Petition to scrap political party funding rules fails in court

A Nairobi court has ruled that not all political parties are entitled to state funding, dealing a blow to a petition that challenged the current funding model as unfair and discriminatory.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi dismissed the case filed by Jane Florence Njiru, the Vice-Chairperson of Ford Asili Party, who had asked the court to declare the Political Parties Act unconstitutional for locking out smaller parties from accessing the Political Parties Fund.

Njiru argued that the law favours wealthy parties with wide networks, pointing to the Sh600,000 registration fee and the demand to maintain party offices in at least 24 counties.

She also took issue with the model that ties funding to elected representation, claiming it sidelines smaller players regardless of the votes they receive.

“The exorbitant registration fees and the requirement for physical presence in at least 24 counties are prohibitive and designed to drive out weaker parties. The funding model – where access is pegged on elected representatives rather than the number of votes a party garners – is also unconstitutional,” she stated.

Njiru asked the court to strike out those provisions, saying they place unreasonable barriers and weaken multi-party democracy.

However, Justice Mugambi found no merit in the petition, saying the rules were designed to protect public funds from misuse and to support only parties that have proven their political value by winning seats.

“It must not be lost in mind that the issue at hand is public funds, and these conditions are deliberately meant, first and foremost, to protect public resources. They guard against the mushrooming of briefcase political parties formed solely to siphon off public funds,” said Justice Mugambi.

He said the requirement to have an elected leader and maintain county offices ensures only parties with genuine support and national presence benefit from the fund.

“Those that seek to benefit from public coffers must show the capacity to compete and represent the electorate. Otherwise, there would be no point in funding moribund political entities simply because they participated in elections and garnered some votes,” he said.

The judge ruled that the Act treats all political parties equally and dismissed the idea that it draws a line between rich and poor or large and small outfits.

“The Act does not, in any way, stratify political parties into rich and poor or large and small. All it does is prescribe minimum conditions for funding that apply universally. It is unclear what criteria the petitioner used to draw such a distinction,” he said.

Justice Mugambi concluded that the law was not only constitutional but necessary to prevent abuse of public resources and ensure that political representation remains central to funding decisions.