When it cost Sh4,000 to run for Parliament
A 2007 elections monitoring report by the Coalition for Accountable Political Financing, an alliance of governance-focused civil society groups in Kenya, revealed just how expensive campaigns and elections have become.
In 1957, Daniel arap Moi and W.W.W. Awori, the first Africans to be elected to the Legislative Council, spent just Ksh 3,700 ($43, using today’s exchange rate) on their election campaigns.
There have been 10 general elections since independence in 1963.
Campaign expenditure has risen 200,000 per cent since then, hitting Ksh 7 million ($82,000) in 2007 and could double for this year’s polls.
The group interviewed 32 retired politicians and members of parliament for the study.
| Year | Average parliamentary candidate’s expenditure |
| 1963 | Ksh 4,000 ($47) |
| 1969 | Ksh 6,000 ($70) |
| 1974 | Ksh 9,000 ($105) |
| 1979 | Ksh 25,000 ($300) |
| 1983 | Ksh 40,000 ($470) |
| 1988 | Ksh 50,000 ($600) |
| 1992 | Ksh 1.5 million (17,600) |
| 1997 | Ksh 3 million ($35,300) |
| 2002 | Ksh 4 million ($47,000) |
| 2007 | Ksh 7 million ($82,000) |
| 2012? | Ksh 14 million? ($164,000) ? |
