Uhuru’s party dislodges ODM as the richest

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto. FILE 

By VICTOR JUMA

In Summary

• Contributions from wealthy supporters boost coffers in year ended June

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s TNA party displaced opposition ODM as Kenya’s richest party in the year ended June, helped by contributions from wealthy supporters.

TNA on Tuesday said its income for the period to June stood at Sh345.5 million compared to Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) Sh244.6 million and United Republican Party, which is associated with the Deputy President William Ruto, at Sh76.5 million.

Mr Odinga lost to Mr Kenyatta in the March 4 Presidential contest.

The President’s party emerged top despite not receiving funding from the the government unlike ODM which received Sh73.2 million from the State- financed Political Party Fund.

Both TNA and URP relied on supporters for their funding in the period under review because they had not complied with the law.

Only parties with at least five per cent of the total votes cast at the preceding general election qualify for government financing, according to the Political Parties Act.

This year, only TNA, ODM and URP will stake a claim to the Sh205 million under the Political Party’s Fund in what look set to cement their dominance in Kenya’s political scene.

(READ: New parties miss out on State funds, rely on members)

Computation of a party’s performance is based on the total votes garnered in the preceding election of the president, members of parliament, county governors, and members of county assemblies.

This means that only the three major parties meet the State-funding criteria, locking out several small parties that supported the big three in coalitions formed ahead of the March 4 poll.

TNA raised the most cash from individuals and corporates at Sh151.3 million, but URP and ODM did not report any contribution from individuals and companies, only disclosing funding from their members and the government.

TNA is the electoral vehicle of President Kenyatta, a member of one of Kenya’s wealthiest families. The Kenyattas’ economic interests include the Heritage Hotels, Commercial Bank of Africa, Brookside Dairy and thousands of acres of land.

Besides the contributions from its base of wealthy supporters, TNA also raked in Sh114.2 million in nomination fees from public office seekers.

The three major parties noted that they had spent Sh470 million in campaigns against analyst estimates of more than Sh1 billion.

In the March 4 elections, campaign contributions were not controlled by the Government and this meant that parties did not have to disclose all their sources of funding.