A referendum to change the Constitution and adopt the Building Bridges Initiative proposals will cost taxpayers at least Sh14 billion, the electoral agency has said.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission acting CEO Hussein Marjan Wednesday said that the agency has met and discussed a working budget.
The sum is based on the 19.6 million voters in the IEBC register, a number that might rise given the continuous voter registration across the 47 counties.
“We have already sat down and asked ourselves what is required for a referendum. Our budget was coming to Sh14 billion though we are still fine-tuning it,” Marjan told MPs.
The figure also caters for the election officials which consist of presiding officers and their deputies, clerks and the minimum two police officers for every polling station.
In the 2017 elections, IEBC deployed 350,000 officials across the country.
Marjan appeared before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee to respond to 2017-2018 audit queries.
He said the commission is not only prepared to deliver a credible referendum but has also started preparations for the 2022 elections.
IEBC figures are Sh12 billion more than the Sh2 billion ODM leader Raila Odinga projected two months ago.
Speaking in August during the swearing-in of ODM's National Election Board and Disciplinary Committee members Raila said the referendum should not cost more than Sh2 billion.
"A referendum does not need to cost more than Sh2 billion. So we should not be told, 'we have no money; there is no money to do'. We can teach [IEBC chair Wafula] Chebukati how to do it so we have everything needed for a country to do a referendum. We will do it before the next general election,” he said.
Raila said it was not the desire for anyone to make a referendum any more difficult and costlier.
Committee chair Opiyo Wandayi had questioned the commission’s preparedness for a possible referendum following the launch of the BBI report.
The document proposes a raft of changes to the Constitution including altering the structure of the Executive.
The report was received by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila last week in Kisii and was launched at the Bomas of Kenya on Monday.
Last month, commissioner Boya Molu put the referendum cost at not less than Sh10 billion when he spoke at the International Day of Democracy fete in Nairobi.
"I may not be able to give you exact figure but going by the last repeat presidential elections, a referendum will not cost less than Sh10 billion," Molu said.
He added:" On election day you hire not less than 50,000 vehicles and you cannot get a vehicle for less than Sh10,000. We also have to hire 350,000 poll officials on election day."