When former Chief Justice David Maraga recently announced that ordinary Kenyans would bankroll his presidential campaign, seasoned political figures who have run high-stakes campaigns likely dismissed the idea as idealistic naivety. 

During a TV interview, Maraga identified the astronomical cost of election campaigns as a key driver of Kenya’s endemic corruption.

He argued that the thirst for power stems not from a desire to serve, but from the need to recover campaign investments and build war chests – primarily from public coffers. 

“Once someone spends whatever they do to get elected, the first thing they want is to recover their investment,” Maraga explained.

“After that, they begin building a war chest. Where from? Public resources. And then we witness looting left, right, and centre.” 

‘Budgeted corruption’ 

He pointed to Auditor General reports exposing how public funds have been siphoned to ghost schools as merely the tip of the iceberg.

“We have budgeted corruption. That alone tells you what kind of rot we’re talking about,” he added. 

Maraga warned that prohibitively expensive elections systematically lock out young, visionary leaders with limited financial backing, robbing the country of fresh ideas and transformative leadership. 

“This is how it’s been set up. Politicians come in, steal your money, buy your votes, and go back to steal even more,” he said. 

The former chief justice believes campaign spending should be tightly regulated to reduce money’s influence and curb voter bribery masquerading as economic empowerment.

“Dishing out a few thousand shillings to voters doesn’t uplift them. It lasts days, but the consequences of electing the wrong people last years,” he warned. 

Maraga insists his campaign will rely on public donations to maintain accountability to the electorate.

“My team is working on the budget, but we’re convinced Kenyans will fund this campaign. It will be a Wanjiku government,” he said, noting that he personally plans to contribute only Ksh1-2 million. 

Monumental challenge 

The challenge Maraga faces is enormous. In Kenya’s personality-driven politics, ideology often takes a backseat to ethnicity and money.

Cash doesn’t just grease campaign logistics. It buys visibility, influence, and vote protection. 

“Money is needed not just to campaign but to safeguard your votes,” explained John Onyango, who served as an election observer in the 2017 general election.  

“I remember being at a polling station when a chief agent in Kwale lured rival agents with dinner and alcohol during vote counting. He spotted one of them yawning and asked whether they had eaten.  

“He then volunteered to take them out for supper, bought them alcohol, and after they ate their fill, they drank themselves senseless. They passed out and returned in shame the next morning – after their candidate had lost.” 

During the August 29, 2022, gubernatorial elections in Mombasa, voter bribery was rampant across several sub-counties, including Nyali, Jomvu, Likoni, Changamwe and Mvita.

Witnesses recounted how voters received Ksh500 before casting ballots and an additional Ksh500 after presenting photos of their marked ballots to agents outside polling stations. 

In many instances, crowds loitered near polling stations, waiting for bribes before or after voting – transforming the election into a cash-for-ballots affair. 

The cost of running for office has reached dizzying heights. Before the 2022 general election, politicians dramatically increased helicopter leasing.

According to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, there were 67 registered helicopters in the country by the end of 2020, most linked to political players.

South African import records showed Kenya leased 325 helicopters in 2020 alone. 

With the 2027 elections approaching, a similar display of opulence is already emerging as politicians flex their financial muscles, reigniting public concern over campaign fund sources. 

New Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Dr Erastus Edung Ethekon disclosed over the weekend that legal reforms on elections rank among the commission’s top five priorities as they work to safeguard the credibility, transparency, and efficiency of Kenya’s electoral processes. 

“We are also proposing amendments to election offences to strengthen that law. We are making proposals to [amend] other laws, including the County Governments Act and those relating to elections. On election campaign financing, we are also making proposals,” Ethekon said in Mombasa. 

Regulatory gaps 

While highlighting the constitutional requirement for the commission to regulate how political parties and individual politicians deploy resources to level the playing field between rich and poor during campaigns, the chair noted that regulations to operationalise the Election Campaign Financing Act remain absent. 

“We have had problems with the regulations. I’m reliably informed by the secretariat that the court previously advised IEBC to subject those regulations to public participation so that when we take them back to Parliament, they are enacted after a consultative process, because our Constitution is clear on public participation in everything we do, particularly for sensitive laws like this one,” Ethekon explained.  

Analysts warn that unless campaign finance laws are enforced, deep pockets will continue determining election outcomes, shutting out candidates without State backing or donor support. 

“Parliament’s failure to pass robust campaign finance laws gives incumbents an undue advantage,” said Dr Richard Bosire, a political science lecturer at the University of Nairobi. 

Communications expert Ayub Mwangi argues that money poses the biggest threat to electoral integrity.

He believes President Ruto, with the full weight of State machinery behind him, is positioned to run a well-oiled campaign in 2027, presenting a formidable challenge to the opposition. 

“Ruto’s side is well-funded. Opposition outfits are largely running on fumes,” Mwangi observed. “Kalonzo Musyoka may leverage State capitation through his MPs, but without serious donor support, the rest risk financial burnout.” 

‘Ground war’ 

In 2027, Mwangi predicts, the battle will be fought at the grassroots, combining door-to-door engagement, tech-savvy messaging, and financial endurance. “The ground war has already begun,” he said. 

Legislative setbacks 

The IEBC’s efforts to regulate campaign financing have repeatedly hit walls.

In August 2023, Parliament rejected the agency’s proposal to cap presidential campaign spending at Ksh4.4 billion and party budgets at Ksh17.7 billion, arguing the regulations were published past the statutory deadline and lacked parliamentary approval. 

The Election Campaign Financing Act was passed in 2013, but enforcement has been delayed indefinitely. A revised version presented in 2023 was similarly rejected, leaving the door wide open for unregulated spending.  

Currently, presidential candidates are legally allowed to spend up to Ksh5.2 billion, while governors, senators, and women representatives face caps of Ksh433 million. 

With these figures in mind, Maraga’s dream of citizen-funded campaigns may appear far-fetched.

But in a country long held hostage by high-stakes, cash-fuelled politics, perhaps his approach represents the kind of disruption Kenya needs.  

Whether it can succeed remains a million-shilling question.