Team seeks law to curb spending
On the 6th of July 2012, Ida Odinga launched a presidential campaign dubbed, 'Sibanduki-Raila 4 Rais' for her husband Prime Minister Raila Odinga at the Serena hotel. Lack of a law on political spending allows parties and candidates to spend uncontrollably on campaigns. Photo/EMMA NZIOKA
By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, July 8 2012 at 23:30
Posted Sunday, July 8 2012 at 23:30
IN SUMMARY
- A Bill on campaign financing will allow the electoral agency to limit spending
Lack of a law on political spending ahead of the General Election has given politicians a leeway to pour billions of shillings in their campaigns without any regulation from the election’s commission.
On Sunday Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Issack Hassan noted that there is no law to control spending by political parties and their aspirants.
He said that, once in place, the Campaign Financing Bill will place responsibility on IEBC to limit campaign spending.
The Bill will require candidates and parties to account for money spent on activities such as setting up of campaign offices and T-shirts failure to which they could be disqualified.
However, the expected law does not fix a figure that a party or politician cannot exceed, the electoral boss added, saying that the IEBC will investigate to find out what it cost to carry out a campaign.
“We are doing our own surveys and we will set a ceiling for parties and candidates. The figure varies from county to county; for instance you cannot compare Kiambu to Marsabit. The dynamics are different. There will be shortfalls but over time, we will mature,” Mr Hassan said.
The Campaign Finance Bill hopes to bridge the funding gap between political parties, curb corruption, limit the influence of special interests and the impact of money on the outcome of elections and force parties to be accountable to members.
Raising campaign money also has not been made easy by the Elections Act which has banned candidates from raising money from foreigners and imposed a maximum of Sh5 million that a single donor can contribute.
According to Mr Hassan, “the commission is in the process of finalising regulations under the Elections Act and Political Parties Act. They have to be tabled and approved by Parliament by September 4 going by the March 4, 2013 election date.”
The law he said will regulate sources and limits of campaign funds to give a level playing ground for all politicians.
A study by the Coalition for Accountable Political Financing, estimates that President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga spent close to Sh6 billion in 2007 while Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka spent Sh157 million.
Dr Karuti Kanyinga, a political scientist noted that presidential candidates will use a minimum of Sh48 million for nominations.
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