Two Lobby groups have moved to court challenging the decision by the National Assembly that revoked the Campaign Financing rules by IEBC.
Katiba Institute and Africog have sued the National Assembly and IEBC arguing that the absence of the campaign financing rules so close to the onset of the nominations threatens the integrity of the upcoming August elections.
Through Lawyer Ochiel Dudley, the lobby groups say that under Article 88(4)(i) and the Elections Campaign Financing Act, 2013, IEBC must make rules to regulate election campaign financing at least twelve months before the general election.
Dudley argues that his clients are concerned that because of the National Assembly’s unconstitutional conduct, this will be the third general elections since the 2010 constitution without regulation on the election campaign financing thus creating an uneven playing field for candidates.
“These omissions also threaten the integrity and fairness of the 2022 general elections. Hence, this petition is filed to break the cycle of impunity by the National Assembly in interfering with IEBC’s regulation of election campaign financing,” reads court documents.
The case will be mentioned on January 4 before Justice Antony Mrima for directions.
On August 9 last year, IEBC set the rules for contributions and spending for the August 9, 2022 general elections and was tabled before the National Assembly.
On September 28, the same year, the National Assembly annulled the Gazette notice on contributions and spending limits for the elections and further rejected the election campaign financing regulations.
“On October 8 2021, IEBC implemented this resolution by revoking the Gazette Notice 8024 of 2021 (through Gazette Notice 10723 of 2021),” the petition reads.
Dudley argues that the absence of the election campaign finance rules has aggrieved the two lobby groups.
