The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission says it will extend the nationwide voters registration exercise without mentioning the deadline.
The agency’s chair Wafula Chebukati says, the electoral body will follow the court order to extend the deadline for the new voter registration.
The case, in which the commission moved to court to challenge the order. The IEBC had previously filed a lawsuit in court to overturn an order that had extended the registration period, due to budget constraints.
Earlier in the week, the court had passed a verdict that the electoral body to extend the mass listing exercise.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) however said that they will not extend the countrywide voters registration exercise voters due to insufficiency of funds despite a court order.
IEBC Vice chairperson Juliana Cherera said there is no budget to carry on with the exercise even by a single day. She said this despite a court order extending the registration by a week to November 9 2021.
The Commission was allocated Sh 1.2 billion out of the Sh 4 billion it had requested to carry out the exercise ahead of the 2022 general elections.
The Commission has already registered 760,000 Kenyans by the 26th day of October down from a target of 4.5 million new voters.
The independent elections body has targeted 6 million new voters before the deadline.
“The mass voter registration exercise can’t be extended. We can’t start making plans unless we have been assured of funds,” said Ms Cherera yesterday without disclosing the amount needed for the one week extension