President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party received orders suspending the distribution of KSh 1.48 billion from the Parties Fund, dealing a major blow to political parties.
In a brief ruling issued on Friday by the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal sitting in Nairobi, chairperson Desma Nungo issued conservatory orders halting the Registrar of Political Parties’ decision issued last week to release funds to political parties pending the outcome of the UDA suit challenging the manner of distribution.
“This tribunal hereby issues interim orders staying the decision of the Registrar of Political Parties published on November 4, 2022 vide Kenya Gazette notice No. 13509 Pending the hearing and determination of the application herein,” Nungo wrote.
This comes after UDA challenged the Registrar’s decision, claiming it was illegal because it failed to disclose the formula used to arrive at the figures for the distribution of funds to Kenya’s over 45 political parties.
The party claims that the Registrar erred in allocating it Ksh 577,162,898 for the fiscal year 2022-2023, less Ksh 115 million for gaining more elective positions in the August elections.
The party accuses the Registrar of Political Parties of knowingly underestimating the total number of votes cast by qualifying parties in the General Election on August 9, 2022, for the election of the President, Member of Parliament, County Governors, and Members of County Assemblies.
Lawyer Kamotho claims that the Registrar ignored the UDA’s unopposed votes for the positions of Kericho County Women Representative and Member of County Assembly Ravine Ward, Baringo County when allocating funds.
According to an affidavit filed by UDA Finance Director Joseph Mulili, the party received 31,106,673 votes in the previous general election, out of a possible total of 68,555,184 votes.
As a result, 70% of the correctly calculated fund divided by the total number of votes cast for the party equals Ksh 468,493,234.
He also claims that the UDA won 205 of the 489 available seats in the elections on August 9, 2022.
As a result, 15% of the correctly calculated fund divided by the total votes equals Ksh. 92,753,063.
According to his argument, the total number of representatives elected from the Party in the elections was 701 out of 1754 positions, entitling them to Ksh 59,000,000.
