Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has received a $5.5 million boost from the European Union, money the commission’s chairman says will be used for voter registration.
The polls agency has doubled the number of voter registration clerks to 5,736 after receiving $1.5 million for the exercise.
“Thanks to donor support through the basket fund, we have been able to double the number of personnel being deployed for the upcoming mass voter registration exercise that will be undertaken countrywide ahead of next year’s General Election,” said Mr Hassan.
He said the commission was in talks with Parliament and the National Treasury to get timely funding to prepare well for the 2017 poll.
“We look forward to the supplementary estimates of the budget where we hope that we get some more funding for voter registration exercise,” he added.
According to Mr Hassan, 5,736 voter registration assistants would be deployed to cover 24, 559 centers in 1,450 county assembly wards.
“The contribution of the Sh560 million will go a long way to compliment the Kenya government funding for the next elections,” he said.
IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba said the donation was the single biggest contribution they have received so far.
