- CORD leader Raila
Odinga has failed to comply with the new electoral law on campaign spending
- He faces a possible five year jail term
or a fine of KSh 2 million or both
CORD leader Raila Odinga now faces a
possible five year jail term over the 2017 electoral guidelines.
Raila.
This is because he has failed to comply
with the Elections Finance Act which requires all candidates to open campaign
bank accounts.
The law also demands of politicians seeking
elective positions in the 2017 to also name a team which will be managing the
campaign finances.
The tough requirements demands that the
account should be opened and names of those appointed to run it be submitted to
the electoral commission eight months to the election.
The penalty for violating
the law is a fine of KSh 2 million or a five years jail term or both.
It also caps campaign spending among all
aspirants with a presidential candidate only allowed to spend not more than KSh
5 billion.
The penalty for violating the law is a fine
of KSh 2 million or a five years jail term or both.
CORD confirmed to the Nation on Wednesday,
December 14 that Raila had not complied with the law.
"Our candidate Raila Odinga did not comply because
the law was defective. We still do not have candidates. The law only requires
candidates to make such submissions," the
CORD secretariat executive director Norman Magaya is quoted by Nation.
Interestingly, the requirement was among a
raft of electoral reforms agreed on by the joint select parliamentary committee
which constituted members drawn from CORD and Jubilee following violent demos
by CORD and its supporters demanding exit of nine electoral commissioners.
However, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka who
is also a co-principal in CORD has complied and so is President Uhuru Kenyatta,
the Jubilee Party candidate.
Raila has however filed a case in court arguing
that finance law had a defect and that the electoral commission had no powers
to publish the regulations before Parliament approved them.
No comments:
Post a Comment