Senator Elizabeth Ongoro accuses Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of malice

Nominated Senator Elizabeth Ongoro has accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties of slowing down the Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC) activities.

Ms Ongoro, who is the PPLC’s chairperson, claimed senior figures in the two offices are keen on ensuring that the committee under her administration is incapable of performing its functions.

“There were forces in these offices who never wanted a stronger leadership for the committee. They were comfortable having an ambiguous and disjointed committee that has no leadership,” said Ongoro.

The senator, who is also the Orange Democratic Movement’s deputy secretary general, is now pushing to ensure that the constitutional 0.3 per cent funding requirement is remitted to political parties.

“This money is not a favour from the Government but a constitutional requirement. The Sh250 million State is giving now is nothing given that the 0.3 per cent of the current revenue stands at over Sh10 billion, far above the amount being given,” she said.

She said PPLC will also push for the political parties funding to benefit all the 57 registered parties even as bigger parties get the lion’s share.

According to the Political Parties Act, the committee is charged with facilitating dialogue between political parties, the electoral commission and the registrar.