600 parties seek registrar’s approval ahead of ’22 polls
George Kebaso @Morarak
At least 600 outfits have applied for approval by the Office of Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) ahead of the 2022 General Election.
According to Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu, the applications were submitted to her office in the last one-month alone. “We have received a huge number of applications.
As of last month, statistics show that close to 600 applications were expecting to process as registration are pending,” Nderitu said.
With the clock fast ticking towards the 2022 poll amidst raging fallouts in the main political parties, individuals eying various seats or keen to play major roles in national politics are now caught up in a rush to register new outfits for possible alliances or sale.
However, Nderitu warned that her office would thoroughly apply the provisions of the Political Parties Act, 2011 that guides the process of registering parties.
She has since urged those planning to register parties to thoroughly study the Political Parties Act, to avoid being disappointed when they go for registration.
“Our call to people seeking to register political parties is to thoroughly study the Political Parties Act and follow the law.
This is because, sometimes processes are inhibited by people who are registering political parties thinking there can be a short cut to the process,” she said.
She added: “Therefore, we expect that the people who register a political party should have that in mind that the public has a way of wanting to know what is happening within a political party and then include the public within the governance.”
Parties are supposed to meet certain requirements for registration, they include; the party must have recruited not less than 1,000 registered voters as members in at least 24 counties; representation of ethnic gender and special interest groups among its members and in the governing body that meet the requirements of Chapter Six of the Constitution and the guidelines under the political parties code of conduct.
Parties are also required to have submitted the required records and particulars to the Registrar of Political Parties in the prescribed format.
They are also required to provide documentary evidence of institutional policies and manuals essential in running the day-to-day affairs of the parties.
Out of the verification exercise, a consolidated status report is developed by the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP), out of which, the Registrar determines whether or not the parties under scrutiny meet the stipulated legal threshold for full certification.
Inspect and verify
Currently, there are 71 fully registered and nine provisionally registered political parties.
The Service Party, which belongs to former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri and the National Ordinary People Empowerment Union Party are the recent parties to be registered.
Among those that had been provisionally registered by July are Party of Growth and Prosperity as well as the Entrust Pioneer Party, which were issued with Provisional Certificates on June 23 as well as National Reconstruction Alliance (NRA) and Umoja Summit Party.
Three weeks ago, the ORPP dispersed teams across the country to inspect and verify location and addresses of NRA and Umoja Summit Party’s heads and county offices. This is part of the registration process.
Accountability and Transparency Party, Democratic Renaissance, Party for Peace and Democracy, Msingi wa Taifa, Integrity Party of Kenya, Usawa Party Star Progressive, National Democratic Expansion Party, Chama Changamko Kenya and Mabadiliko Party of Kenya were being evaluated before being issued with Provisional Certificate of Registration.
Chief Justice David Maraga, while swearing her into office on Mondayy, urged Nderitu and other office holders to ensure formation of political parties is well regulated within the law.
“It is your duty also to ensure that these political entities respect their internal structures. To do this, however, you must be brave; firm and bearing in mind that we are entering a period of political intensity,” he advised.
The CJ also called upon the ORPP to help political parties to be institutionalised along strong political ideologies, so that they can be there for long and serve Kenyans. “You must take your role seriously,” he said.
