IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati has revealed that the proposed referendum is likely to cost taxpayers Ksh12 billion.
He was speaking to reporters of The Standard when he stated that the commission had not budgeted for a referendum because it was not expected.
“On the issue of how much, we are informed by the cost of the repeat presidential election of October 26, 2017, which cost Ksh12 billion.” he divulged.
He added that “with a referendum being one election, the cost would be similar or thereabouts.”
Chebukati reassured that the commission was ready to conduct the process should it be called upon. He acknowledged that they had received notifications from various public groups of their intentions to collect one million signatures required by the constitution.
Currently, the IEBC is preparing administrative procedures to compliment verification of voters that will result from the ongoing signature collections.
When asked about the current composition of his team, he responded that is was up to parliament to replace former commissioners Roselyn Akombe, Connie Maina, Margaret Mwachanya and Paul Kurgat who resigned.
Calls to amend the constitution have gained momentum, causing the Deputy President William Ruto, who had initially opposed the idea, to support it.
He announced that he would support the push if it would ease the burden on Kenyans caused by over-representation.
“We have no problem with the referendum. Our problem is hypocrisy and conman-ship, to tell us the referendum was agreed during the handshake, you are lying to us,” he stated.
