More Political Parties to Benefit from Parties’ Fund as ORPP Holds a Briefing Meeting

Nearly 50 political parties that participated in the August 9, 2022 General Election are set to benefit from the Political Parties Fund (PPF)  as opposed to only two parties that were entitled to the funding from the Exchequer in the previous election. The PPF is established under section 23 of the Political Parties Act, 2011 (PPA) and operationalized through the Political Parties (Funding) Regulations, 2017.

The expanded criteria is courtesy of amendment to the Act through the Political Parties (Amendment) Act, 2022 that set out qualification threshold and criteria for distribution of the Fund under section 24 of the PPA. Section 25(1) of the PPA provides for the distribution of the PPF as follows;

• 70  per cent of the Fund proportionately by reference to the total number of votes secured by each political party in the preceding general election
• 15 per cent of the Fund proportionately to political parties based on the number of candidates of the political party from special interest groups elected in the preceding general election
• 10  per cent of the Fund proportionately to political parties based on the total number of representatives from the political party elected in the preceding general election
• 5 per cent for the administration expenses of the Fund

The ORPP on 21^st September, 2022 in Nairobi held a consultative meeting to apprise fully registered political parties of the legal requirements, proposed Office disbursement measures including the formulae  as well as build consensus on outstanding matters of the Fund.

Speaking during the meeting, Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu acknowledged parties that participated in the political and electoral process which presented an opportunity for the citizens to exercise their political rights and also contribute in the democratic governance of their country.

“All parties qualifying for the Fund must be accountable for their allocation and use it for purposes compatible with democratic principles as prescribed in the Political Parties Act, 2011. We expect accountability, transparency and prudent utilization of the funds by the beneficiaries,” said the Registrar.

Political party players in the consultative meetings welcomed the amendments to the PPA  Act that saw a review on the formula on fund administration and distribution. Players appreciated the move to have more political parties benefit from the Political Parties Fund (PPF). This would enhance actualization of party programmes in representation , promoting policies, undertaking civic education on democracy and electoral process as well as affording the citizens active participation in political process as stipulated in the purposes of the Fund under Section 26 of the PPA. Some parties  recommended the need for a further review of the law to  ensure for equal gain of the Fund. This they noted would complement their strained financial position.

The Fund Regulations clearly outlines structures including requirements for bank accounts for eligible, submission of authorized signatories, publication in the Kenya Gazette of parties qualifying with their allocation among other stipulated procedures. These precedes application by the qualifying parties that are assessed to meet the provisions of PPA by the Registrar before eventual disbursement.  

Assistant Registrar, Ali A. Surraw (standing) speaking during the meeting

Section 24 of the PPA provides the sources of PPF as “such funds not being less 0.3% of all the national government’s share of revenue as divided by the annual Division of Revenue 

Act enacted pursuant to Article 218 of the Constitution as may be determined by the National Assembly and contributions and donations to the Fund from any other lawful source. 

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Poll Observer Mission Pays Courtesy

The National Democratic Institute and IRI International Republican Institute paid a follow courtesy call to the Registrar to seek ORPP's insights gained from its regularity role through the electioneering period.

The delegation was part of the Election Observation Mission group monitoring the Kenyan electoral process since May 2022. It seeks to make final findings and recommendations with a view of learning from the Kenyan electoral system and feeding into its continual improvement in line with international benchmarks for credible elections.

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ORPP convenes to chart 3-year budget priorities, aligns programmes to prevailing economic outlook

Heads of directorates, departments, units and regions convened from 19^th to 25^th August, 2022 to prepare budget proposals for Financial Years 2023/24 – 25/26 and attendant reports required for Medium Term Estimates Budget Framework (MTEF) by the National Treasury and Planning. The preparation was in line with Treasury circular providing guidelines for preparation of the FY 2023/24 and Medium Term Budget issued on 24^th August, 2022 that all Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs)  are required to abide by. They outline processes, procedures and timelines to be followed by MDA in the budget process. The guidelines that sets of government budgeting processes, are in line with section 36 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2012

The week-long intense session, was preceded by all functional areas submissions of their priority programmes that formed the basis of deliberations. Speaking at the start of the forum, Assistant Registrar Ali A. Surraw noted ORPP’s commitment to abide by guidelines give that promotes fiscal discipline and creates a nexus of planning & strategic with budgeting. His counterpart, CPA Florence Birya urging for quality of reports and adherence to timelines stipulated in the budget guidelines.

Registrar of Political Parties, Ann Nderitu while officially opening the forum noted with appreciation government’s resource support to ORPP especially during the electioneering period that enabled implementation of impactful programmes geared towards better participation of the citizenry in the general election.  She called on the Office Senior team steering the process to secure accountability and prudent utilization of allocated funds as it has been ORPP custom. “In the current MTEF, process owners while accounting for resources allocated in the preceding period, must prioritize programmes cognizant of the global and country’s economic outlook”, urged the Registrar. 

At the close of the sitting, Programme Based Report (PPR), Budget proposals for the period and Programme- Based Budget (PBB) were produced as required.  The PPR is a report consolidating major achievements for FY 2019/2020- 2020/21. In the current PPR developed, achievements such as registration in political parties, regulation of parties including audits, legal and ICT-based reforms, capacity building programmes, partnership forged have been outlined.

Team groups delve deep into the work of their respective budget areas during the session

In the forum, as guided by Senior Chief Finance Senior, Joshua Kimulu and Finance team, the conveners of the meeting members were apprised of key highlights of the expected new government priorities and projected national and global economic projections.  “ The economic growth in the sub Saharan Africa region is projected to slow from 4.2 % in 2021 to 3.7% in 2022. Kenya economic growth is expected to be at 6.0 % in 2022 from an estimated growth of 6.6% in 2021”, reads the guidelines.  Guidance has further been given to the effect that “ MDAs are required to ensure that priorities are accommodated within the resource envelope and ensure that the focus is on the implementation of strategic priorities outlined in the Medium Term Development Plan of the Vision 2030”.

The ORPP falls under the Governance, Justice, Law and Order (GJL&O) MTEF sector with 14 other public institutions that compete for resources based on defense of their prioritization and justification of programmes identified. The government classifies MDA s with closely related functions to form a Sector Working Group in line with UN- classification of functions of government.  This MTEF period, the SWGs have been retained at 10.

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Audit Team Sits to Review Financials Ahead of Final Submission to Relevant Authorities

Audit Committee with ORPP Management held review sessions for FY 2021/22 financial statements on 16 &17th September 2022. The statements demonstrate the ORPP's utilization of allocated resources for the period under review including pre-2022 general election activities accomplished.

"The Office is glad for its impactful contribution through programmes implemented in the period. We are appreciative of the continued support from government and oversight role of the Audit Committee, resulting to Office's unqualified audit reports in the last 4 years", affirmed the Registrar of Political Parties, Ann Nderitu, CBS, while opening the session.

The review is part of the Audit Committee's oversight role and ORPP's commitment in line with principles of good corporate governance.

ORPP team with Audit Committee in one of the review sessions

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