By: Sharon Njeru.
Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu has disclosed the allocations for various political parties in the Financial Year 2023/2024, with the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) set to receive the largest share, amounting to slightly over Ksh.316 million.
Ms. Nderitu, in a gazette notice published on Friday, detailed that the new allocation of the Political Parties Fund resulted from the second revision of the Supplementary Estimates.
Previously, the Registrar had reduced the funds allocated to political parties in the first revision in January 2024, where the UDA was initially allocated Ksh.237 million. The opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party’s allocation increased from Ksh.127 million in January to Ksh.168 million in the June allocation. The Jubilee party’s funds were raised from Ksh.55 million to Ksh.74 million, and the Wiper Democratic Movement’s allocation rose from Ksh.29 million to Ksh.39 million.
The Kenya African National Union (KANU) also saw an increase in their allocation from Ksh.9 million to Ksh.13 million.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sections 23, 25, and 34 of the Political Parties Act, 2011 and Regulation 6 of the Political Parties (Funding) Regulations 2019, the Registrar of Political Parties gives notice that Political Parties Fund (PPF) allocation has been revised during Supplementary Estimates No. 2 of FY 2023/24 and this has necessitated review of the distribution of the Fund,” read the gazette notice in part.
As per the notice, the allocated funds will be distributed upon receipt from the National Treasury.
Despite the increases in June compared to January, these allocations represent a significant reduction from the Financial Year 2022/2023. In November 2022, the UDA party received over half a billion shillings, while ODM got Ksh.38 million, Jubilee received Ksh.135 million, and Wiper was allocated Ksh.72 million.
In accordance with Section 25 of the Political Parties Act, 95 percent of the Fund is distributed based on the total number of votes each political party secured in the preceding General Election, with the remaining 5 percent covering the administration expenses of the Fund.
A party is ineligible for funding if it fails to secure at least 5 percent of the total votes in the previous General Election. Furthermore, funding will be denied if more than two-thirds of a party’s registered office bearers are of the same gender.
Press Corp 