The Orange Democratic Movement party is considering withdrawing the KSh 153 million political parties’ fund it had allocated to NASA partners.
This comes barely a day after the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) on Thursday, July 29, resolved to formally leave the NASA alliance.
It has been revealed that part of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting resolutions by members of the party’s top organ include reviewing the decision to share political parties funding with their coalition partners should they continue chest-thumping for pushing ODM into submission.
“We have resolved that if they continue with the bravado and complaints that what has been offered to them is not enough then we will just withdraw the offer,” one of the ODM top party officials said as quoted by the Standard.
ODM party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna while addressing journalists yesterday said the party was ‘disheartened’ by utterances by their former coalition partners claiming the offer was a justification of their long-running grievances in the coalition.
“The offer to make certain payments to our former partners was made strictly without prejudice because, from a plain reading of the coalition agreement, we owe nothing to our partners,” he said.
On Monday, July 26, Raila Odinga conceded to the request by other NASA partners to share the KSh 489 million political parties fund with other opposition partners in what analysts claim was a last-minute effort to keep its opposition partners within the coalition.
“…consequent, thereto, our party has deliberated internally and resolved that, without prejudice, we share with coalition partners ODM’s share of monies from political parties fund attributable (and excluding presidential gubernatorial and County assemblies) votes for the financial years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20,” Raila Odinga’s party said in a statement.
This came just days after the National Treasury disbursed KSh 489bmillion political parties’ funds to the ODM party for the three financial years ending 2020/21.
Of the KSh 489 million disbursed, Kalonzo Musyoka’s Party, Wiper was set to receive KSh 70 Million from ODM which was the biggest partner in the now-dead NASA alliance.
In the proposed formulae, Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC was set to receive KSh 43.9 million, Moses Wetangula’s Ford Kenya KSh 36 million while Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) of former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto was to get KSh 3 million for the financial years 2017/18, 2018/19, and 2019/20.
This saw CCM party leader Isaac Ruto cry foul after NASA coalition fund sharing formulae proposed by opposition leader Raila Odinga proposed KSh 3 million for his party.
“There ought to be a fair formula in which political funding can be shared. Political funding ought to be given on a regular and fair basis and not just an arrangement where one says which party gets what,” he lamented.
