Its 2B and not 14B, Raila to Chebukati over Referendum

Orange Democratic Movement ODM Party leader Raila Odinga has cautioned Kenya’s electoral body against conducting high cost referendum.

Odinga through his official statement he released on Thursday October 29th morning clarified that, according to international standards, Kenya will not be using more than sh 2 billion to conduct a successful referendum.

He accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission IEBC against sexing figures to sh 14 billion so as to benefit from the important exercise.

The IEBC report was termed by Odinga as a clear indication that the Chebukati-led communion was one of the most incompetent team that need an immediate overhaul before 2022.

“The Ksh.14 billion the IEBC is talking about is not only outrageous but also a manifestation of the institution’s insensitivity to the changes Kenyans are crying for in the management of public affairs.”

He further mentioned that IEBC could be colluding with some politicians who dont want constitutional changes to soil the impeding exercise which is a brain child of the Building Bridges Initiative BBI Report.

The former premier added that through the changes in the constitution, culture of theft of public resources was coming to a sudden end hence the uncomfortable voices from people who have been cutting deals with public entities to enrich themselves.

“A statement attributed to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that the upcoming referendum will cost up to Ksh.14 billion is the latest indication that the electoral body and the entire election management in Kenya must be overhauled and streamlined,” said Mr. Raila Odinga.

He categorically mentioned that many ill-mannered individuals do use elections to make a killing what must now stop.

“Elections have become one of the major avenues for ripping off the country through various schemes that are never meant to save costs or yield credible results but to line pockets of individuals. Those schemes are evident in the IEBC’s latest reasoning. The upcoming referendum is intended to bring sanity to our election processes including aligning the costs to the global trends,” he added.

https://twitter.com/RailaOdinga/status/1321756863818539008?s=20

He has since broken down the costs per voter in other countries saying it is approximately sh 100 to 200 and therefore Kenya cannot be an exception.

He therefore promised to push the State to form a team of economists who will sit down with the IEBC to come up with a more cost effective solution.