Nyaribari Masaba MP Daniel Manduku has accused the Executive of deliberately starving political parties of crucial funding, warning that the move is weakening Kenya’s democracy and crippling the ability of parties to operate independently.
Speaking in an interview on Radio Generation on Tuesday, Manduku said ODM alone is owed billions of shillings in unpaid allocations from the Political Parties Fund, money he insists is legally due to the party under a clear, formula-based system.
“There was a push to sort that out by enacting an Act of Parliament where political parties were to be funded from the national kitty,” he said.
“Parties were supposed to be independent vehicles that go beyond election cycles, with a secretariat, a governing council, and a working strategy—probably an eight-year strategy outside the five-year cycle.”
Kenya's political parties receive funding through the Political Parties Fund, managed by the Registrar of Political Parties.
The fund is primarily sourced from 0.3% of the national government's revenue and is also supplemented by other lawful donations and membership fees.
In the 2025/2026 financial year, the government allocated a total of Sh1.2 billion to 47 political parties that met the legal eligibility criteria, with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) receiving the largest allocations of over Sh789 million and more than Sh421 million, respectively.
Other parties received comparatively smaller amounts, including Jubilee at Sh184 million, Wiper at Sh98 million, DAP-K at Sh43 million, UDM at Sh36 million, FORD-Kenya at Sh35 million, and KANU at Sh32 million.
To qualify for funding, parties must secure at least 3% of the total votes cast in the previous general election, have at least one elected representative in Parliament, comply with the two-thirds gender rule in their leadership, and demonstrate representation of special interest groups.
The distribution of funds follows a structured formula, where 70% is allocated proportionally based on the total votes received by each party, 15% is distributed according to the number of elected candidates from special interest groups, and the remaining 5% goes toward administrative costs of managing the Political Parties Fund.
Manduku argued that the government’s refusal to release the funds is not accidental but a political tactic meant to weaken opposition parties.
“If you fund ODM adequately with Raila Odinga and people like Junet, people like Mbadi as engines of that party, this party would be bigger than the country in terms of national drive,” he said. “The executive has decided deliberately to starve it of funds, which is actually illegal.”
He noted that allocations from the Political Parties Fund are calculated using a straightforward mathematical formula based on votes and elected leaders from the previous election.
“It’s a no-brainer,” he said, “but somehow they don’t get funds.”
According to Manduku, the consequences are clear: parties are forced to scale down activities, shut down organs meant to keep them functional between elections, or turn to wealthy sponsors who inevitably influence their agenda.
“That is why it’s difficult to nurture democracy in such an environment,” he added.
Manduku contrasted Kenya’s experience with countries like the United States, where stable public financing allows parties to run programs consistently even while in opposition.
“Come to Kenya, we deliberately stop them,” he said, noting that many smaller parties survive only through personal contributions from members, making sustainability “very difficult and challenging.”
He further warned that inadequate funding is eroding internal democracy, especially in larger parties that have not held internal elections for years.
“When is the last time our political parties had internal elections? Even my own ODM, your guess is as good as mine,” he said. “Our two largest political parties have never had elections, and they are not likely to have elections before 2027 and for obvious reasons.”
Manduku urged Kenya’s youth to reject personality-driven and ethnic politics, calling for the creation of modern, ideologically grounded parties capable of surviving beyond election cycles.
