Source: Zimbabwe’s democracy: Africa’s most expensive | The Financial Gazette July 20, 2017
NEXT month, Rwandans will be going to polls and the country has budgeted $7 million for a process targeting just over five million voters.
Rwanda spent about $9 million during the last election in 2010.
Four days after the Rwandan vote, Kenyans will be going to the polls on August 8 on a budget of $480 million.
At nearly 20 million, Kenya’s voting population is four times that of Rwanda.
Across the border in Mozambique, where more than 10 million people are registered to vote, $13,3 million has been targeted for this year’s local government elections.
In Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) spent $603 million to conduct its 2015 general elections, translating to $7,9 for each of the more than 70 million voters.
Zimbabwe’s election commission this week announced a $274 million budget for the country’s 2018 plebiscite.
With an estimated seven million voters, the country’s $39 cost per voter far exceeds its continental peers.
The proposed election expenses are about seven percent of the country’s annual budget since 2009.
Rwanda will spend $1,38 per voter; Mozambique will need $1,33 per voter and Kenya will require $22,5 per voter.
Ghana’s 2016 election, with 16 million voters, cost $12 per voter, while Tanzania spent $5,16 per voter in 2015.
Zimbabwe will spend $7,6 million to procure a biometric voter registration system.
ZEC will also conduct training for the new system prior to a 10 week voter registration programme.
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