The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) has ordered the Registrar of Political Parties to reserve the name Linda Mwananchi Movement within seven days, handing Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna’s political camp a legal victory in its dispute over the name.
The ruling followed a case filed by Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, former Law Society of Kenya president Faith Odhiambo and political activist Pauline Njoroge, who identify themselves as founders of the Linda Mwananchi Movement. They had challenged the Registrar’s August 7, decision declining to reserve the name and its proposed abbreviation, LMM.
The Tribunal set aside the Registrar’s decision, finding that the refusal to reserve the name was without legal justification and amounted to a denial of the applicants’ right to form or participate in the formation of a political party.
Tribunal's ruling on name reservation
“The decision by the Registrar declining to reserve the name Linda Mwananchi is hereby set aside,” the Tribunal ordered.
The Registrar was consequently directed to proceed with reservation of the Linda Mwananchi Movement name within seven days of the decision.
The dispute had centred on the competing political identity claimed by Liberty National Democratic Alliance (LINDA), commonly known as Linda Party. The Tribunal found that LINDA was not a fully registered political party and therefore lacked the legal capacity to sue, be sued or participate in proceedings in its own name.
Background of the dispute
The Tribunal consequently struck out all pleadings filed by LINDA as an interested party, holding that it lacked the requisite legal capacity to participate in the proceedings.
The case dates back to June 4, when the applicants applied to reserve Linda Mwananchi Movement. The Registrar initially declined the application on June 11, citing public interest, before issuing another decision on August 7 that referred to the existence of LINDA. The applicants subsequently challenged the decision before the Tribunal.
The dispute also involved questions over whether the two names could cause confusion and whether LINDA had the legal status required to challenge the proposed reservation. Earlier interim orders had allowed both sides to pursue aspects of their registration processes pending determination of the dispute.
Implications of the decision
While the Tribunal granted the applicants’ request to set aside the Registrar’s decision and ordered reservation of Linda Mwananchi within seven days, it declined all the other prayers sought in the application.
The ruling now requires the Registrar to act within the stipulated period, paving the way for the Linda Mwananchi Movement to secure formal reservation of its proposed political party name.
