The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has dismissed a court order extending the voter registration exercise by a week.
On Tuesday, November 1, IEBC stated that it will end the month-long voter listing exercise today. The polls' body noted that it was financially constrained and unable to continue with the exercise.
The High Court in Eldoret made the order pending the hearing of a case filed by a voter from Uasin Gishu County.
Justice Eric Ogolla, in his ruling, directed that the exercise, which was slated to end on Tuesday, November 2 after a 30-day run, be extended to Tuesday, November 9, 2021.
The IEBC appealed last week to all Kenyans that are eligible to "take advantage of the remaining one week and register," emphasizing that they will not be extending the registration period.
IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said the commission was allocated Ksh1.2 billion out of the Ksh4 billion it had requested for the exercise.
“After November 2, we will not have money to extend the voter registration exercise. The commission can only afford to conduct mass registration for 30 days,” Chebukati stated.
He further explained that the commission needed an extra Ksh1.3 billion to audit the voter register, and other expenses.
Chebukati had stated that the electoral agency was targeting to register six million new voters but during the one month, the poll's body did not mobilize enough youth to participate in the exercise.
The IEBC boss told Members of Parliament that they needed Ksh40 billion to hold elections in 2022. However, this was met with a push back by the Chairman of the parliamentary Budget and Appropriations Committee, Kanini Kega, who termed the budget as exorbitant and questioned IEBC’s decision to procure expensive ballot papers.
Chebukati defended the IEBC decision on purchasing ballot papers stating that it will cost Ksh35 to buy a single ballot paper because of new security features.
The IEBC Chairman further argued that the electoral body had decided to buy the secured ballots due to the mistrust the commission had faced from the public.
