Lawyer Donald Kipkorir has questioned the growing number of political parties being registered ahead of Kenya’s 2027 General Election, alleging that some may be created to take advantage of popular political movements and slogans.
Kipkorir argued that the trend has been present in Kenya since the country embraced multiparty politics in 1992, with individuals allegedly creating parties around emerging political ideas before eventually transferring or selling them to political actors.
“Since Kenya became multiparty in 1992, political fraudsters have developed cottage industry of registering political parties that reflect the trending catchy phrases or developing name of a movement,” Kipkorir said.
He claimed that some of the individuals involved in registering such parties eventually disappear from the political scene after benefiting financially from the entities.
“Then for a price, sell the Parties to the real owners. Then we don’t hear of these political traders again. It is like they disappear to the night!” he added.
Kipkorir's remarks come as political activity intensifies ahead of the 2027 elections, with several new parties seeking provisional registration. The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) provisionally registered eight parties in July, while two more, the Movement United for Super Action and Co-operators Development Party, were provisionally registered in September.
The ORPP says political party registration is a two-stage process involving provisional and full registration. Applicants must meet requirements covering founding members, party constitutions, ideology, symbols, slogans and other documentation before provisional registration.
For full registration, parties must recruit at least 1,000 registered voters from more than half of Kenya’s counties while demonstrating regional and ethnic diversity, gender balance and representation of special interest groups.
Kipkorir, however, questioned whether the current registration framework does enough to prevent political parties from being created primarily for commercial or strategic purposes.
“Registrar of Political Parties has enabled & grown this whoring by letting unknown charlatans register parties,” he said.
He further questioned whether the public should have greater involvement before a proposed party is registered, particularly where its name resembles an existing political movement or is associated with a prominent political figure.
“Shouldn’t there be a minimum requirements for one to register a party? Shouldn’t the Registrar notify the public & invite objections to an intended registration?” he posed.
Kipkorir also called for greater scrutiny of proposed party names, arguing that people publicly associated with a particular movement should be informed where their names or political identities could potentially be adopted by a new party.