IEBC proposes Sh4.4 billion presidential campaign spending cap

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chairperson  Erastus Ethekon. [File, Standard]

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has proposed a Sh4.44 billion campaign spending cap for presidential candidates, alongside new limits for parties and other elective seats.

The proposal forms part of a wider package of electoral reforms the commission has pushed since early this year, and comes as IEBC and Parliament's Justice and Legal Affairs Committee work through new rules ahead of the August 2027 General Election, in which President William Ruto is seeking a second and final term.

The commission recommended a model that combines minimum campaign costs with population and land area to determine spending limits, saying it offers a more objective and equitable approach than previous options.

The proposed presidential campaign spending limit stands at Sh4,435,565,094, while the total campaign spending limit for a political party fielding candidates in all elective positions would be Sh17,712,306,733.88.

The IEBC said it developed the limits after estimating average campaign costs at county, constituency and ward levels through a consultative process and by reviewing experiences from other jurisdictions.

The commission classified electoral areas as urban, sparsely populated and other areas before calculating average campaign costs. It said the formula assigns a 60 per cent weight to population and 40 per cent to land area, in line with Section 18(4) of the Election Campaign Finance Act.

"The first step in determining the spending limits involved estimation of the average costs incurred at each electoral level, namely: County, Constituency and Ward," said the IEBC.

The commission recommended what it termed Model 4, which includes minimum campaign costs that do not depend on population or land size, alongside variable costs linked to both factors.

"The model provides a realistic approach to estimating the spending limits by taking into consideration the minimum costs that do not necessarily depend on population and land area across all electoral levels," said the IEBC.

It explained that the presidential spending cap was calculated differently because it did not establish separate average campaign costs for the presidency.

"The determination of the presidential spending limits was based on model 3, and not 4 since the limit for the presidential level has been inferred from the county, constituency and ward levels," said the IEBC.

Under the proposed framework, transportation accounts for the largest share of campaign spending by political parties at Sh11.81 billion, followed by advertising and media at Sh1.84 billion and election agents at Sh1.52 billion.

The proposed total spending limits across elective positions are Sh5.63 billion for ward elections, Sh5.26 billion for constituency elections, Sh2.39 billion for county elections and Sh4.44 billion for the presidential race.

The proposed limits form part of the commission's implementation of the Election Campaign Finance Act, which seeks to regulate campaign financing and promote equity among candidates and political parties.

The Act, enacted in 2013, has never taken full effect. The IEBC gazetted an identical Sh4.4 billion presidential limit in 2021, only to revoke it weeks later after the National Assembly rejected the underlying regulations on a technicality, leaving candidates and parties free to spend without restriction in the 2022 election.

The commission has urged Parliament to pass the current round of reforms by the end of August, giving it roughly a year to prepare before the 2027 vote.