Campaign Financing, the Wealthy Business Savvy Political Aspirantand its Effect on the International, Regional and National Fiscal Economy : An Analysis of the 2013 Kenyan National Elections

Money has always had a huge role in politics. Political parties and candidates need to finance various activities, which fall within legitimate democratic processes. However, the role of money in sustaining the democratic process has not been well canvassed especially in developing countries like Kenya and as a result is susceptible to abuse. Electoral candidates more often than not are already well established in their respective fields of business or are wealthy professionals.Money, obtained through either legitimate, seemingly legitimate and/or corrupt means, tends to warp the very philosophy of representative democracy and threaten the pillars of a democratic society and the institutions that guarantee the rule of law. (Masime, 2010) There is an increasing phenomenon in Kenyan politics in which some leaders with questionable credentials and powerful connections are encroaching into the political spaces with seemingly unlimited amounts of financing. This breed of apparently populist politicians flood their political campaigns with a smorgasbord of innovative, well financed and seemingly thoroughly strategized campaign strategies. This in turn almost automatically blocks out of the lower classes as they are unable to access the kind of finances required to even engage in political campaigning. It becomes crucial from the perspective of a financial analysis to enquire into the clean fiscal bill of health that all politicians and those serving in public office need to have in order to offer themselves up for elections as upright citizens and taxpayers who already ascribe to and follow the existing system and that they conduct themselves in a fiscal ethical manner during election campaigning.In Kenya, Article 88 (4)(i) of the 2010 constitution provided the broad regulatory framework under which the country’s electoral management body—the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) engaged political parties and candidates. As a sign of political will, supporting the need to regulate election financing, the National Assembly passed the Election Campaign Financing Act four months after the March 2013 elections. The Act brings clarity on several financial issues surrounding elections. Article 3 of this Act among other things tasks the electoral management body with verification of sources of funds, setting spending limits, and giving advice to parties. This use of finances brings out the question: how does one finance a campaign in Kenya and from where can these funds be sourced? Who is lobbying whom?Other subsidiary issues that arose include: how did the parties and candidates fund the 2013 elections? Did the sources of the funds adhere to this new legal framework? Is there any evidence that political parties and candidates are embracing more “scientific” rather than haphazard campaign strategies? Did CSOs do enough to cushion voters? What are the concrete issues in which CSOs can intervene under election financing and campaigns? Although these are are many questions, they are all inter-related and this paper will attempt to shed as much light as possible to these complex and interrelated issues