By William Madouk
Political Parties Council stood firm in affirming the controversial registration fees, which were capped at $50,000 and had been nullified by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ruben Madol.
On Tuesday this week, Justice Madol faulted the Political Parties Council for capping a registration fee for political parties without using the right legal channel.
This came after around 14 political parties wrote a letter of “intent to sue” the PPC over what they term exorbitant registration through an advocate, Gabriel Kuot, who served a petition to Madol asking him to have fees trashed.
In response to the political parties’ outcry, Madol stated in a statement that the exorbitant fee is not in line with the agreement, especially when the acts are yet to be amended.
“The decision in question is null and void as it was based on regulations under amendment and not signed into regulations as required under Section 18(e) of the Political Parties Act 2012 as amended,” Justice Ruben stated.
According to him, the decision was based on political parties’ council regulations from 2015 and nothing else, as the law does not apply.
In a quick rejoinder, the Chairperson of the Political Parties’ Council (PPC), James Akol Zakayo, told journalists that PPC has yet to receive official communication from the Ministry of Justice.
“But if there are misunderstandings between the two institutions, they can be addressed between the two institutions. We shall seek an opportunity to realign in that matter,” Zakayo said yesterday.
He lamented that the political parties’ registration fees, which amount to $50,000, were not a one-man decision but a regulation passed by the council on January 23, 2024.
“We have the regulation that was adopted on January 23, and that is the basis on which we announced the registration,” the boss of PPC noted.
“So, we have the amended regulation 2024; whoever told you that we don’t have the regulation is wrong; you need to cross-check your information,” he added.
Mr. Zakayo disclosed that the council will sit with the Ministry of Justice to realign the matter, but he insisted that the prescribed political parties’ registration fees won’t change.
“We shall sit with the Ministry of Justice and try to figure out whether there was a misunderstanding, and maybe we shall realign with the Ministry of Justice. But we’re not going to change what is in the regulation,” he stated.
“The Ministry of Justice should have advised us; he is an advisor to the government, not to the private sector. So, if there is something of this kind, we shall sit down and maybe find a solution to it” he added.