The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) is facing mounting financial pressures as it lays out plans to prepare for the 2027 elections. The agency has proposed a Sh964 million budget to Parliament but warns that current funding levels are already limiting its ability to carry out core functions.
Registrar John Lorionokou presented a detailed plan for the money, covering election monitoring, staff training, legal reforms, technological upgrades, and civic engagement activities. He also requested Sh322.96 million in supplementary funds to keep the office operational in the current 2025-26 financial year.
A major portion of the proposed budget, Sh151.22 million, is earmarked for hiring county and constituency monitors who will oversee political party operations across the country. Sh142.6 million will be spent on training party officials, aspirants, women, youth, and persons with disabilities on electoral procedures.
Upgrading the Integrated Political Parties Management System (IPPMS) is expected to cost Sh118.8 million. Lorionokou explained that the system will ensure party databases are accurate and membership records up to date ahead of the 2027 polls.
Civic engagement and dialogue forums under the Political Parties Liaison Committee are planned to receive Sh106.31 million.
Other allocations include Sh72.55 million for staff and monitor training, Sh62.07 million for training materials and election equipment such as phones and ICT consumables, and Sh47.3 million for statutory publications and dissemination of election information through print, electronic, and digital media.
The ORPP also plans to spend Sh49.48 million monitoring political party activities, Sh45 million for certifying and printing membership registers and party lists, Sh44.26 million on legal reforms, Sh37 million on legal fees for election-related cases, Sh40.13 million for registration of parties, coalitions, and mergers, Sh30.16 million for a call center and media engagement, and Sh17.23 million for clearance of electoral aspirants.
Despite preparing for 2027, Lorionokou told MPs the ORPP is already under financial strain.
"In the current 2025-26 financial year, the office was allocated only Sh508.6 million to cover all operations, including salaries, rent, medical insurance, utilities, and contractual obligations – against a budget requirement of Sh1.6 billion," he said.
The funding shortfall has forced the ORPP to halt essential tasks, including verification of party offices for full registration, compliance enforcement, party inspections, capacity building, and legal reforms.
The situation is intensified by a growing number of parties seeking registration. Currently, 32 parties hold provisional registration, with verification costing about Sh3.9 million per party.
To bridge the gap, the ORPP is requesting Sh322.96 million in the first Supplementary Estimates of FY2025-26.
The breakdown includes Sh62.4 million for verifying 30 provisional party offices, Sh27 million for legal reforms, Sh17 million for legal fees, Sh48.6 million for IPPMS upgrades, Sh25 million for automation of office processes, Sh15 million for staff capacity building, Sh44 million for compliance enforcement, Sh59.5 million for vehicles, Sh20.96 million for party inspections, and Sh3.5 million for fuel and lubricants.
Looking beyond the immediate shortfall, the ORPP is asking Parliament to support expansion of staff from 116 to 196, increase county offices from 12 to 27, double the vehicle fleet from 10 to 19, digitize operations, secure additional headquarters space, and implement proposed legal reforms.
