But MPs were not convinced.

In 2012, IEBC acquired BVR kits, used in voter registration at a cost of Sh9.6 billion.

By 2017, the BVR technology was abandoned.

Aden Daud accused the commission of presenting a “moving target” after the projected election budget jumped from Sh61 billion to Sh74.8 billion within weeks.

He also questioned the projected cost of the KIEMS kits.

Daud noted that initial estimates had placed the cost at about Sh140,000 per kit, but the revised budget reflected approximately Sh240,000 per unit.

The sharp increase, he suggested, raised concerns about possible inflation of costs.

Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo demanded evidence to support the IEBC’s claim that the devices were obsolete.

“How do we conclude they are obsolete before we see the report?” Amollo asked.

The IEBC had promised Parliament an independent audit of the existing KIEMS kits to determine which devices could still function and which were beyond repair.

MPs said the report had not been submitted, clouding the commission’s justification for seeking billions to replace the entire inventory.

Lawmakers warned that approving the request without proper scrutiny would make Kenya’s elections even more expensive than they already are.

Across Africa, election management bodies are grappling with rising operational costs, but Nairobi’s per-voter expenditure remains among the highest on the continent.

In 2017, Kenya spent an estimated Sh3,341 per voter. By 2022, the figure dropped to approximately Sh1,922 per voter, though it remained significantly higher than in several African democracies.

Nigeria’s 2023 elections cost an estimated Sh867 per voter, while South Africa’s 2024 elections cost about Sh916 per voter despite operating a complex three-ballot system.

Rwanda, which has invested heavily in biometric election systems, has managed to keep its election technology costs comparatively low.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi recently lamented the rising cost of elections in Kenya, warning that the IEBC must embrace cost-cutting measures and avoid replacing reusable equipment every cycle.

“There are items like ballot boxes and surveillance equipment that are reusable. You don’t have to buy everything afresh every five years,” Mbadi said.

Since 2017, Kenya has spent more than Sh10 billion on election technology, yet the IEBC continues to return to Parliament seeking billions for new devices every election cycle.

Beyond technology, the commission’s funding gaps span nearly every area of election operations.

The IEBC said temporary poll officials require Sh12.3 billion, but only Sh7 billion has been allocated, leaving a shortfall of Sh5.1 billion.

Voter registration and biometric verification require Sh7.6 billion, against an allocation of Sh4.9 billion.

Ballot papers and voter registers require Sh6.8 billion, but only Sh4.1 billion has been set aside.

Transport and field mobility require Sh3.5 billion, against an allocation of Sh2 billion.

Litigation costs require Sh2.3 billion, but only Sh801 million has been allocated.

The commission also wants to expand diaspora voter registration centres from 18 to 55.

MPs further raised concerns that billions of shillings spent on election technology have at times failed to deliver credible outcomes.

During the 2017 election, KIEMS kits reportedly failed in some opposition strongholds, fuelling allegations of sabotage.

In 2022, the commission again experienced integration challenges between older KIEMS kits and newer Smartmatic devices.

Then there is the question of accountability for lost and damaged equipment.

A 2024 report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu revealed that 3,433 KIEMS kits were faulty.

About 200 kits were never returned after the 2017 and 2022 elections, while two kits were reported lost.

Thirty kits were burnt during unrest in Wajir county.

In Karachuonyo constituency, 31 BVR laptops and 45 chargers went missing. In Kisii county, 26 kits could not be accounted for.

The audit further revealed that 79 kits had no hard disks, while another 215 devices were completely empty.

“There was inadequate accounting of the store records and no reconciliation had been done,” Gathungu stated in the report.

Critics argue that the frequent technology overhauls have created a lucrative cycle for foreign suppliers while draining public funds.

Elections Observation Group national coordinator Mule Musau said transparency remains the biggest concern.

“My issue is always with the cost and transparency of the process,” Musau said.

“We can get good, long-lasting and scalable equipment when there is openness. Where opacity is the order of the day, there will always be interests.”

For its part, the IEBC insists that using ageing technology in Kenya’s highly contested elections would be too risky.

Justice and Legal Affairs Committee chairman Gitonga Murugara said Parliament would subject the commission’s budget request to rigorous scrutiny.

“We can’t take public money and just approve without checks,” Murugara said.

The committee has directed the IEBC to provide an expert assessment on whether the existing KIEMS kits can still be used ahead of the 2027 polls.

 INSTANT ANALYSIS

 The IEBC’s latest budget request exposes a deeper structural problem in Kenya’s electoral management: costly technology procurement without a sustainable long-term strategy. Every election cycle, billions are spent replacing systems that were previously presented as secure and reliable, yet little public accountability exists on maintenance, depreciation, reuse or failed integration. The commission’s caution about system failure is understandable given Kenya’s tense elections, but Parliament is right to demand an independent audit before approving another massive expenditure. The risk is that election technology has become a perpetual procurement cycle benefiting vendors more than voters, while pushing Kenya’s already expensive elections to unsustainable levels.