A new supplementary budget before Parliament shows that the National Treasury has set aside Sh168.60 million to buy vehicles for the seven commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) who took office last year.
The allocation is part of revised spending plans for the financial year ending in June and is awaiting approval by Members of Parliament.
Budget documents indicate that the electoral agency’s spending on the “purchase of vehicles and other transport equipment” has jumped from Sh5.6 million in the original estimates to Sh174.2 million in the revised figures. The increase places the commission among State agencies receiving the largest rise in vehicle-related allocations.
In addition to the purchase of cars, the commission has been allocated Sh1.3 million for routine maintenance of vehicles in the updated estimates. This item had not been provided for in the initial budget approved earlier.
The additional funding comes after a new team of commissioners assumed office on July 11, 2025, after the national budget had already been passed by Parliament. The commissioners are led by chairperson Erastus Edung Ethekon.
The new team was sworn in by Chief Justice Martha Koome a day after their appointments were cleared by a three-judge bench of the High Court.
The commissioners who joined the electoral body include Fahima Araphat Abdallah, who serves as vice chairperson, Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, and Francis Odhiambo Aduol. They are expected to serve a six-year term at the commission.
The vehicle purchase for the electoral agency forms part of wider changes in the supplementary budget that increase government spending on transport fleets across a number of State departments and agencies.
Overall, allocations for buying vehicles in about 16 government departments and agencies have risen sharply from Sh165.4 million in the approved budget to Sh780.4 million in the revised estimates.
At the same time, spending on routine maintenance of vehicles and other transport equipment for about 34 State departments and agencies has more than doubled, rising from Sh500.7 million to Sh1.12 billion.