The National Treasury has more than tripled the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) budget signaling at a possible referendum before the 2022 general Election.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ekur Yatani on Thursday, June 10, allocated a whooping Ksh 15 billion for the IEBC in the 2021/2022 fiscal year up from Ksh 4.6 billion allocated to the commission in the 2020/2021 financial year.
Although the CS did not state whether the money includes a budget for the referendum, the figure is quite telling and it could well be the government is making funds available for a possible referendum.
Proponents of BBI have filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal following last month’s decision by the High Court which declared the BBI bill unconstitutional and blocked the commission from conducting a referendum.
The former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Friday, June 11, while speaking during the burial of former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile, expressed confidence Kenyans will still have an opportunity to participate in the proposed referendum.
This is not the first time the opposition leader has publicly maintained that the entire BBI process is still on despite a court suspension.
Speaking in Kondele, Kisumu County on Monday, May 24, the opposition chief told Kenyans that the constitutional review process will go on as earlier planned.
“BBI reggae is back,” Raila declared adding that the court setback against BBI bill is something Uhuru Kenyatta and him will overcome.
It is believed that should the appeal challenging the judgement by the High Court succeed, Chebukati’s commission will have to roll out voter registration and education exercise, buy new or update its technology and hire at least 400,000 staff.
In its annual report to Parliament, IEBC had decried lack of enough funding as a major factor affecting its plans to re-use the ‘alleged 2017 faulty’ kits which required updating, auditing, and maintenance.
