Uhuru faces Ruto in court over Sh16b Jubilee funding arrears

The former ruling party claims it is being deliberately undermined through non-payment of arrears owed from 2017/18 financial year. The Political Parties Act requires the government to disburse not less than 0.3 pc of revenue to political parties.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta will face President William Ruto in a row over Sh 16 billion claimed by the Jubilee Party.

In a case filed before the High Court, the former ruling party has sued the National Assembly, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, the Registrar of Political Parties and the Attorney General, claiming a deliberate move to stifle its existence by allegedly failing to pay the arrears owed from the 2017/2018 financial year.

 It argued that the Political Parties Act requires the National Assembly and Treasury CS to allocate, appropriate and disburse not less than 0.3 per cent of the revenue collected by the national government to the Political Parties Fund for distribution to the qualifying parties.

 Jubilee wants the court to block release of the money meant for political parties until the money owed to it is settled.

Jubilee rode on a separate case by Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which also won a suit involving a similar matter before the Court of Appeal.

“The respondents are presently in the process of allocating or disbursing the money from the Political Parties Fund, and unless conservatory orders are granted, the substratum of the petition herein risks being defeated and or rendered nugatory,” claimed Jubilee’s treasurer Dick Kagwe.

He stated that despite a clear Court of Appeal and High Court order in the ODM case, the National Assembly has failed to allocate the required minimum amount, while the Treasury has not released the same.

He argued that in 2019, the Court of Appeal ordered the government to allocate at least 0.3 per cent of the national budget to political parties.

Each party was to get funds according to the number of MPs it had in Parliament.

 In court, ODM lawyer Jackson Awele said President Ruto assented into law the Supplementary Appropriation Act (no 3), 2023, paving the way for the use of the funds allocated from November 24, 2023.

However, according to Awele, the government allegedly amended the law and slashed the amount.

ODM argued that the Registrar of Political Parties confirmed that the reductions are in violation of the law. ODM asked the court to freeze the implementation of the supplementary budget.

In the alternative, it urged the court to force the then Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungú to release the full entitlement.

“The net effect of these reductions is that the petitioner or applicant, a political party with grassroots offices, several employees, member programmes and workplans in the whole of the Republic of Kenya has, without notice and in violation of its legitimate expectations in law been deprived of over Sh1.2 billion of much needed funds thereby gravely compromising its ability to effectively discharge its mandate and or run its programmes,” argued Awele.

Awele said that a cursory review of the law signed by President Ruto showed the list of the offices or persons consulted and excluded political parties and members of the public.

According to him, the public participation exercise was a wholly cosmetic public relations exercise designed to create the facade of compliance.

“Taken together with the colossal adverse variation to the appropriated funds to the political parties’ fund, all qualifying political parties and their members and members of the public at large needed to be given a meaningful opportunity to appreciate and comment on the same,” he said.

In the new case, Jubilee’s treasurer stated that settling Sh 12 billion owed to ODM is part of the agenda for their newfound love with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

Nevertheless, Kagwe said that despite the Uhuru-led party not being a party to the case, it qualified for money. According to him, following the 2017 General Election, Jubilee secured 54.27 per cent of the total votes cast. He added that Jubilee was then entitled to 95 per cent of the money allocated.

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