The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced that it will impose financial limits on contestants in the 2022 general elections.
In a notice published in the Kenya Gazette on Monday, August 9th, the body announced that presidential contestants would be limited to Ksh 4.4 billion in their campaign spending.
Political parties have also seen their spending limited with the ceiling capped at Ksh 17.7 billion.
First Lady Margaret Kenyatta during a rally in 2017/Photo Courtesy
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Transportation costs for political parties have been allocated the largest share of the spending and have been capped at Ksh 11.8 billion.
Senators, Governors and women representatives will also have to watch their spending.
Based on the county's population and area, IEBC has set the limit for contestants vying for these positions.
Contestants in Turkana will be allowed to spend the highest amount which has been capped at Ksh 123 million while those in Lamu will spend the least with a Ksh 21.9 million cap.
National assembly contestants have seen their campaign spending capped at between Ksh 11 million and Ksh 94 million for the constituency with the highest ceiling.
Back in 2018, Francis Atwoli claimed that one needed at least Ksh 10 billion to vie for the presidency in Kenya.
He went ahead to say that this was the reason Western Kenya had not produced a president as they could not mount a well-financed campaign.
On Monday, IEBC announced that it required Ksh 40.9 billion to conduct the 2022 general elections against an allocation of Ksh 26 billion.
This comes as Kenya marks a countdown of 365 days to the elections that could be the most expensive in Kenyan history.
