Three more political parties have been issued with provisional certificates by the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP).
The parties—Future Party (TFP), Kenya Great Party (KGP), and United Super Alliance Party (USAP) received the certificates after a rigorous evaluation of their applications in line with legal requirements.
This brings to 29 the number of parties holding provisional certificates pending full registration as of December 31, 2024.
The newly registered parties are required to apply for full registration within 180 days from the date of their provisional approval.
The Assistant Registrar, in a briefing session, advised the party officials present to acquaint themselves with the applicable legal provisions.
She called on them to strictly adhere to approved party instruments and documents, including members’ recruitment plans (seeking necessary consent), and ensure representation of demographics and their distribution across the country to sustain their parties as they seek the next phase of full registration.
“The phase of full registration is even more demanding. I encourage you to get out of your way to market and convince potential members to your parties as part of the requirements for full registration. You must also establish functional party offices across the counties in appropriate locations that best serve Kenyans,” said Agatha Wahome.
The party officials on their various dockets. The issues briefed on related to registration, compliance, ORPP automated services, records management, and communication, among others
Key processes before the party’s provisional certification that the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties assesses with other bodies include approval of party particulars, party documentation (constitution, minutes of founding members, ideology/manifesto), publication of notices, presentation of website, membership recruitment plans, and payment of applicable fees.
Kenya so far has 91 fully registered political parties.
Explainer: What full registration entails
Full registration of a political party in Kenya requires submitting a written application to the Registrar of Political Parties within 180 days of provisional registration. The party must have a constitution compliant with Section 9, a nationwide office presence, and a diverse membership of at least 1,000 registered voters from over half of the 47 counties. More than 20 have not applied.
Application for full registration of a proposed political party, among others must be:
- In writing and shall be signed by an authorized official of the political party
- It has recruited as members, not fewer than one thousand registered voters from each of more than half of the counties;
- The members referred to in paragraph (a) reflect regional and ethnic diversity, gender balance and representation of special interest groups;
- The composition of its governing body reflects regional and ethnic diversity, gender balance and representation of special interest groups;
- Not more than two-thirds of the members of its governing body are of the same gender;
- It has demonstrated that members of its governing body meet the requirements of Chapter Six of the Constitution and the laws relating to ethics;
- It has submitted to the Registrar—
- a list of the names, addresses and identification particulars of all its members;
- the location of its head office, which shall be a registered office within Kenya and a postal address to which notices and other communication may be sent;
- the location and addresses of the branch offices of the political party, which shall be in more than half of the counties;
- the disaggregated data of its membership based on each of the components of the special interest groups; and
- the address of the official website of the political party.
- Include an undertaking to be bound by this Act and the Code of Conduct set out in the First Schedule; and be accompanied by the prescribed fee.
