IEBC to Commence BBI Signatures Verification as Treasury Approves Sh93 Million Budget

The National Treasury has approved a Sh93.7 million budget to facilitate the verification of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) signatures.

The approval paves the way for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to commence the process of verifying the 4.4 million signatures submitted by the BBI Secretariat.

IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati said the commission will use the funds to recruit data entry clerks, conference facilities, and accommodation.

“The Commission resubmitted budgets based on four scenarios, the highest being Ksh.241,011,000 as submitted earlier and the lowest being Ksh.93,729,800 mainly based on non-residential verification clerks.”

“Subsequently, the National Treasury made an allocation of Ksh.93,729,800 to the Commission for the exercise. The Commission will therefore proceed with the verification exercise accordingly,” Chebukati said.

The signatures for the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2020 were presented to the commission on December 10th.

The law requires IEBC to validate the signatures to ensure compliance with the requirements of Article 257 (4) of the Constitution.

If IEBC is satisfied that the initiative meets the requirements, it will submit the Bill to each of the 47 county assemblies for consideration within three months.

The bill requires the support of a majority of the county assemblies to sail through after which it shall be introduced in Parliament.

If passed by both houses of Parliament, the President will request IEBC to conduct a national referendum within 90 days.