The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has moved to tighten rules around how politicians and political parties handle money during election campaigns.
The new regulations will require all candidates and political parties to declare where their campaign money comes from and how they spend it.
Speaking at a stakeholder meeting on Thursday, IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon announced that the commission is pushing ahead with draft regulations that will transform campaign financing in Kenya.
The move is aimed at bringing more transparency to electoral processes and ensuring that candidates compete on a level playing field.
Under the new rules, politicians will be required to keep detailed records of every contribution and donation they receive from individuals and organizations. These records must then be submitted to the electoral body for scrutiny.
The regulations will also establish a system for monitoring campaign spending to make sure that candidates do not exceed the legal limits set by the commission.
To manage the money properly, all candidates and political parties will be required to appoint authorized persons who will be responsible for handling campaign finances.
All campaign funds will flow through designated bank accounts that have been opened specifically for this purpose. This move will allow the commission to track exactly how much money is being spent and by whom during the election period.
Ethekon noted that the proposed regulations are based on practices already used in other democratic countries around the world. He pointed to the United States as an example, where political donations are disclosed to promote openness in elections.
Kenya is now adopting similar measures to ensure that voters know who is funding political campaigns.
The IEBC says the new contribution and spending limits are intended to create fairness and accountability in the electoral process.
By making politicians disclose their donations and limiting how much they can spend, the commission hopes to give all candidates an equal chance to campaign regardless of how much money they can raise.
According to Ethekon, the commission has been consulting with various stakeholders since taking office last year to refine the regulations and spending limits.
The IEBC hopes to complete all consultations and officially gazette the new regulations by August this year to meet the deadline for implementation.
The chairperson also dismissed claims that the IEBC plans to stop live-streaming of election results. He assured Kenyans that the commission remains committed to transparency and that the media will continue to play its oversight role by scrutinizing the electoral process and reporting results to the public.
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