By The Weekly Vision Political Reporter
As Kenya edges closer to the 2027 General Election, the political battlefield is being shaped not only by alliances and opinion polls, but also by a less glamorous yet potentially decisive issue of whether political parties can meet the legal and administrative requirements necessary to remain in the race.
A recent audit of political parties by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has exposed serious compliance weaknesses across the country’s political establishment, including failures by dozens of parties to maintain functioning offices in the minimum number of counties required by law. The findings raise a particularly uncomfortable question for established parties such as Jubilee and the Kenya African National Union (KANU), whether parties that once dominated Kenya’s political landscape maintain the organisational structures required to participate effectively in the next election.
The Auditor-General’s 2023/24 summary report identified 37 political parties that had failed to establish offices in at least 24 counties, the threshold set out in law. The audit found that some parties had only a handful of functioning offices, despite the legal requirement for a nationwide organisational footprint. Among those listed was KANU, which had only five established county offices at the time of the audit. By contrast, the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) had 21 offices, still below the statutory threshold. Wiper Democratic Movement had 14, while NARC Kenya had three.
Jubilee presents a more complicated case. The Auditor-General’s report states that Jubilee was among three parties, alongside Pamoja Alliance Party and Kenya African Democratic Union-Asili, whose 2023/24 financial statements were not audited because they were submitted late or not submitted at all. Jubilee therefore does not appear in the report’s list of 37 parties that failed to establish offices in 24 counties.
That distinction is important. While claims have circulated that Jubilee had been reduced to only a small number of operational offices, the Auditor-General’s 2023/24 report does not itself establish a two-office figure for the party. In fact, an earlier Jubilee financial report for the year ended June 2021 stated that the party operated branch offices in 24 counties.
The bigger political issue, however, remains the ability of parties to demonstrate that they are functioning national organisations rather than electoral vehicles activated only when elections approach. Kenya’s Political Parties Act requires parties seeking full registration to maintain a national presence, including branch offices in at least 24 counties. The Political Parties (Registration) Regulations further require party offices to be open and staffed during working hours, accessible to the public, and equipped with signage and branding.
The law also gives the Registrar of Political Parties considerable powers where parties fail to comply. Under Section 21 of the Political Parties Act, a party that does not meet the requirements set out under Section 7 may be suspended or deregistered. For KANU, the audit findings are particularly significant given the party’s historic stature. Founded in 1960, KANU dominated Kenyan politics for decades and was the vehicle through which the late President Daniel arap Moi ruled the country for 24 years. Yet the Auditor-General’s latest audit paints a picture of an organisation operating far below the geographical reach expected of a fully functioning national political party.
KANU had five county offices, according to the audit, dramatically below the 24-county requirement. The financial audit also raises additional questions about the party’s administration. According to the Auditor-General, KANU’s financial statements contained variances amounting to more than KSh10.14 billion. The party also had unsupported expenditure of KSh15.68 million and an unexplained variance of KSh186.7 million between its financial statements and supporting schedules.
Jubilee’s position is different but no less politically significant. The party, once the dominant vehicle of former President Uhuru Kenyatta and controller of the presidency, Parliament and numerous county governments, was not audited for the 2023/24 financial year because of problems with the submission of its financial statements. The Auditor-General specifically listed Jubilee among three parties, with combined funding of KSh80.6 million, whose accounts could not be audited.
That finding is significant because political parties receiving public funds are subject to public financial accountability. For the year under review, Jubilee was allocated approximately KSh74.05 million from the Political Parties Fund, while KANU received about KSh13.17 million. The audit therefore exposes an uncomfortable contradiction at the heart of Kenya’s multiparty system: parties can receive public resources while simultaneously struggling to demonstrate the organisational and financial discipline expected of institutions entrusted with those resources.
The Auditor-General’s overall assessment was blunt. The audit identified “inaccuracies in financial reporting, lack of supporting documentation and weak internal controls,” alongside “poor governance practices, non-compliance with regulatory requirements, and limited assurance of value-for-money in the use of public funds.”
For the wider political class, the message is clear: the 2027 election will not only be won at rallies and on television. It will also be shaped by whether political parties can satisfy the law governing the organisations through which candidates seek power. With the election approaching, compliance may cease to be a technical administrative matter and become a weapon in Kenya’s increasingly competitive political battlefield.
