Aspirants in the August 9, 2022 General Election are now free to splash billions of shillings in their campaigns.
This is after Member of Parliament on Tuesday, September 28, declined to approve proposed guidelines limiting the amount of money an aspirant can spend in their campaigns.
The MPs unanimously voted against the regulations following recommendations by the Committee on Delegated Legislation chaired by Tiaty lawmaker, William Kamket.
The Parliament rejected the contributions and spending limits for political parties and candidates and the rules submitted to the National Assembly by the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“This House adopts the Report of the Committee on Delegated Legislation on its consideration of the Draft Election Campaign Financing Regulations, submitted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries and annuls in entirety,” the report read.
The Committee on Delegated Legislation report noted that the regulations did not meet the constitutional and statutory threshold required to have them approved.
According to Article 88 (4), IEBC is responsible for regulating the amounts of money that may be spent by or on behalf of a candidate or party.
The committee added that IEBC can only exercise power and perform the function in accordance with the Constitution and national legislation.
The committee also claimed that IEBC filed the regulations late as it is required that the commission make rules to regulate election financing at least 12 months before the General Election.
According to the committee, the rules were put before the house on August 5 and forwarded to the committee on the same day for review.
“On the contrary, IEBC submitted the draft regulations very late, which would not allow the committee time to consider them with the set time lines as per section 13 of the Statutory Instruments Act 2013,” the report read.
As per the IEBC proposal, political parties and aspirants would are required to open specific bank accounts for campaign cash, which would be closely monitored.
“A political party, candidate or any of the authorised persons shall open a bank account in a Kenya financial Institution for the sole purpose of the political parties’ elections campaigns or the candidate’s electoral campaign or referendum campaign,” the proposal stated.
