NAIROBI, Kenya, July 20 – Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has defended the scale of the United Democratic Alliance’s (UDA) campaign spending in the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, insisting the ruling party financed its activities from party coffers and not taxpayer money.
Speaking during an interview on Hot 96 on Sunday, Ruku dismissed opposition claims that the government pumped billions of shillings into the Nyandarua constituency to influence the July 16 mini poll, saying the campaign expenditure was significantly lower than alleged.
“Even spending Sh500 million is impossible. From where I sit, I don’t think it was more than Sh100 million,” Ruku said.
He maintained that the funds used during the campaign belonged to UDA, noting that political parties are legally financed through the Political Parties Fund and other lawful sources.
“UDA has money and every party has money. The money which was spent, which I am approximating at Sh100 million, is not government money. It belongs to the political party,” he said.
Ruku’s remarks come amid sustained criticism from the opposition over the heavy government presence in Ol Kalou in the days leading to the by-election, which saw the constituency become the focus of an intensive campaign by senior State and UDA officials.
During the campaign period, the ruling party rolled out a raft of initiatives and distributed various items to residents, including thousands of six-kilogramme LPG cooking gas cylinders, mattresses, food supplies, electricity poles and water pipes. Residents also received cash handouts, while two motorised fishing boats valued at about Sh5 million and 20,000 fish fingerlings were issued to support aquaculture projects.
At the same time, the government unveiled and commissioned several development projects, among them the planned revival of the Nairobi–Nyahururu railway line, the construction of the 37-kilometre Ithangani–Ngorika–Kanyiriri road, improvements at the Ol Kalou Market, including the installation of translucent roofing, as well as borehole drilling and road paving works.
Ruku insisted these development projects should not be confused with campaign expenditure, arguing that government programmes continue irrespective of election periods.
“In any case, the government does not finance election campaigns, but the party does. Remember, UDA has money it gets from the Political Parties Fund,” he said.
His comments were a direct response to claims by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who alleged that President William Ruto deployed more than Sh1.45 billion in cash and over Sh14 billion worth of government development projects in Nyandarua County in an attempt to sway voters during the by-election.
Despite the extensive campaign mounted by the ruling party, the Ol Kalou parliamentary seat was won by Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) candidate Sammy Kamau Ngotho, dealing UDA a significant political setback in a contest widely viewed as a test of political influence in the Mt Kenya region.
