Commercial Projects

Uchaguzi Centre: IEBC’s Sh3.5bn Plan to Exit Anniversary Towers

The commission spends at least Sh100 million annually on rent.

Updated on

August 20, 2025

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is seeking Sh3.5 billion to construct a new headquarters, in a move that would end its two-decade stay at Anniversary Towers in Nairobi’s Central Business District.

Appearing before the Senate’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, IEBC Chief Executive Marjan Hussein Marjan said the plan is to establish “Uchaguzi Centre” from July 2027, provided funding is secured.

“The acquisition of the Commission’s own premises would cut recurrent costs such as office space rent, hiring venues for commission activities including meetings with stakeholders, nomination of candidates, training for staff and stakeholders and storage/warehousing for strategic and non-strategic materials,” Mr Marjan told senators.

The agency is banking on a phased allocation, beginning with Sh201 million in the year ending June 2027, followed by Sh602 million the next year to kick-start construction.

Currently, the commission spends at least Sh100 million annually on rent at Anniversary Towers, a building owned by Kenya Re. The figure does not include additional expenses on hiring venues for meetings, training, or storage.

This is not the first attempt to move. Efforts date back to 2013 when then-chair Issack Hassan sought Sh800 million for an exclusive office block, citing the Sh48 million annual rent and security concerns. His successor, Wafula Chebukati, revived the plan in 2018, stressing that relocation would reduce costs while curbing disruption from protests.

“The IEBC is, of course, an independent organisation with many stakeholders and often some are dissatisfied and resort to protests. We feel that being based in the CBD has done a disservice to other businesses and so we need to move elsewhere,” Mr Chebukati said.

In its 2021 tender notice, the IEBC invited bids for a five-acre parcel at least 20 kilometres from the city, accessible by road and on stable ground. That plan stalled, but the agency insists that moving remains essential.

As Mr Marjan argued, Uchaguzi Centre would eventually save taxpayers millions, while freeing Nairobi’s CBD from the upheaval of politically charged demonstrations.