Kenya is feeling the strain of funding possibly the second most
expensive election in the world in the face of falling revenues, public
sector wage pressures and emergency spending following a prolonged
drought.
So demanding are the competing needs that the
Treasury says it will be forced to cut spending in critical sectors and
divert resources from others, with infrastructure projects that the
government is touting in its re-election bid the most likely to be
sacrificed.
STRIKES
Treasury
Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge said higher salary demands by striking
nurses and lecturers, security interventions in Somalia and
preparations for the General Election posed a risk to public sector
operations in the current financial year.
“[The]
General Election could create uncertainty that would weaken both foreign
and local investor confidence and slow down projected growth of the
economy.
"Increased fear of insecurity in various parts of the country calls for additional expenditure,” said Dr Thugge in a Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Report released last week.
The report shows that up to KSh49.9 billion ($499 million) has
been allocated for the election, with KSh5.3 billion ($53 million) going
to election-related security operations such as policing 23 counties
that the intelligence service has identified as potential hotspots for
election violence.
IEBC
The
bulk of the money — Ksh42.9 billion ($429 million) — will go to the
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), with the rest
being distributed to the Judiciary, the National Intelligence Service
and the Registrar of Political Parties.
“The budgetary
allocation for the 2017 general elections is Ksh49.9 billion ($499
million) and is composed of direct and indirect election related
expenses.
"Direct election expenses has an allocation
of Ksh33.3 billion ($333 million) while indirect expenses are allocated
Ksh16.6 billion ($166 million),” reads the report.
The
allocations, at $25.4 for each of the registered 19.6 million voters,
place the Kenya election at the apex of spending on elections in the
world, behind only Papua New Guinea ($63), according to data collated
from multiple sources.
RISE
In
East Africa, Rwanda is expected to have the most cost-effective
election, with the electoral body expected to spend $6.9 million for the
6.8 million voters or $1.05 per voter on average.
That will be an improvement over the $1.71 per voter spent in 2010.
In
contrast, Kenya’s average cost for the August 8 polls reflects an
increase of more than half on the 2013 elections and is a quarter more
expensive than in 2007.
The cost of the election in Uganda last year was $4 per voter compared with $5.16 per voter in Tanzania in 2015.
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