What It Takes to Register a Political Party in Kenya

Photo of Registrar of Political Parties Ms Ann Njeri Nderitu speaking during a meeting.
Undated Photo of Registrar of Political Parties Ms. Ann Njeri Nderitu speaking during a meeting.
Daily Nation

The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties issued a statement on July 8, highlighting the provisional registration requirements needed to register a political party.

As of May, 2021, there were a total of seventy-three fully registered political parties in Kenya. Section 34(e) of the Political Parties Act, 2011 obliges the Office of Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) to maintain a register of political parties and the symbols of political parties. 

The registration of a political party has two stages of registration which include the provisional registration stage before progressing to the full registration stage.  

For one to register their political party, an applicant organizes the first meeting comprising of founding members where they convene to formulate metadata for the proposed political party such as name, symbol, colour and party constitution.

Governors pictured during the Extra-ordinary Council meeting held on April 19, 2021.
Governors pictured during the Extra-ordinary Council meeting held on April 19, 2021.
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Once that is done, they are required to pay a fee of Ksh500 to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties to activate the name search option on the ORPP portal.

Thereafter, the applicant submits a written application and fills in the prescribed form.

The application must include signed minutes of the first meeting of the founding members of the political party and set out the name of the proposed political party. If the political party wishes to use an abbreviation of its name for the purposes of this Act one should set out that abbreviation.

The application must also be accompanied by a copy of the constitution of the proposed political party which shall comply with the law as well as include a request for the registration of the symbol of the political party.

It also requires to be bound by this Act and the Code of Conduct set out in the first schedule and be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

Following the application process, the registrar then examines the submitted provisional registration documents within a period of 30 days.

After that, the applicant receives a provisional registration certificate upon payment of Ksh100,000 in a prescribed mode of payment.

Once the political party is provisionally registered, the party must apply to the Registrar for full registration within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date of first registering the party.  

After submission of a written application signed by an authorized official of the party, it will be vetted under a set of conditions stipulated by the ORPP.

Photo of Representatives of the British High Commission discussing with the Registrar of Political Parties Ms Ann Njeri Nderitu taken on July 1, 2021, at the ORPP.
Photo of Representatives of the British High Commission discussing with the Registrar of Political Parties Ms Ann Njeri Nderitu taken on July 1, 2021, at the ORPP.
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