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The Political Parties Tribunal chaired by Peter Simani, acting on an appeal by NARC Kenya has ruled on that the registrar did not follow the procedure for allocation as directed by the tribunal in 2011/FILE

Kenya

Narc Kenya wins case on PNU affiliates’ funding

The Political Parties Tribunal chaired by Peter Simani, acting on an appeal by NARC Kenya has ruled on that the registrar did not follow the procedure for allocation as directed by the tribunal in 2011/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 21 – Political parties that were affiliated to the Party of National Unity (PNU) ahead of the 2007 elections will not get money from the Political Parties Fund until the Registrar of Political Parties (RPP) reviews her formula for allocation.

The Political Parties Tribunal chaired by Peter Simani, acting on an appeal by NARC Kenya has ruled on that the registrar did not follow the procedure for allocation as directed by the tribunal in 2011.

“It is quite clear that the respondent (registrar) did not adhere to our directions. Failure to do so amounts to an unlawful distribution of the funds under this Act,” the tribunal ruled.

“We agree with the appellant (NARC Kenya) and order that the decision given by the respondent in September 2011 be set aside. We further order that none of the funds from the Political Parties Fund for distribution among the affiliate parties of PNU may be distributed until they agree in writing,” the tribunal further ruled.

The ruling throws in limbo the preparations of parties that are seeking to popularise themselves and plan to field candidates in the forthcoming ahead of general elections.

The tribunal agreed with lawyer Cecil Miller for Narc Kenya that the registrar should have investigated where the primary parties that elected MPs and councillors originated from and distribute the funds in relation to strength of those parties under PNU.

Narc Kenya went to the tribunal to appeal after the registrar allocated Sh3.6 million to them out of the Sh48 million allocated to PNU to be shared among affiliates.

According to Miller, Narc Kenya contributed 2.1 million votes out of the 3.6 million votes in civic, parliamentary results as well as the resultant total for the president.

Narc Kenya Executive Director Daniel Taabu told Capital FM News that they should have received at least Sh30 million based on their numbers.

The tribunal had directed the registrar to: “Go back to records available to her and identify the parties where elected members and councillors originated from. In the event that she is unable to do so from her own records or those of the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya ECK she must call for further evidence by affidavit of the party members as at the2007 nominations.”

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Registrar Lucy Ndung’u was expected to liaise with the Speaker of the National Assembly in regards to solving the question of party membership.

Although the registrar received conflicting documents from parties she did not meet the parties to iron out the conflicts that were apparent.

NARC Kenya in their appeal accused the registrar of distributing funds to parties that did not contribute votes to the PNU basket.

Ndung’u in her defence said that she had summoned all affiliate parties on August 17 2011 which NARC Kenya refused to attend.

At the meeting, she told the tribunal that parties resolved to have funds distributed in accordance to the nomination certificate a decision the tribunal said was incorrect.

“In determining the question of membership it was incumbent upon the registrar to commence her investigations by first drawing to her to the qualification for membership in respective party. No evidence of such investigations was provided,” read the ruling.

Ndung’u further submitted that the mode of determining how many votes each PNU affiliate contributed in the 2007 election was also in dispute.

Ford Kenya which is led by Trade Minister Moses Wetangula also participated in the appeal as an interested party.

PNU on which President Kibaki contested was formed in September 2007 by parties including KANU, Narc-Kenya, Ford-Kenya, Ford-People, Democratic Party, Shirikisho, and National Alliance Party of Kenya.

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