By Hope Nandwa
Nairobi Kenya, Monday September 26, 2016.
Office of the Registrar of Political Parties is holding a two day a consultative meeting with the members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Delegated Legislation to review the draft political parties regulations at Sarova White Sands Hotel in Mombasa.
The convention which runs from Monday (today) through Tuesday, aims at aligning the draft regulation on the political parties registration, funding and liaison committees to the recently amended Political Parties Act, 2011. The event is part of the preparation for the 2017 General Elections.
Other stakeholder in the meeting includes Kenya Law Reforms, and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Once finalized, the Select Committee will submit the documents to the National Assembly for approval.
Regulations complement the provision and implementation of the Political Parties Act.
Once the regulations are passed, the Registrar shall be responsible for all the functions necessary for the effective implementation of the Act on registration, regulation, funding, and the political parties liaison committees.
Regulation on registration provides for guidelines on the registration, political parties membership, coalitions and mergers respectively. This also addresses the provision on deeming of resignation of party members felt to have violated the law.
“Whenever the Registrar receives a complaint from any person requesting that a member of a political party be deemed to have resigned, the Registrar shall assess whether the complaint is justified or not,” States the Regulation.
On the Political Parties Liaison Committee, the regulations provides for the composition and functions of both National and County Committees. The law asserts that a representative of a political party can only be nominated to one level of the Committee.
It further provides that the term of office of all office bearers shall be three years, provided that no person shall hold office for more than two terms. Regulation on the political parties funds contains general guidelines on the management of the fund.