Court thwarts Passaris quest to register Harambee Democratic Party

The Court of Appeal has dismissed a case by Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris to register a political party.

The Registrar of Political Parties rejected the party name, Harambee Democratic Party, in 2016 because it bore the word ‘harambee,’ which is prohibited and does not comply with Article 91 of the Constitution.

Ms Passaris sought the intervention of the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal, which dismissed her appeal.

Dissatisfied, she moved to the High Court where Justice Lucy Njuguna concluded that the Registrar of Political Parties did not err in law by declining to reserve the party name.

The judge held that Section 8 of the Political Parties Act and Section 3 of the National Flag, Emblems and Names Act expressly prohibited the use of the word 'harambee' and that the appellant’s right and fundamental freedom to register a political party was limited expressly by those statutes.

She said the limitation was restricted only to the choice of name of the proposed party.

Passaris then moved to the Court of Appeal. According to her, the judge was in error for failing to set aside the tribunal's decision, which she argued violated her right to form and participate in a political party.

Tribunal's decision

Last Friday, Court of Appeal judges Asike Makhandia, W Ouko and PO Kiage agreed that the only question raised in the dispute was whether the tribunal's decision to reject the appellant’s application to have the name Harambee Democratic Party reserved was lawful.

The judges agreed with the tribunal, which said: “The respondent also argued that under Section 3 of the National Flag, Emblems and Names Act, the appellant could not use a name bearing the word 'harambee.' That section prohibits the use of any 'specified' names, likenesses and emblems.

"Specified names, in terms of Section 3 of the Act, include any of the names and words specified in Part II of the First Schedule to the Act, namely; the name of the President, the words 'Harambee', 'Jamhuri', 'Madaraka' and 'Nyayo'."