IEBC SAYS REFERENDUM TO COST KSH 14 BILLION

The BBI referendum according to IEBC will cost Kenyans a whopping KSh 14 billion.

IEBC acting CEO Hussein Marjan said that the commission has already listed all the requirements needed to conduct the referendum which would lead to a constitutional amendment.

“We have already sat down and asked ourselves what is required for the exercise,” Marjana told MPs.

When asked how much it would cost the taxpayer, Marjana said, “It will cost Sh14 billion though we are still fine tuning.”

The figure was reached by considering the 19.6 million registered votered. He observed that with continuing voter registration, this number was bound to increase.

Marjan spoke when he appeared before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi.

Few days after unveiling of the BBI, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has unveiled its own internal reforms.

IEBC wants its commissioners reduced to five from the current seven. “This will help increase the commission’s efficiency and effectiveness as well as reduce the potential for factionalism within,” the report titled ‘Electoral Law Reform in Kenya: The IEBC Experience’ reads.

The IEBC is opposed to the BBI proposal to allow political parties to nominate commissioners, saying it would be a drawback on the agency’s independence.

“Political parties’ interests are sufficiently catered for in the vetting process since the selected commissioners are approved by the National Assembly,” the report reads.

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