The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) will have to wait longer after the High Court declined to compel the Registrar of Political Parties to release over Sh5 billion to the party.
Instead, the court directed the parties in the matter to serve respondents and appear in court on October 25 for further directions.
ODM claims that the respondents have acted unprocedurally by failing to consult, inform or give any reasons for not disbursing or distributing all the funds to the political parties entitled to received funding from the fund.
ODM further claims that because of underfunding, the party has been unable to undertake its core mandate and to utilise the funds to which it is entitled by law to achieve its objectives.
The case was certified as urgent.
In the petition, ODM said, “The next General Election is barely a year away and the applicant’s ability to prepare and participate meaningfully and effectively is greatly affected by the lack of funding.”
ODM Executive Director, Oduor Ong’wen, in an affidavit told the court that the party had a legitimate expectation to receive all the funds from the Political Parties Fund (PPF) and to project its activities based on these expectations.
ODM is entitled to receive at least 40% of the funds having emerged second after the 2013 elections.