Kenya’s election campaign officially began on May 29 and will conclude with the presidential election next August 9.
There are a total of 16 candidates for the presidential seat, although the main ones remain basically two, Raila Odinga and William Ruto, who have started their political campaign focusing mainly on economic issues, proposing two different conceptual models for revitalizing the country.
Kenya’s Electoral Commission ordered shortly before the start of the campaign a policy of sharply countering candidate spending through the use of public funds to prevent candidates currently employed in institutions from benefiting from increased resources illegally deployed in support of their candidacies.
The commission has ordered its officials to arrange for the seizure of any state resources illegally used in the campaign, and the directive also applies to incumbent members of Parliament-senators, members of the National Assembly, and women’s representatives-as well as governors, deputy governors, and county assembly members.
To this end, all public officials running for election must accurately list the facilities in their employ, the budgets available to them, and the equipment employed by them, in order to prevent it from being used in any way to support the election campaign.
In spite of these provisions, the start of the election campaign in Nairobi, and especially that of the two main challengers William Ruto and Raila Odinga, has already proven to be structured on a hefty spending budget, with impressive promotional tools and widespread allegations of corruption.
