Kalonzo and Ngilu parties face axe for lacking national reach

Former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper and Charity Ngilu’s Narc are among parties facing possible deregistration for failing the constitutional requirement of national spread.

A recent audit by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu found that Wiper Democratic Movement, which last year rebranded to Wiper Patriotic Front, and National Alliance Rainbow Coalition (Narc) have no adequate offices in the 47 counties.

United Democratic Party and Mabadiliko Party were also flagged as breaching the constitutional requirements.

The findings reportedly showed gaps in several regions, where the parties either lacked physical offices or could not prove sustained political activities.

The law requires every registered political party to maintain offices and active operations in more than half of Kenya’s 47 counties to qualify as a national outfit.

This translates to at least 24 counties.

Section 7(2)(f)(iii) of the Political Parties Act, 2011, states that a provisionally registered political party shall be qualified to be fully registered if it has submitted to the Registrar the locations and addresses of the branch offices of the political party, which shall be in more than half of the counties.

Failing the threshold is one of the grounds the Registrar of Political Parties can use to deregister a political party.

In its 2024-25 audit report, Gathungu indicates that the parties have not maintained functional offices in at least 24 counties as required by law, placing them at risk of being struck off the register of political parties.

Kalonzo’s Wiper, according to the report, has not satisfied the requirement since 2022.

The issue has been flagged in the 2022-23, 2023-24 financial years and had not been resolved in the 2024-25 audit.

“In the prior year’s audit report, several issues were raised under the report on financial statements, report on lawlessness and effective us of public resources, and report on effectiveness of internal controls, risk management and governance,” Gathungu indicated in the report on Kalonzo’s party.

“Review of the status during the audit of the party in the financial year 2024/2025 revealed that 13 issues remain unresolved.”

These include failure to establish adequate party offices, she noted.

At the Charity Ngilu-led Narc Party, Gathungu observed a similar breach of the law, with the outfit failing to demonstrate verifiable presence in the minimum number of counties stipulated under the Political Parties Act (Kenya).

The party that once propelled Mwai Kibaki to power was found to have active offices in only two counties, falling short of the threshold.

“Management did not provide records to confirm that the party had established additional offices in at least twenty-four (24) counties,” the report states.

“In the circumstances, management was in breach of the law.”

The situation, according to the audit, is worse at Mabadiliko party, which only operates one party office, in Nairobi.

At the United Democratic Party, the auditor also flagged lack of national spread.

“As previously reported, the Party had established offices in only two counties. Management did not provide records to confirm that the Party had established additional offices in at least twenty-four (24) counties,” the report shows.

“In the circumstances, management was in breach of the law.”

Failure to comply with the requirements, the Registrar of Political Parties could initiate formal proceedings that may ultimately lead to their removal from the official register of political parties, a move that would significantly alter the 2027 game plan for the leaders involved.

At Wiper, Gathungu also flagged Sh3.8 million legal fees that the management could not provide supporting documents for.

“The statement of financial performance reflects administrative expenses of Sh39,643,811. The expenditure on administrative expenses includes an amount of Sh3,883,590 relating to professional fees on legal representation in court,” the report indicates.

“However, the payment vouchers for these fees were not supported by an documentation confirming that the legal firms were selected through a competitive process, nor was there evidence of agreed-upon fees as per the letter of instruction.”

“Further, dates of court mentions and evidence of other court proceedings were not provided for audit review.”

“In the circumstances, the regularity, accuracy and completeness of the administrative expenses of Sh3,883,590 could not be confirmed.”