Nandi County Senator Samson Cherargei has told Kenyans that extending term limits for elected leaders will help the country save money.

Cherargei in a statement shared via his official X account on Monday, October 28, 2024, argued that the country has been losing a lot of money by holding general elections that are too close.

According to the lawmaker, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) spends money that runs into billions to hold a single election.

Cherargei on amount spent

For instance, Cherargei says IEBC spent Ksh35.8 billion to conduct the last 2022 general elections, which has since left the commission with an outstanding pending bill of Ksh2.05 billion.

He further notes that the amount the electoral commission spent to conduct the past election can translate to Ksh2,000 per voter, terming it as the most expensive election cost in the world.

“Kenyans are you aware that in the 2022 General Elections 35.8B this translates to 2,000/= per voter was used with an outstanding Pending bill of 2.05B by IEBC. This is the most expensive election cost in the world,” Cherargei stated.

Cherargei on term limits

The lawmaker went ahead to state that it is because of the cost of conducting an election that he is seeking to have the term limits extended.

According to him, the money used to hold elections every five years can be diverted to development projects across the country.

This, Cherargei says, can enable each county to receive up to Ksh1 billion, to be spent on development projects.

“That’s why we don’t need to hold elections regularly because these monies can be used for development projects across the country. Imagine approximately 1B per county for the development expenditure or give to counties for the equitable shareable revenue allocation,” Cherargei stated.

Kenyans are you aware that in 2022 General Elections 35.8B this translates to 2000/= per voter was used with an outstanding Pending bill of 2.05B by IEBC . This is the most expensive elections cost in the world.

That's why we don't need to hold elections regularly because…

— Senator Kiprotich Arap Cherargei (@scherargei) October 28, 2024

Cherargei’s bill seeks to increase the term limits for the president, governors, members of parliament, and members of county assemblies from the current five to seven years.

The bill has, however, received great opposition from Kenyans, political parties and a section of political leaders.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party is the latest political outfit that has expressed its dissatisfaction with the bill.