Lavish rallies offer glimpse of campaign cost ahead of 2017 polls

The lavish three-day events culminating in the launch of Jubilee Party offer a peek into the expensive capital outlay the next elections will gobble up.

While the ruling coalition and the main opposition Cord are expected to splurge billions of shillings between now and August next year when the country goes to the polls, hundreds of millions will equally be spent by aspirants at county, parliamentary, county assembly and governor levels to woo voters.

The figure has been ballooning in the past three elections, effectively locking out those without adequate means from politics.

A study in 2013 by the Coalition for Accountable Political Financing (CAPF), a Nairobi-based think-tank, estimates that retired President Mwai Kibaki and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga spent a conservative Sh7.5 billion each in 2007.

Mr Odinga was President Uhuru Kenyatta’s main challenger in the last election.

What was billed as the grand launch of Mr Kenyatta’s party on Saturday is believed to have consumed in excess of one billion shillings, with Sh360 million alone catering for the delegates’ allowances. 

Some of the money went into venue bookings and entertainment, with many leading artistes hired to perform at the fete.

Branded top-of-the-range vehicles were also on display, although Jubilee officials said they were leased and not bought. The cost excludes fuelling.

Individual aspirants are also on a spending spree, even though the elections are 11 months away.

A number of Cord insiders told the Sunday Nation that the coalition’s 24 governors have all been tasked with raising funds for the campaigns.

Being in government, Jubilee might not struggle to raise campaign finances since, historically, there has been a thin line between ruling parties and the State.

As a standoff over allowances owed to delegates threatened to derail what was otherwise a well-choreographed launch of the Jubilee Party on Friday, Deputy President William Ruto stepped onto the stage ahead of his scheduled time to calm the situation.

His address didn’t hide an intention to use State resources.

“Nimeambiwa kwamba kuna mambo madogo madogo hapa (I am informed that there are some outstanding issues),” the DP started, in reference to the protests on unpaid allowances to delegates.

“Na mkiniona hapa, sisi sio chama tu. Sisi pia ni serikali (When you see me here, you should remember also that we are not just a political party but also the government),” he said.  

Since the announcement on launch of Jubilee Party was made, there have been questions over the lavish spending by the new party hierarchy.

SOURCE OF FUNDS
What raised eyebrows was the acquisition of a building in Nairobi’s Pangani to house the party’s headquarters.

The second was the number of vehicles branded in the new party’s colours, the allowances paid to at least 10,000 delegates and the level of organisation that had gone into the launch.

The cost of the Jubilee Party launch has been a closely guarded secret.

Some reports have even suggested that it may have been in excess of Sh2 billion. The new party hierarchy refused to comment on the figures.

The Sunday Nation understands that the entire organisation is being overseen by a senior State House official. 

“He (the official) is the only one, if you leave out the President and the Deputy President, who knows the entire cost,” a source familiar with the organisation of the three-day event said.

But ODM executive director Oduor Ong’wen insisted that the ruling party should explain the source of its funds.

“Jubilee should be more forthright and tell the public where they got the money they used to purchase the building which is housing their headquarters, the space and airtime in the media, and other logistics. Let them not tell us that the money was from party members,” he said, alluding to concerns that public funds may have been used.

Nominated MP and Jubilee Party official Johnson Sakaja, however, denied claims that public funds may have gone into financing the three-day Jubilee Party launch.

“It cannot be money from taxpayers. It is members who have come forward to contribute ... to the level that people are talking about. We have fundraising committees and they have been doing exactly that — mobilising resources,” said Mr Sakaja, while declining to diverge more details on the matter.

Section 28(2) of the Political Parties Act caps the maximum contribution from a single source to a political party at five per cent of the total expenditure.

Meanwhile, the Election Campaign Financing Regulations that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) published in August currently cap contributions from a single source to a political party at Sh3 billion.

Besides the members, Mr Sakaja said part of the cost was footed by disbursements so far received from the Political Parties’ Fund.

In the current financial year, only four political parties were entitled to funding by the Exchequer. These are ODM, TNA, URP and Wiper Democratic Movement.

Mr Ong’wen said: “ODM has the largest share of the Political Parties Fund and so far, this financial year, just about Sh30 million has been disbursed to us. The combined disbursement for TNA and URP so far is Sh44 million.

"When you consider the events that have gone into the launch of Jubilee Party, it is obvious that it would be impossible to do so on such a figure, even with members’ subscriptions”.

WORKING SYSTEMS

Mr Sakaja denied Mr Ongwen’s claims on the disbursements, but again declined to give the estimates.

“First it is not true. ODM does not get the highest allocation. The entire argument by Mr Ong’wen is false. Even if his argument was to be believed, it should be a concern to him that they are getting such a huge allocation from taxpayers yet they are not making use of it properly. Instead, they are being jealous at rivals after wasting their allocation,” he said.

He added that there are tight controls, including from the Controller of Budget, and using public funds like used to happen in the 1980s or 1990s is impossible.

Mr Sakaja further said the Deputy President’s remarks were being taken out of context: “If we say we are the government, it just means that as a government, we must be responsible and not behave like the opposition”.

The nominated MP says what Kenyans are perceiving as a high-cost affair is just a manifestation of good organisation within the Jubilee Party ranks.

“It is not glamour. It is the change of times and we are only upping the game. A lot of things look exaggerated but which, if you look critically, just show better organisation. In fact, the bulk of the cost was paid out yesterday when we paid Sh90 million in allowances to the delegates,” Mr Sakaja said.

He added that the building and vehicles were leased and not bought.

“Many of the vehicles are from individuals who have given them out to be branded. Depending on the kind of branding needed, the cost ranges from Sh20,000 to Sh35,000,” he said.