The Registrar of Political Parties has decried underfunding that has crippled its critical role of registering and supervising political parties ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Registrar of Political Parties John Cox told the Legislative Retreat for Members of Parliament that the office was allocated Sh508 million against a budgetary requirement of Sh1.6 billion.
Mr Cox said if the office takes away statutory deductions, including salaries and rent, only Sh132 million is available to run official activities in the current financial year.
He said the office has granted 32 political parties provisional registration and will require Sh3.9 million to ascertain whether each of the provisionally registered parties have 24 offices in 24 counties and 1,000 members in each county to clear them for full registration.
“We seek your support in terms of additional budgetary support to enable us realise our activities ahead of the General Election,” Mr Cox said. “We need to bring the 32 provisionally registered political parties to full registration and it needs at least Sh3.9 million for each.”
Mr Cox said they have requested the National Treasury for additional Sh332 million to be factored in the Supplementary Budget. He said provisionally registered parties have 270 days to comply and be fully registered.
Mr Cox told lawmakers that the Treasury has never allocated the Political Parties Fund the full 0.03 percent of the revenue raised nationally in a given financial year. This is despite two court cases and a ruling in favour of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party.
Mr Cox said in the 2022/23 financial year, the office of the Registrar of Political Parties expected to be allocated Sh4.5 billion, but the Treasury transferred only Sh884.3 million or 0.059 percent of the total expected revenue.
In 2023/24, Mr Cox said the office expected the Treasury to allocate the Political Parties Fund Sh5.9 billion but received Sh883 million or 0.045 percent of the total entitlement.
In 2024/25, the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties was to be allocated Sh1.25 billion or 0.056 percent of the total expected allocation of nSh6.53 billion.
“In 2025/26, we expected the Political Parties Fund to receive Sh7.6 billion, but we got Sh1,97 billion or 0.077 percent,” Mr Cox said. “This fund goes directly to political parties. We do not retain anything.”
Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairperson Samuel Atandi demanded to know if political parties need Sh6.9 billion or 0.03 percent of revenue raised nationally.
“Do the political parties need this humongous amount of money? The departmental committees usually inform us that they do not need this kind of money in one financial year,” Mr Atandi said.
Mr Cox said political parties need the funds and what is received is distributed to the 47 political parties that qualify to receive funding from the Political Parties Fund.
“But the Fund has never been allocated the full 0.03 percent of the revenue raised nationally by the national government. Currently, we have 90 political parties that are fully registered in Kenya,” Mr Cox said.
Mr Cox revealed that 32 political parties had unqualified financial statements in the 2024/25 audited reports by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu.
He said two political parties had adverse audit opinions, while one had a disclaimer audit opinion in the 2024 financial year.
The registrar however faced tough questions on what he is doing to bring sanity in the nominations and running of political parties, which he answered saying he has no power to bar any candidate from running for the presidency or any other office if the reports they receive from other agencies do not indict anybody.
“We are a constitutional compliance office. We use the Constitution and the Political Parties Act,” he said in response to MPs questions.
“I the report presented to us does not indict anybody, we have no option. We have the Constitution and Political Parties Act that deals with disqualification of individuals who are impeached by the House.”
Dagoreti South MP John Kiarie demanded to know how a political party can sponsor an individual to run as a presidential candidate, yet the person hadbeen impeached by Parliament.
Caroli Omondi (Suba South) said political parties funding should be opened to independent candidates.
“It is time we use the political party funding to drive the two-thirds gender rule. We need to make registration of political parties easier,” M r Omondi said.
“The requirement of 24 offices in 24 counties and the need for 1,000 members per county is unconstitutional."
Baringo North MP Joseph Makilap demanded to know how ORPP will ensure parties use their own party registers in the nominations instead of relying on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) registers.
“There is no sanity, dignity and order in political parties. That is why coalitions or parties die after the end of an election,” Mr Makilap said.
Mr Cox said there is need for leaders of political parties to dialogue ahead of the next polls to ensure the country has a better political hygiene. He said part of it is allocation of funds to political parties is to ensure inclusion of special interest groups and marginalised groups.
“We are in the process of subjecting parties to give us one-third gender rule compliance. We need to use political parties’ funds as a driver for one-third gender rule,” Mr Cox said.
