How Former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero Spent Sh418 Million on 2017 Campaigns But Lost to Sonko

Details of how much former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero spent in a bid to recapture his seat in the 2017 elections have emerged.

Kidero, who eventually lost to Jubilee party’s Mike Sonko, claims his failed re-election bid cost him a staggering Sh418 million, The Standard reported.

The breakdown of Kidero’s campaign expenditure is contained in court documents related to a tax dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

The papers indicate that he spent Sh53 million to set up a campaign center where his operations were managed from and a further Sh37 million on his party—the Orange Democratic Party (ODM).

An additional Sh25 was spent on nominations, Sh75 million on media and publicity, Sh47 million on publicity materials, while a budget of Sh55 million was set aside for travel.

Kidero also used Sh7 million to rent office space for his political activities for 36 months, Sh8 million on poll tracking and research, and Sh20 million on launching his re-election bid.

The documents further show Kidero spent Sh25 million to monitor elections, Sh19 million to fuel cars, Sh19 million on car repairs, and Sh6 million on the entertainment. 

A further Sh16 million was set aside as capital expenditure. The cumulative campaign budget was Sh423 million but he spent Sh418 million. 

KRA argues that Kidero ought to have paid tax despite spending the cash on campaigns, adding that the funds were received before the campaign period.

“The tribunal erred in law and fact in finding that the funds in dispute were campaign funds and ignored the patterns of deposits of the money between the years 2011 and 2013. The tribunal erred in law and fact by ignoring the political campaign guidelines,” KRA says in court filings.