Registration of any association of persons or organization as a political party occurs upon application to the Registrar of Political Parties.

Major roles of political parties include: Enhancing democratic participation through political mobilization by encouraging the public to participate in elections; and formulating public policies, recruitment and selection of political leaders.

The Constitution and the PPA provides that a person disqualified from holding public office or belonging to another political party shall also not be a founding member of a political party.

Registration of a political party is a two-fold process which encompasses:

• Provisional registration
• Full registration

Provisional Registration

Application for provisional registration of a proposed political party, among others must be:

• in writing and signed by the applicants of whom not more than two-thirds shall be of the same gender;
• include signed minutes of the first meeting of the founding members of the political party; 
• set out the name of the party;
• include a request for the registration of the symbol and slogan of the political party;
• if the party wishes to use an abbreviation of its name, set out that abbreviation;
• be accompanied by a copy of the Constitution and rules of the proposed political party which shall comply with the provisions of section 9;
• be accompanied by a statement of the ideology of the proposed political party;
• presentation of party website and membership recruitment demonstration; and
• include an undertaking to be bound by this Act and the Code of Conduct set out in the First Schedule; and be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

List of provisionally registered parties

A party that has been provisionally registered must apply for full registration, within 180days from the date of provisional registration. A provisionally registered political party is qualified to be fully registered if meets conditions set in the Act

Full registration

Application for full registration of a proposed political party, among others must be:

• in writing and shall be signed by an authorized official of the political party
• it has recruited as members, not fewer than one thousand registered voters from each of more than half of the counties;
• the members referred to in paragraph (a) reflect regional and ethnic diversity, gender balance and representation of special interest groups;
• the composition of its governing body reflects regional and ethnic diversity, gender balance and representation of special interest groups;
• not more than two-thirds of the members of its governing body are of the same gender;
• it has demonstrated that members of its governing body meet the requirements of Chapter Six of the Constitution and the laws relating to ethics;
• it has submitted to the Registrar—
  • a list of the names, addresses and identification particulars of all its members;
  • the location of its head office, which shall be a registered office within Kenya and a postal address to which notices and other communication may be sent;
  • the location and addresses of the branch offices of the political party, which shall be in more than half of the counties;
  • the disaggregated data of its membership based on each of the components of the special interest groups; and
  • the address of the official website of the political party.
• include an undertaking to be bound by this Act and the Code of Conduct set out in the First Schedule; and be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

List of Fully registered parties

Read More: On Change of Names of Political Parties