ODM: Why we can't give our coalition partner share of political parties’ fund

ODM has told off its coalition partners seeking a share of the political parties funds awarded to it.

The party said it did not have money to share with its coalition partners since they did not participate in the repeat presidential election on October 26, 2017. Although the courts awarded ODM Sh4.1 billion arrears covering the period 2012-16, the money is yet to reach their account.

In a statement, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna said the award had not been released to the party even after a successful appeal. "It is improper to impute without facts that ODM owes other parties some inconceivable funds without any basis to law or agreement," Sifuna said.

The Orange party has on several occasions written to the Registrar of Political Parties to argue its case that applying the presidential results of the repeat election in favour of Jubilee is skewed.

Sifuna argued that the law demands that Registrar Ann Nderitu applies the results of the General Election and not a repeat presidential election in allocating the funds. Ford-Kenya Secretary-General Eseli Simiyu sympathised with ODM, saying the registrar should distribute funds based on the votes cast during the General Election.

Amani National Congress (ANC), however, said it did not want to get involved in the rift between ODM and the registrar.