Win for Sifuna as Tribunal overturns Registrar's move to block Linda Mwananchi name

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna adresses a political rally in Kitengela. [Courtesy]

The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal has handed the Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna-linked Linda Mwananchi Movement a fresh chance to secure its preferred political identity after overturning the Registrar of Political Parties’ rejection of its name.

The Tribunal, chaired by Innocent Muganda, set aside the Registrar of Political Parties’ August 7, 2026 decision declining to reserve Linda Mwananchi Movement (LMM) and its variations.

The Tribunal directed the Registrar to reconsider the application for reservation of the name and abbreviation LMM in accordance with the law and its findings, and communicate its position within seven days.

The appeal was filed by Michael Caroli Omondi, Pauline Njoroge and Faith Odhiambo represented by lawyer Tony Odera, against the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties with Liberty National Democratic Alliance (LINDA) as the interested party.

Vice-chairperson Gad Gathu, who read the first issues of the judgment, struck out all pleadings filed by LINDA after finding that the entity had not completed registration and therefore lacked legal capacity to participate in proceedings in its own name.

The Tribunal found that LINDA’s reservation, made on November 15, 2024, had lapsed after the statutory 90-day period because no formal application for provisional registration had been made within the required period.

“The reservation of Liberty National Democratic Alliance Linda automatically lapsed by operation of law, and therefore no administrative act or decision by the registrar can breathe life into it,” the Tribunal held.

It further found that the Registrar could not revive the expired reservation through an administrative action.

The Tribunal also rejected the Registrar’s reliance on the similarity between LINDA and the proposed Linda Mwananchi names.

It noted that the names were plainly different, shared no common words and were “visually distinct, phonetically dissimilar or conceptually unrelated.”

The Tribunal chairperson Muganda said the Registrar had failed to explain the “public interest” considerations behind the initial rejection, holding that a decision based on undisclosed public interest considerations fell short of the constitutional requirement to give written reasons.

“The respondent's decision declining to reserve the names proposed by the appellants as conveyed in its letter dated 11 June 2026 and 7 August 2026 were not justified under Section 4B or Section 8 of the Political Parties Act and were therefore unlawful,” the Tribunal ruled.

The panel further found that the Registrar’s refusal was inconsistent with its previous practice of registering parties whose names contained similar words.

It held that the decision breached constitutional protections under Articles 27, 36, 38 and 47, including equality before the law and the right to fair administrative action.

The Tribunal consequently declared the August 7 decision without legal justification and ordered the Registrar to reconsider the Linda Mwananchi application.

“The decision of the respondent containing its letter dated 7 August 2026 declining to reserve the name Linda Mwananchi Movement in brackets LMM… was without legal justification,” the Tribunal stated.

The Tribunal declined the other prayers that had not specifically been granted and ordered each party to bear its own costs.

The ruling follows a dispute that began after the Registrar rejected the Linda Mwananchi application, initially citing public interest and later referring to the existence of LINDA.

The applicants had argued that the reversal threatened their constitutional political participation rights.