Parties’ registrar budget plan faces a cash crunch

The office of Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) has presented a Sh964.11 million budget proposal to MPs for next year's election preparations.

The office that regulates and oversees political parties warned that there is a severe funding squeeze that is crippling its constitutional roles.

Registrar of Political Parties John Lorionokou has laid out a detailed expenditure plan covering election monitoring, technology upgrades, civic engagement, legal reforms and capacity building.

He has also made an urgent Sh322.96 million supplementary request to keep the office operational in the current financial year

At the crux of the proposal is Sh151.22 million for the recruitment of county and constituency monitors to oversee party activities nationwide.

It is followed by Sh142.6 million for training party officials, aspirants, women, youth and persons with disabilities on electoral requirements.

Another Sh118.8 million is earmarked for upgrading the Integrated Political Parties Management System (IPPMS). The registrar says the system will help clean party databases and maintain accurate membership registers ahead of 2027.

ORPP wants some Sh106.31 million set aside for civic engagement and dialogue forums under the Political Parties Liaison Committee.

The registrar is also seeking Sh72.55 million to train monitors and ORPP staff, Sh62.07 million for training materials and election equipment such as phones, communication gadgets and ICT consumables.

It further seeks Sh47.3 million for statutory publications and dissemination of election information through print, electronic and digital media.

Other line items include Sh49.48 million for monitoring political party activities before, during and after elections, Sh45 million for certifying and printing party membership registers and party lists and Sh40.13 million for registration of parties, coalition political parties and mergers.

Also in the list is Sh44.26 million for legal reforms, Sh37 million for legal dues arising from election-related cases, Sh30.16 million for a call centre and media engagement, and Sh17.23 million for clearance of electoral aspirants.

All the components for election preparedness add up to Sh964.11 million.

But even as ORPP eyes 2027, Lorionokou told MPs the agency is already grappling with a financial scare.

He argued that 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.

The registrar says the shortfall has forced the office to halt several mandatory activities.

ORPP says it can’t verify party offices for full registration, compliance enforcement, conduct political party inspections, capacity building and legal reforms.

Pressure is also mounting from a growing number of parties seeking registration.

ORPP currently has 32 provisionally registered political parties, with verification of each costing about Sh3.9 million.

The office says it has already exhausted its annual allocation for some critical expenditure items and can no longer carry out these checks.

To plug the gap, ORPP is seeking an additional Sh322.96 million in the first Supplementary Estimates of  FY2025-26.

The breakdown includes Sh62.4 million to verify offices for 30 provisionally registered parties, Sh27 million for legal reforms, Sh17 million for legal fees, Sh48.6 million for upgrading IPPMS, and Sh25 million for automation of office processes.

Others are Sh15 million for capacity-building programmes, Sh44 million for compliance enforcement, Sh59.5 million for purchase of motor vehicles, Sh20.96 million for political party inspections, and Sh3.5 million for fuel and lubricants.

Beyond the immediate cash crunch, ORPP is also asking Parliament for support to increase staff numbers from 116 to 196, expand county offices from 12 to 27, raise the vehicle fleet from 10 to 19, digitise office processes, secure additional headquarters space and back proposed legal reforms.

The registrar warned that weak financing is undermining its work, saying the office, just like the electoral offices, shoulders key responsibilities.

ORPP is mandated to certify nomination rules and membership registers, monitor campaigns, train agents, manage party lists and oversee coalitions.

Lorionokou says that without adequate resources, the country risks entering the 2027 election cycle with weakened oversight.

He cited gullibility to fragile party structures and reduced public confidence in the democratic process.