Thursday, October 29, 2020 – Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has launched scathing attacks against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for claiming that a referendum will cost Kenyan taxpayers Sh 14 billion.
In a statement on Thursday, Raila, who is in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a 2-day official visit, said IEBC must be overhauled and streamlined for making such claims.
Raila said the IEBC body under the chairmanship of Wafula Chebukati has been using elections to steal taxpayers’ money.
“These schemes are evident in the IEBC reasoning. That kind of impunity cannot be allowed to soil an exercise like the upcoming BBI referendum whose objectives among others is to stop the culture of theft of public resources and corruption in public offices,” he said.
Raila said the referendum was aimed at bringing sanity to Kenya’s election process including aligning the costs to the global trends.
“That message needs to get to IEBC. The cost per voter ranges from Sh100 to Sh200. There is no excuse why Kenya should pay more,” he said.
However, according to IEBC, the Sh14 billion figure caters for the election officials, who consist of presiding officers and their deputies, clerks and the minimum two police officers for every polling station.
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