Kenya's general election the most expensive in Africa and 2nd most expensive in the world

So costly is the Kenyan general election that the Treasury says it will be forced to cut spending in critical sectors and divert resources from others.

Higher salary demands by nurses and lecturers who are currently on strike, security interventions in Somalia, Infrastructure projects the government is touting in its re-election bid will most likely take a back seat and be sacrificed just to fund the election.

What more, the polls jitters is also likely to harm the country’s economy by slowing its projected growth, unplanned additional expenditure will also have to be foot to deal with increased fear of insecurity in various parts of the country among other costs, according to a Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Report released last week by the Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge.

“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 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.

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The bulk of the money; Ksh42.9 billion ($429 million) will go to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), while the rest will be distributed to the judiciary, National Intelligence Service and the Registrar of Political Parties.

At a steep cost of $25.4 per voter of the registered 19.6 million voters, the Kenyan election is the most expensive in the continent and only comes second after Papua New Guinea ($63) in the world, according to data collated from multiple sources.

In 2013, Kenya spent a total Ksh26 billion ($260 million) for the election, indicating a near doubling of cost this year.

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In East Africa, Rwanda which goes to general elections this year as well is expected to have the most cost effective election, with the electoral body expected to spend at $1.05 per voter on average or $6.9 million for the 6.8 million voters, an improvement over the $1.71 per voter spent in 2010.

The cost of the election in Uganda last year was $4 per voter compared to $5.16 per voter in Tanzania in 2015.

Ghana’s election last year at $0.07 per voter, appears the least expensive in Africa against a global benchmark of $5 per voter.

Nigeria, with nearly 70 million voters, spent $603 million in its 2015 elections, translating into $8.61 per voter.

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The high cost of elections in Kenya is due to procurement of election materials at dubious costs as well as infrastructure challenges that complicate election logistics.

This year’s elections have attracted the highest number of candidates, 16,259 in total all vying for 1882 posts, likely to give voters an headache scheming through to their favorite candidate in the ballot papers.

Kenyans can do a favor for themselves by at least voting for accountable leaders with integrity who once elected can work to bring the cost of living down and not steal public coffers.