High Court Awards ODM KSh 1.2b Political Parties Fund In Case Against Kenya Kwanza

• The High Court ruled that the Kenya Kwanza administration's decision to reduce ODM's share of the political parties' funds was illegal
• Justice Chacha Mwita declared that Parliament lacks authority to reduce the Political Parties Fund through the Supplementary Appropriation Act
• ODM is set to receive KSh 1.2 billion that had been cut from the KSh 6 billion Political Parties Fund
• ODM's petition successfully argued that the fund reduction aimed to weaken opposition parties and undermine multi-party democracy

Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi - The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party has scored a massive win against the government.

The High Court ruled that the Kenya Kwanza administration made an illegal decision to reduce the ODM party's share of the political parties' funds.

In a landmark ruling, High Court Judge Chacha Mwita revealed that Parliament doesn't have the authority to reduce the amount set in law.

According to Justice Mwita, the amount cannot be reduced through the Supplementary Appropriation Act, adding that the Political Parties Fund provides for the money under the Political Parties Act.

"Having considered the petition and arguments by parties, and aware of the decision of the Court of Appeal on this issue, the inescapable conclusion I come to, is that the National Assembly has a positive statutory obligation to allocate to the Political Parties Fund money that is not less than 0.3% of revenue collected by the national government," ruled Justice Mwita.

Following the judgment, the Raila Odinga-led party will receive KSh 1.2 billion, initially cut from the KSh 6 billion fund.

Why did ODM go to court?

In their petition, the Orange party asked the High Court to stop the implementation of the supplementary budget that had seen President William Ruto's administration reduce the political parties' funds.

According to Jackson Awele, the ODM party's lawyer, the allocation was initially set at KSh 1.475 billion.

Awele argued that the amount was way below the KSh 6 billion allocated to political parties during the 2023-2024 financial year.

The lawyer claimed the government was out to cripple the opposition and kill multi-party democracy by denying opposition parties money.

"There is plausible cause to believe that the respondents’ actions are a well calculated, deliberate, surreptitious collateral attack on multi-party democracy, the fundamental pillar under-girding the Republican, sovereign democratic state that the Constitution declares Kenya to be by gradually undermining, weakening and destroying the effectiveness of political parties," Awele said.

ODM party's net worth hits KSh 10b

In 2022, the Orange party's net worth grew by 12.4% to KSh 10 billion compared to KSh 8.96 billion in 2021.

The party became the richest political outfit in the country, pocketing KSh 9.6 billion from the exchequer.

ODM's income increased to KSh 2.2 billion, up from KSh 1.4 billion, majorly from government transfers and public contributions.

Proofreading by Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke