Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party broke a year to next elections

Jubilee Party headquarters, Nairobi. Left, President Uhuru Kenyatta. [File, Standard]

President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party is staring at a cash crunch with less than a year to the next elections.

According to financial statements published in the dailies on September 17, the ruling party recorded a Sh34.7 million deficit in the year ended June 30, 2021, compared to a Sh327 million surplus revenue recorded in the previous 2020 financial year.

Its total revenues dipped by Sh250.6 million to Sh611.7 million from Sh862.3 million in 2020. A move that could hurt the party’s war chest ahead of polls.

The party received revenues from public contributions and donations (Sh96.7 million) and transfers from other governments - gifts and services-in kind (Sh514.9 million).

The plummet in revenue was necessitated by a Sh111.9 million increase in the party’s expenses after it posted Sh646.4 million in expenses up from Sh534.5 million in 2020.

A breakdown revealed that expenses increased from Sh271.6 million to Sh336.9 million in 2021, rent from Sh87.4 million to Sh111.1 million while depreciation and amortisation rose from Sh2.2 million to Sh28 million.

The party, however, cut expenses on employee costs from Sh166.6 million in 2020 to Sh166.3 million in 2021 while repairs and maintenance costs dropped from Sh113.6 million to nil.

Finance costs also dropped from Sh6.3 million in 2020 to Sh3.99 million in 2021.

Jubilee's total value of assets dropped to Sh380.7 million compared Sh429.4 million in the financial year ended June 2020.

The party was, however, able to cut liabilities by Sh12.6 million after it recorded Sh159.1 million in liabilities, a drop from Sh171.77 million in 2020.

The financial statements were declared by the board of directors which includes Chairman Nelson Dzuya, Treasurer Alfred Mutai, Secretary-General Raphael Tuju and acting Executive Director Wambui Gichuru.

The revelation comes three years after the Auditor General declared Jubilee broke.

Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

In a report covering the financial year ending June 30, 2018, the Auditor General declared the party "technically insolvent". The report exposed massive mismanagement of finances.

"The statement of financial position as of June 30, 2018, reflects current liabilities balance of Sh133,558,229 which exceeds current assets of Sh67,278,244 by Sh66,279,985 implying that the party was operating with negative working capital, thus technically bankrupt," reads the report.

"In the circumstances, the continued existence of the party is dependent on continued financial support from creditors, bankers and well-wishers."

The huge transfers from other governments add to the windfall from the Political Parties Fund.

Jubilee was the biggest beneficiary of the fund in the financial year 2018/2019. It shared Sh871.2 million with ODM, an enhancement from Sh371 million that was given a year earlier. 

About Sh697 million was shared proportionately according to the total number of votes garnered by each political party in the 2017 General Election.

The Political Parties Act sets aside 0.3 per cent of the national government revenue to finance activities of political parties in advancing democracy.

Jubilee and ODM were the only parties entitled to share the millions after meeting the stringent requirements set out in the Act.