Political Parties Scramble for Registration as Opposition Gears Up to Challenge Ruto in 2027

Ryan Kilel Wednesday, February 05, 2025

Photo used for illustration

A wave of political party registrations is taking place as different factions get ready to run against President William Ruto in the next general elections.

Since the last elections, hundreds of requests for name reservations have been sent to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP); forty-two names were reserved between November of last year and January of this year alone.

Registrar Anne Nderitu confirmed that while many have expressed interest, only a few have completed the rigorous registration process.

“From 2022, those (requests) are many. They are in their hundreds but we don’t know who is serious about proceeding with the process of registration,” Nderitu stated.

Between December and January, 45 applications for registration were reviewed, and seven parties received provisional certificates.

These include The We Alliance Party (TWAP), Peoples Forum for Rebuilding Democracy (PFRD), Imarisha Uchumi Party (IUP), and African Development Congress (ADC).

Others are Kenya Ahadi Party (KAP), Democracy for the Citizen Party (DCP), and National Economic Development Party (NEDP).

ORPP Chair Anne Nderitu (Center)

Among them, only TWAP and DCP have applied for full registration.

NEDP, where former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko’s aide Benard Mulwa serves as secretary general, received its provisional certificate last week.

Nderitu attributed delays in full registration to stringent requirements, including the recruitment of at least 24,000 registered voters from at least half of Kenya’s counties.

A new system, the Integrated Political Parties Management System, now requires individuals to verify their registration via SMS, eliminating past fraudulent practices.

Currently, Kenya has over a hundred fully registered political parties, including the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party.

The forty-two newly reserved names include Freedom and Opportunity Party (FOP), Solidarity for Change (SFC), Party for Economic Recovery (PER), and the Grand Political Movement (GRAM).