The electoral commission, whose members were sworn into office on Friday, July 11, 2025, has its in-tray full after the Auditor-General listed issues it has to address. 

Just days after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials took oath of office, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu on July 14, 2025, proposed measures to streamline the polls agency. 

In her latest 2023/2024 audit report, Gathungu not only raised questions about the long absence of IEBC commissioners but also identified other burning issues.

They range from the commission having unregistered land, unvalued and unconfirmed ownership of motor vehicles, failure to use the e-procurement system, as well as failure by the National Treasury to operationalise the Commission Fund. 

Procurement challenges 

Other matters raised are deficiency in the commission’s governance system, deficiencies in the biometric voter registration (BVR) and Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS) kits controls, loss of election materials at Karachuonyo constituency office, discrepancies in stores records at Kisii county offices, lack of segregation of duties at the commission’s county offices, lack of Comprehensive Assets Register, challenges of procurement and warehouse management, having insecure storage of gas cylinders as well as having outstanding court awards 

IEBC chairperson Erastus Ethekon, during their swearing-in ceremony, promised to collaborate with the secretariat to undertake a comprehensive review of the electoral process, from data verification and transmission to training and public engagement. 

Ethekon said: “While the 2027 General Election is in sight, our focus must be on every step that leads us there. Elections are not an end-they are the means through which democracy lives and breathes.” 

But in the audit, Gathungu has raised management queries, claiming that in some instances they had breached the law, incurred avoidable interest costs, as well as raised questions regarding the quality of some of the materials used by the commission in the election. 

With regards to BVR and KIEMS kits, the report raises concerns that out of the 59,100 KIEMS kits comprising 45 000 Morpho kits procured in 2017 and 14,100 VIU-100 (Smartmatic) procured in 2022, a total of 3,433 KIEMS kits were faulty, 200 KIEMS kits were not returned after the 2017 and 2022 general elections, two were reported as lost, and thirty (30) were burnt in Wajir County. 

Reads: “Management explained that the commission had initiated the development of the Standard Operating Procedure for KIEMS kits movement and management that it was undergoing internal reviews and approvals. However, it could not be implemented due to a lack of Commissioners to approve it. In the circumstances, the effectiveness of internal controls for the KIEMS kits management could not be confirmed 

Another 159 KITS dispatched for by-elections and petitions were yet to be returned to the Election Technology Centre, leaving the commission with only 55,286. 

The report further raised concerns that a field visit to Karachuonyo IEBC Constituency office had revealed that the premises and storage areas were in poor condition, 31 BVR laptops and 45 chargers were reported as missing on August 26, 2021, adding that there was inadequate accounting of the stores records and no reconciliation had been done. 

On the use of E-Procurement System, the report says that while the Commission procured goods and services totaling Ksh136 million, a review of the payment records supporting the expenditure revealed that the procurement was done outside e-Procurement system and manual returns were sent to the Head Office for further processing, contrary to Regulation 54 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations, 2020. 

Although the Management explained that the commission had collaborated with the National Treasury for a planned rollout of IFMIS to the counties in two phases, the proposed setup of County Election Managers and Regional accountants as General Ledger users and General Ledger Supervisors in IFMIS to facilitate real-time capture of data in IFMIS had not taken place. 

Unregistered land 

With regards to the Commission Fund, the report has raised concerns over failure by the Treasury  Cabinet Secretary to operationalise the Fund has led to the Commission’s funding by The National Treasury to be issued in form of Exchequer issues contrary to Section 18 (1) of the IEBC Act, 2011 that stipulates that the funds of the Commission shall be held in the body’s Commission Fund which shall be administered on behalf of the Commission, by the Secretary. 

Reads the report: “In the circumstances, the National Treasury and the Commission were in breach of the law.” 

On unregistered land, the report says that the commission was yet to obtain ownership documents for 25 parcels of land allocated to it