An agreement by the Opposition coalition indicates that partner parties were to benefit equally from the political parties funding attributed to the presidential candidate.
The National Super Alliance (Nasa) partners were also to share the funds for seats jointly contested for in the 2017 General Election.
The details are contained in a document filed with the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) on April 27, 2017.
“All votes accruing to the Presidency shall be shared among the coalition parties,” states the agreement.
“Funds due to the party from which the coalition presidential candidate has been attributed to the presidential vote shall be shared equally among the coalition parties.”
And in a situation where a coalition party fails to meet the funding threshold, the sharing formula will take into account the party’s contribution to the coalition strength in Parliament.
The details have emerged amid deepening row on how to share millions of shillings from the public coffers among ODM, Amani National Congress (ANC), Wiper, Ford Kenya and Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM).
The fresh debate was triggered by the remarks of Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu.
While appearing before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week, Nderitu said there were no regulations to guide the sharing of the funds.
Currently, ODM and Jubilee are the only parties that qualify for the political parties funding.
Funding for political parties is determined by the cumulative number of votes for all contested positions that a party or a coalition garnered in the elections.
ODM has continuously dismissed demands by their coalition partners on sharing of the funds, arguing that they did not participate in the October 26 repeat presidential poll.
Interestingly, the Raila Odinga-led party is on record for demanding that the sharing of the funds be based on the August elections outcome where Nasa candidate, Raila, came second after President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Edwin Sifuna, the ODM secretary-general in a previous statement argued that the law demands that the Registrar applies the results of a General Election and not a presidential election.
“For avoidance of doubt, a General Election is defined under Article 136(2)(a) to be the election held on the Second Tuesday in August of the Fifth Year and for the Registrar to apply any other results in distribution of the fund is manifestly unlawful,” Sifuna said.
He said the Orange party had challenged the Registrar as the sector regulator and administrator of the Fund to move to the Supreme Court for an advisory opinion and guidance on the right way to treat the August 2017 presidential election results when it comes to distribution of the fund.
“The Registrar is under obligation to explain these facts in detail whenever the subject comes up in public fora. It is indeed baffling and an abdication of duty that she would allow misinformation to spread and aspersions cast against the ODM party when she has the full facts,” Sifuna said.
Yesterday, Nderitu clarified that the coalition was to make its own arrangement to share the funds once it is disbursed to the qualified political party.
“We only send money to parties that qualify to benefit from the political parties funding. It is upon the coalition partners to come up with regulations and to make arrangements on how to share the funds,” she said.
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