In a record two days in earlier October, 2016 the Deputy President William Ruto was reported to have contributed Ksh. 18 million to 6 schools. This rekindles memories of how KANU spent money in 1992 at the advent of multi-party democracy in Kenya. At that time, Kanu was the incumbent party and it ordered for the printing of more bank notes. The newly printed cash was used during the 1992 elections campaigns. This oversupply of money caused the fall of the Kenyan economy.
One of the leading dispensers of that new money at that time was a lobby organization called the Youth for Kanu ’92. I am told this is the time when the Ksh 500 note got nicknamed a “jirongo.”
Starting from 2013, we have witnessed a high level of overpricing for services and goods supplied to the county and national governments in Kenya. It’s my sincere hope that you remember the Bungoma Wheelbarrows, the Kisii Themos flasks that cost Ksh. 8,000 each, Nyamira hospital gate that cost over 7 million and the cost of opening a Facebook page for one of the 47 governors among other extravagant show of largess!
Robert Shaw in his Daily nation column predicted some of the sources of funding for the 2017 political campaigns in Kenya. He pointed out that CORD principal Raila Odinga gets most of his funding from abroad as well as other donations. On the other hand Uhuru Kenyatta and his JAP is using lots of family money.
On the same note, individual political aspirants are expected to finance their campaigns using their personal resources. Finally, there will be some individuals who will use money from drugs, rent seeking and racketeering to finance their campaigns. For now, it is a ‘wait-and-see-situation’.
Keep it here for more news on how politicians will be squaring it out through a show of financial mighty in the 2017 general elections.
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