By Faith Nyambeki
In Kenya almost everyone is a political analyst. Politics takes centre stage immediately after an election and continues to dominate banter on clubs, churches, homes, learning institutions and every other place with a gathering at the expense of development. The media has not helped matters by giving politics wide coverage, probably in response to their audience demands. Elective positions in Kenya pay very well compared to other countries. This is the reason why political parties with no clear manifestoes pop-up every other day, especially towards the elections. This writer takes you through the process of registering a political party in Kenya.
Application for registration
The first step is to make an application for registration to the Register of Political Parties. The process is split into two:
- Provisional registration
- Full registration
Provisional registration
Authorized interim officials of your proposed party make an application on forms provided by the Registrar. Below are the guidelines and format that apply to the provisional registration of political parties:
Name search-A name search to the submitted to the Registrar either in person or sent via registered post.
Reasons for your the name of your proposed political party not to be approved include:
- Obscene or offensive;
- excessively long;
- is the name, or is an abbreviation of another political party that is already registered;
- nearly resembles the name, or an abbreviation of the name of another political party already registered or any other legal entity registered under any other law.
Application for Provisional Registration
Once the name is approved, the applicant will submit an application in writing and signed by interim officials for provisional registration.
Documents/Information to Accompany Application for Provisional Registration:-
a) signed minutes of the first meeting of the founding members of the political party;
b) the name of the party;
c) abbreviation of the party’ s name (where it wishes to use an abbreviation of its name);
d) a copy of the Constitution of the proposed party;
(i) A copy of the party Constitution must be neatly typed/printed and contain specific provisions set out in the Second Schedule of the Political Parties Act, 2011 as required under section 9. 2
(ii) The Schedule specifies the information to be contained in the Constitution of the party and this includes, but is not limited to:
The vision, mission and guiding values and principles of the party;
Physical and postal address of the registered office of the party;
Organisational elections at different levels, mode of such elections and the periodicity of such elections;
Term of office of the office-bearers and powers and duties of the office-bearers of the party;
The various representative bodies of the party (such as Executive Committee and the National Delegates Conference);
The party nomination rules and regulations;
Procedure to be followed in the case of coalition and/or merger;
Dissolution of the party;
Amendment in Party Constitution;
Internal dispute mechanisms;
Disciplinary action against erring members of the party; and
Membership requirements of the party. There should not be any discrimination in the matter of membership
e) an undertaking to be bound by the Political Parties Act and the Code of Conduct set out in the First Schedule of the Political Parties Act and
f) A request for the registration of the symbol of the political party.
Certificate of Provisional Registration After the Registrar has verified that the party’s application for registration is complete, he or she will issue a certificate of provisional registration to the founding members within thirty days (30) of receipt of an application. If the party is not eligible for provisional registration, the Registrar will indicate which requirements have not been met. The information of the provisionally registered political party shall be entered in provisional register for record keeping.
Find All Details By Clicking On This Link: Process Of Registering A Political Party
