The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has gazetted new campaign financing regulations and spending limits as candidates intensify campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections, putting candidates, political parties, and their campaign teams under a new financial compliance framework.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

In a gazette notice dated Friday, August 7, IEBC placed the maximum expenditure for a presidential campaign at KSh6.11 billion.

According to the commission, the limits were established using a formula that takes into account population and geographical area, with population carrying a 70 per cent weight and land area 30 per cent.

The limits, published in a special Kenya Gazette dated August 7, 2026, cover presidential, county, National Assembly, and County Assembly contests, as well as political parties participating in the election.

📌 What You Need to Know

"IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by Article 88 (4) (i) of the Constitution of Kenya, section 4 (i) of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act, 2011, and sections 12, 18, and 19 of the Election Campaign Financing Act, 2013, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission gives notice and publishes the contributions and spending limits, including the total amount that a candidate or political party may receive and spend during the expenditure period and the formula and parameters used in determining the unit costs for the spending limits," IEBC stated in the notice.

Under the new framework, Political parties have been assigned a combined spending ceiling of Ksh24.45 billion.

Of this amount, Ksh16.13 billion is allocated to transportation, making it by far the largest spending category, while advertising and media have a ceiling of Ksh2.52 billion and election agents Ksh2.08 billion. Other authorised expenses include venues, publicity materials, campaign personnel, communication, security, accommodation, and administrative costs.

At the county level, the commission issued varying limits depending on the county. Nairobi city county, for instance, was granted the highest spending limit of Ksh181.31 million, followed by Turkana and Marsabit at Ksh 142.07 million and Ksh127.02 million, respectively. Lamu County, on the other hand, has the lowest spending capacity for county-level contests at Ksh28.69 million.

In the gazette notice, IEBC also imposed restrictions on campaign contributions, providing that a single source cannot contribute more than 20 per cent of the total contributions allowed under the respective schedules.

The commission warned that candidates or political party committees that exceed the prescribed spending limits and fail to report the breach commit an offence , with convictions attracting a fine of up to Ksh2 million, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke