The financial and procurement manuals of political parties have been eased courtesy of ORPP’s developed Finance and Procurement Manual. In a forum held from 24th to 26th April 2023, 48 political parties qualifying for Political Parties Fund were sensitized on a raft of areas covered in the manual as well other public finance and procurement principles.
The main objective of the training was to assist political parties in the management and accounting of the Political Parties Fund as per the regulations.
“It is a statutory obligation for all the parties receiving the funds to manage the funds prudently as per the Political Parties Act, 2011 requirements,” said Assistant Registrar CPA Florence Birya in her opening remarks.Speaking mid the forum, the Registrar of Political Parties, Ann Nderitu underscored the application of parties to the guidelines given in the Manual to ease internal processes, enhance accountability and oblige to financial and audit statutory requirements.
“Every effort has been made to develop such a comprehensive Manual that builds on the human and administrative capacity of parties in financial and procurement procedures. I urge you make you of this Manual as abled underscored by various speakers and experts institutional representatives on this forum”, the Registrar noted while appreciating select Government Institutions such as the National Treasury, Office of the Auditor General, Public Procurement Regulatory Authority among others who offered a team of experts during the forum.
The Finance and Procurement Manual will be a useful guide for political parties on finances, financial records& reporting, budget & budget controls, expenditure management & controls, procurement procedures, and risk management among other operational processes. The purposes of the Fund
which is an establishment under section 23 of PPA, are well defined to, promote representation in Parliament and county assemblies, spur active participation of citizens in political processes, preferment of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) inclusion programmes, furtherance of democracy through civic engagement. The PPA under section 26(1,f) also allows utilization of the Fund on party administrative and staff expenses but must not exceed 30% of monies allocated to the particular. Five (5%) is assigned to the Registrar for Administration of the Fund