Advertisement

Cost of Kenya election to rise further over petitions

Saturday August 19 2017
supreme

The Supreme Court building in Nairobi. PHOTO | DOUGLAS KIEREINI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By ERICK ODUOR

Election petitions, starting with the filing of a lawsuit challenging the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta, are expected to increase the cost of Kenya’s General Election, which was held on August 8.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said its budget will balloon in the next six months when most election petitions will be presented in court.

However, The EastAfrican has established that the IEBC will be at the mercy of lawyers, as the commission has not capped its legal fee — as it had promised to do during its preparations for the elections — to cushion taxpayers from exorbitant legal fees.

According to IEBC’s communications director Andrew Limo, the electoral body will contract lawyers to represent the commission in petitions filed by the National Super Alliance (Nasa). He acknowledged that the cost of the elections is high, but noted that the commission must comply with the law and meet its financial obligations.

In 2013, the presidential election petition alone saw the electoral commission pay Ksh568 million ($5.6 million) to law firms. The court process took around 29 days.

However, the cost is expected to double this time round due to the coming into force of the Advocates Remuneration Order, which increased legal fees by 50 per cent in 2014.

Advertisement

While complaining about the high legal fees the commission is charged by external lawyers, Wafula Chebukati, chairman of IEBC, said the fees paid to its external lawyers will be capped and contracted lawyers will sign a commitment fee before representing the commission in court.

Poll petitions

Nasa has lined up a team of lawyers led by Paul Mwangi while President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legal team is led by Fred Ngatia. The opposition’s legal team will be joined by lawyers from civil society working under the aegis of Kura Yangu Sauti Yangu — a coalition of non-governmental organisations and civil society. 

In the current budget, Treasury allocated Ksh42.9 billion ($429 million) to IEBC for elections-related activities, but the commission has faced over 200 legal hurdles since 2013, adding pressure to an already overstretched budget.

Apart from the presidential election petition, the electoral commission will also be in court for petitions challenging the election of governors, senators, MPs and Members of County Assembly.

Already, at least five governorship candidates have said they will challenge the results of their loss. They include Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos), Chirau Mwakwere (Kwale), Peter Munya (Meru) and Evans Kidero (Nairobi). Last week, outgoing Embu senator Leny Kivuti filed a case to stop IEBC from gazetting the victory of Martin Wambora.

Samuel Nyandemo, an economist, said the government will have to allocate the commission more funds to meet its financial responsibilities.

This will force taxpayers to shoulder extra costs at a time when the National Treasury is facing financial difficulties caused by huge public debts amid increasing demand for a review of salaries to public servants and funds for development projects.

Last year, the Auditor-General Edward Ouko raised queries about the Ksh2 billion ($2 million) that the electoral commission paid to external lawyers.

Advertisement