The coalition of small political parties has filed a petition to Parliament to amend the Political Parties Act 2011 to secure their funding ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a press briefing, the National Liberal Party (NLP) leader, Augustus Muli, claimed that the current funding structure for political parties in the country is unfair and biased, as they do not receive any government funding. According to Muli, out of 91 registered political parties, only 47 are funded.
According to the coalition, the lack of funding has crippled their ability to prepare adequately for the 2027 general elections and to operate their offices effectively.
"We have already filed a petition to Parliament, and this petition seeks to amend section 25 of the Political Parties Act 2011, which governs the distribution of money from the political party fund," Muli stated.
"This section affects small political parties in the country because all 91 political parties are supposed to be funded, and 54 parties get zero despite being licensed and having offices," he added.
The Political Parties Act of 2011 mandates that a minimum of 0.3 percent of the national revenue be allocated to the Political Parties Fund (PPF), which is administered by the Registrar of Political Parties.
Political funding in the country aims to support political parties in performing key functions, which include promoting the representation of special interest groups, funding citizen engagement, developing policies, supporting election expenses, covering administrative and staff costs, and limiting private funding.
According to the parties, the amendment of the law will be essential in ensuring that the government does not pump much of the funding into a few majority political parties.
"According to the 2010 constitution, Kenya is a multi-party democracy, and the law stated that political parties should receive 0.03 per cent of the national revenues, and we are not getting that because if that were applied, political parties would be getting around Ksh8 billion, and currently we are receiving less," one member stated.
According to a gazette notice dated June 5, 2025, former Registrar of Political Parties, Ann Nderitu, revealed that the government had allocated Ksh1.14 billion for political party funding this year.
President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) received the largest share of the allocation. Nderitu confirmed that UDA will receive Ksh480,290,411, while ODM will receive Ksh256,558,712 in the revised allocation.
"IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by sections 23, 25, and 34 (b) of the Political Parties Act (Cap. 7D) and Regulation 6 (c) of the Political Parties (Funding) Regulations 2019, the Registrar of Political Parties gives notice that the Political Parties Fund (PPF) faced a budget cut during the Supplementary Estimates No. II of Financial Year 2024/25, which has necessitated a review of the distribution of the Fund," Nderitu stated.
