Political parties were dealt a huge blow on Tuesday, April 4, after they were informed of budgetary allocation cuts.
In a letter addressed to all Secretaries-General, Registrar of Political Parties (RPP) Ann Nderitu, informed political parties that they would not receive capitation for January - March 2023.
Nderitu explained that the Political Parties Fund budget was slashed by Ksh590 million following amendments to the supplementary budget for the 2022/23 approved by the Cabinet.
"This is due to austerity measures effected through the supplementary estimates No 1 of 2022/3 the Political Parties Fund budget has now been revised from the earlier communicated Ksh1.47 billion to Ksh884 million," the letter read in part.
Nderitu explained that since the disbursement during the first and second quarters was based on the first budget, the only money left would be remitted in the last quarter.
"ORPP will convene a consultative meeting to apprise you of the reviewed distribution of the available funds and inform you of your party allocations," the letter added.
However, Nderitu disclosed that some of the political parties were yet to receive their allocations for the first and second quarters.
"The few political parties that have not received their disbursements for first and second quarters because of various compliance which have already been communicated to them are advised to rectify the identified areas and reapply for the Fund," the ORPP stated.
President William Ruto's UDA and Raila Odinga's ODM enjoy high numbers of elected leaders, which guarantee them the lion's share of the Political Parties' funds.
In November 2022, RPP announced that UDA, by virtue of being the largest political party, would receive Ksh577 million.
ODM was allocated Ksh308 million, Jubilee was poised to receive Ksh135 million while Kalonzo Musyoka's Wiper was awarded Ksh72.1 million.
As per the Political Parties Act 70 per cent of the PPF was distributed proportionately according to the number of votes while 15 per cent was distributed based on the number of candidates of the party from Special Interest Groups elected in the preceding general election.
10 per cent is shared based on the number of representatives from each political party while five per cent of the fund is utilized by the ORPP for administration.
