The Court of Appeal had awarded Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Ksh4.1 billion following a prolonged court battle.
The party is reported to have been involved in a court battle with Parliament following arrears that date back to 2011.
According to The Standard, the party then filed a suit claiming that the state owed it the money in a stretch of four years from 2011 to 2016 and was demanding members of parliament to settle all of it.
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Later on, the party argued that out of the set payout, they had only received Ksh100 million.
Despite the judges ruling the case having a split, the majority of the three-judge bench, Justices Otieno Odek, and Daniel Musinga ordered members of Parliament to settle the arrears.
“The appellant is entitled in arrears to all monies due pursuant to Section 25(1)(a) of the Political Parties Act from the financial year subsequent the effective date of the Act i.e. arrears from the 2012/13 financial year,” they ruled.
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Justice Erastus Githinji, however, differed with his colleagues arguing that ODM failed to lodge claims for the money in successive financial years.
“It is clear from the foregoing that the appellant and its Members of National Assembly had the opportunity in each of the five financial years to make a recommendation or even lobby for the appropriation of sufficient funds for the Political Parties Fund. The law serves the vigilant and acquiescence may amount to a waiver of statutory rights,” Justice Githinji stated.
Previously, the Raila-led party lost the case at the High Court after Justice Roslyn Aburili ruled that she could not force a payout since the party had never officially made a claim.
“The party waited for four financial years to demand the money, yet it had known that Parliament had not been allocating the correct figures,” Aburili ruled.
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