The Kenya Human Rights Commission is taking legal action against the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and its officials for mismanaging public funds, breaking statutory and constitutional provisions, and failing to meet their tax obligations.

The Auditor General found that UDA paid over Sh128 million in net salaries but failed, on purpose and by neglect, to deduct and send Pay As You Earn (PAYE) taxes. This caused Sh69 million in unpaid taxes for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 financial years. 

UDA has received the most money from the Political Parties Fund. In the 2025-2026 financial year alone, it got over Sh789 million. The taxes we pay go into the Fund, which is then given to outfits like UDA to fill their troughs. So, it is our money being mismanaged and stolen. We have every reason to be enraged, demand accountability from UDA and its luminaries, and ensure that entities benefiting from public funds meet the highest standards of integrity and compliance.

UDA also failed to pay the withholding tax and the public procurement capacity-building levy, breaking the Public Finance Management Act. But Mr William Ruto’s party did more than evade taxes. It did not pay required contributions to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), putting its employees at risk of losing important social protection benefits. This clearly violates employees’ labour and social security rights.

Ironically, even though UDA strongly supports the housing project, it did not pay the housing levy for its employees. Clearly, the party does not believe in its own vision of affordable housing.

Specifically, these are some of the laws that Ruto’s UDA has broken and must be held accountable for:

  1. Section 37 (1) of the Income Tax Act, which requires an employer to deduct tax from an employee’s emoluments and account for the deductions.
  2. Section 4 of the Affordable Housing Act, 2024, which requires a mandatory 1.5 percent contribution from the gross salary of an employee, with a matching 1.5 percent contribution from the employer, totalling three percent.
  3. The National Social Security Fund Act, 2013, which establishes a two-tier contribution system with a standard contribution rate of six percent of pensionable earnings, split between the employee and employer.
  4. Paragraph 3(1) of the Public Procurement Capacity Building Levy Order, 2023, which requires a levy of 0.03 percent of the contract value to be withheld and remitted on all procurement contracts signed between a supplier and a procuring entity.
  5. Section 23(2)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, which requires Accounting Officers to comply with all tax laws provided for by legislation.

KHRC points out that failing to meet tax, statutory, and constitutional duties weakens support for socio-economic rights like education and health. These sectors already face funding gaps of Sh260 billion and Sh72 billion, respectively.

While KHRC is taking legal action, it also calls on oversight and enforcement agencies to act within their roles. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) must collect all unpaid taxes and penalties. The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) must review UDA’s compliance status and eligibility for continued access to public funding. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) must investigate the misuse of public resources. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), working with KRA and EACC, must prosecute UDA officials responsible for tax evasion.