New political parties law faulty, says TI

Transparency International- Kenya (TI) has warned of loopholes in the Political Parties Act that may be exploited by parties’ financiers for personal gain.

It has called for such funding to be regulated by the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) for political accountability and transparency and to avoid “state capture”.

State capture, Mr Ogonda explained, is a state in which the country’s politics are dictated by those who funded the ruling party to enable it ascend to leadership.

The TI executive director Mr Job Ogonda said that in most African countries when parties come to power they serve the interests of their funders. They are the ones that get most of the Government contracts.

“So the political accountability is to those who financed the parties and not to the citizens,” Mr Ogonda who was addressing a press conference at Hilton Hotel in Nairobi said.

TI had invited experts on politics from the continent to address the issue of financing political parties, which has now come into law after Parliament passed the Political Parties Act.

In the Act, which came into force in July 1, political parties are supposed to get funding for their activities from the Government.

However, Mr Ogonda questioned the new Act saying it is subject to debate and several interpretations. He said that the Act does not comply to any rule.

For instance, the new Act, the TI boss explained, does not allow the public to access books of accounts of their respective political parties.

This, he observed, will give the party hierarchy an opportunity to abuse their powers by not being accountable to followers on their finances.

And when political party comes into power, Mr Ogonda further noted, decisions to govern the country can always be made by outside forces.

He gave an example of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC).

“KACC has investigated several cases of corruption and handed them over to the office of the Attorney-General. But I have not heard anyone being prosecuted.”

The reason why prosecution cannot take place, he said, is because some of them fund the parties or party in power.

Mr Ogonda also doubted the ECK capacity to regulate financing of the parties.

An official of Electoral Commission of South Africa, Mr Mosotho Moepya said funding of political parties in his country has led to debate.

However, Mr Patrick Berg of TI Benin chapter said the issue of financing political parties is a global problem.

“Political parties are very important since they shape the democracy of a country and inform people about the government policies. And when telling them about the Government policies people should be told where money of operating their activities is coming from,”