IEBC gazettes new elections campaign financing rules ahead of 2027 polls

Under the Election Campaign Financing Act gazetted on August 7, 2026, the IEBC sets regulations on how candidates and political parties will undertake campaign funding in the upcoming polls.

The Election Campaign Financing Regulations, 2026 set the expenditure period for campaign funds to a period beginning at least six months before the date of the general election and ending on the fourteenth day following the end of the general election.

Here, each candidate or political party is required to appoint an authorized person, who shall receive campaign contributions, discharge expenditure and file campaign contributions and expenditures.

However, a candidate may act as their own authorized person. The party or candidate is required to notify the IEBC of their authorized person who shall be in charge of election financing.

Political parties or candidates are also required to submit names of any supporting person or organization that intends to campaign in support of or contribute to the campaign.

The candidate or political party is also expected to open a bank account for the purpose of campaign financing. Such an account should be under the name of the party, the candidate, or the candidate and authorized person. It can also be under the name of a supporting person or organisation. The account should be opened at a financial institution domiciled in Kenya.

The said account shall be closed by the authorized person within 3 months after the declaration of the election or upon the withdrawal or death of a candidate. Then, a copy of the bank statement shall be submitted to IEBC once unpaid claims and surplus election funds have been processed.

According to the financing regulations set by IEBC, details of harambees held to raise campaign funds shall be recorded. This includes names of donors and contributors, and the funds shall not be directly from a foreign government.

The details of contributors to a harambee shall also be recorded, and those who contribute above Ksh.20,000 shall be issued with a receipt.

The candidates or political parties may also appoint a campaign expenditure committee.

“Where a candidate, political party or referendum committee incurs campaign expenses exceeding one million shillings during an expenditure period, the candidate, political party or referendum committee shall cause an audited report of the expenses to be prepared by an Auditor with a valid practising certificate and submitted to the Commission,” the IEBC regulations further dictate.

It is also the mandate of the authorized person or committee to prepare and submit to the IEBC a preliminary expenditure report and final expenditure report.

The campaign financing shall be scrutinized by the commission, which will review the reports. If IEBC discovers errors or technical omissions, it may require the authorized person to submit an amended report. IEBC can go further to undertake an investigation of a person where it considers that there has been a breach of the Act.