Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu has rejected the demands of some Kenyans who want to eliminate political parties’ funding from the national budget. Instead, while speaking in Mombasa, she advocated for an increase in the funding allocated to political parties to enhance the democratic process. She asserted that any effort to remove this budget allocation would not only undermine the functioning of political parties but also go against the Constitution.
Nderitu stated, “We do not agree with the proposal to remove party funds from the budget. We are in favor of increasing these funds to empower political parties further. Despite the economic challenges, we believe that funding will gradually be increased to reach 0.3 percent.”
As per the Political Parties Act of 2011, 0.3 percent of the national government revenue is allocated to support the activities of political parties. In the current year, political parties collectively received Ksh.1.48 billion from the Political Parties Fund. Notably, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) received Ksh.577.2 million, followed by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) with Ksh.308.3 million, Jubilee with Ksh.135.1 million, Wiper with Ksh.72.1 million, and DAP-K with Ksh.31.6 million, according to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.