State House should not fund political activities

President William Ruto and ODM leader Oburu Odinga at a past event. [File, Standard]

Suggestions that the colourful ODM Special National Delegates Convention (SNDC) could have been funded by State House are shocking but not surprising. According to the party’s insiders, ODM is struggling financially and lacks the financial wherewithal to foot the huge bill during the function. Hundreds of delegates were ferried to Nairobi, fed, housed, and paid hefty allowances. 

Although the ODM is part of President William Ruto’s coalition government and the two sides are discussing the possibility of a coalition ahead of the 2027 polls, that does not mean that the State House should fund the opposition party’s activities. 

The Political Parties Act is clear on how parties should be funded. The Political Parties Fund, administered by the Registrar, disburses public financing proportional to electoral performance. That is the legal architecture.  What it does not provide for is a sitting president deploying State House resources to bankroll an opposition party’s internal convention; a party whose membership he does not hold and whose affairs are constitutionally none of his business.

But the move, if true, is not surprising as we have witnessed the President hosting political delegations at State House that gobble up millions of shillings in allowances. The question, after every such meeting, has been, where does this money come from? The conclusion has always been that taxpayers’ money is being directed to political causes. 

This is wrong because the country is struggling on many fronts. Public hospitals have become waiting rooms for death. The Social Health Authority is a bureaucratic catastrophe, patients stranded mid-treatment, doctors unpaid, pharmacies running empty. Primary schools are operating on promises because capitation grants have not arrived. TSC is yet to hire 44,000 intern teachers after the court declared the teacher internship policy null and void. Universities are also facing a debilitating financial crisis. 

Amidst such challenges, it is depressing to hear that the State House still has money to host huge delegations and to fund an opposition party’s SNDC. Does such spending explain why the State House has a huge budget?