ELECTION WATCH

Deadline extended: Why Kenyans are shunning IEBC jobs

FRANCIS MULIJun 15, 20171 Mins read3.3k

IEBC is looking for people to working durinng the August general election.

The electoral body has extended application for election jobs for one more day after a low response rate by Kenyans. By Sunday, three days to the initial deadline, only 80,000 candidates had applied according to information provided by the IEBC through a tweet.

The now embattled IEBC had advertised more than 350,000 jobs in preparation for general elections slated for August 8^ththis year, but it seems people are giving the jobs a cold shoulder perhaps due to its low-pay or short-term nature of the jobs.

Presiding officers earn Ksh2,000 per day, deputy presiding officers Ksh1,800, Polling clerks Ksh1,000, logistics officers Ksh1,500, deputy returning officers Ksh3,000, support electoral trainers (SETs) Ksh2,000, ICT clerks Ksh1,500, while Ward Based Voter Educators earn Ksh1,500.

This is unusual in a country teeming with jobless youth, most of them degree and diploma holders looking for anything to do. Or possibly IEBC did not advertise long enough to reach more eligible candidates.

Among the positions advertised are polling/counting clerks (262,665 positions), Presiding and deputy presiding officers(91,032 positions), logistic officers(337 posts), Constituency ICT clerks(580 vacancies), Returning officers(290), Support Electoral Trainers-SETs (5,054 posts) and Ward Based Voter Educators (2900 posts).

The successful candidates will take up 359,958 positions for various duties related to the general election across 45,000 polling stations in the country, which were increased from 31,000 polling stations ahead of the last elections in 2013.

The selected team will work for a period of between nine days and two months depending on the position, with clerical officers having the lowest work period.

The clock is ticking for IEBC who are facing disgruntled NASA over tender awards to Dubai firm Al Ghurair, which is linked to the first family. The Opposition accuses IEBC of a tainted tendering process.

The initial link provided was not working, prompting the IEBC IT team to create a new link for the application. Interested candidates can apply HERE before the grace period elapses.

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Written by

FRANCIS MULI

Editor and writer, Francis Muli has a passion for human interest stories. He holds a BSc in Communication and Journalism from Moi University and has worked for various organisations including Kenya Television Service. Email:[email protected]