Registrar of Political Parties/CEO

Ann N. Nderitu, CBS

Ann Nderitu is the Registrar of Political Parties in Kenya. She is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Accounting Officer of the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP). The Registrar is responsible for strategic and visionary leadership for effective implementation of ORPP’s mandate of registration, regulation of political parties and Administration of Political Parties Fund. Since 2018 at which she assumed ORPP apex leadership, she has been instrumental in streamlining registration and compliance of political parties; forging strategic partnerships and collaborations; reengineering internal processes including customer service delivery models, digitalisation of all critical services and spearheaded establishment of innovative and creative human capital.

Ms. Nderitu is a seasoned public service professional with specialisation in Public Administration; Elections Management, Governance and Education. She has a vast experience spanning over 22 years in her forte with accomplished assignments locally, regionally and internationally. In varied public and cross-sector portfolios held, she has a demonstrable proven track record. The Registrar holds a Master’s Degree in Linguistics, Bachelor of Education (English and Literature) from The University of Nairobi; Diploma in Public Administration (Israel); Diploma in Project Management, Human Resource, Corporate Governance, Transformative Leadership among other professional certification.

She is a Certified BRIDGE Accrediting Facilitator who is internationally recognised for running numerous electoral training programmes and elections observation programmes across the globe; a credential that qualifies her among the few Election Management and Electoral Training Experts in African continent and beyond. She has been a team leader in writing and publishing over 15 manuals and training guides of election and political processes in Kenya.

Ann Nderitu is also a holder of Presidential Awards – Moran of Burning Spear (MBS) and Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS) as recognition of the intense contribution to promotion of good governance. She firmly believes in justice and fairness and a keen advocate for upholding the principles of good governance. She is also zealous on shaping corporate entities to be responsive to the stakeholders’ needs and aspirations of all Kenyans through positions held in trust.

Besides being a corporate leader, she is also passionate about empowering women and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in general especially in the grassroots. She has successfully steered empowerment and mentorship programmes across the country, with many young girls and aspiring women leaders having been moulded through her impactful initiatives.

Assistant Registrar – Regulation and Compliance

CHRP. Ali Abdullahi Surraw, MKIM

Mr. Ali Surraw is presently the Assistant Registrar in charge of Regulation, Compliance and Capacity Building of Political Parties Directorate. He is responsible for giving policy direction as well as providing strategic leadership and supervising the technical functions of the directorate for effective implementation of the office mandate.

Mr. Ali is a public policy and governance expert. He has offered consultancy services to both county and national government agencies in the areas of policy development, public participation, public finance, strategy development and ethical leadership. He holds a Masters degree in Public Administration with a specialization in public policy analysis. He has also undertaken courses in public finance, strategic management and organizational development. Mr. Ali is a member of good standing with the Institute of Human Resource Management of Kenya(IHRM), The Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) and Institute of County Managers’ Association-America (ICMA).

He previously worked as a manager with National Social Security Fund and later with Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission as an Elections Coordinator. Thereafter, he worked as a County Executive Committee Member for Finance and Economic Planning in Isiolo County Government. Mr Ali also served as the Executive Director for Devolution Research and Policy Centre, an organization that is involved in improving public policy making for realization of national development goals by developing capacities in public policy research as well as providing advisory and technical services on public policy issues.

His focus is on improving the credibility, effectiveness and delivery capacity of political parties. He is committed in guiding political parties to improve their internal operations so as to build public trust in them as a vehicle for representation and governance. Only by having the capacity to look ahead and anticipate developments can political parties prepare themselves adequately for new societal demands and democratic changes. In order for parties to be successful in a constantly changing political environment, focus, determination and adaptive institutional capacity are required.

Assistant Registrar – Registration and Field Services Coordination

CPA Florence Birya

CPA Florence Birya is a qualified Accountant and a Management professional with vast experience in various functional and policy areas in the public sector. She holds a Master in Business Administration Finance Major and Bachelor’s Degree Finance Major from the University of Nairobi. She is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya – CPA (K), a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants Kenya (ICPAK) and is currently the ICPAK Coast Branch Chairperson and a member of the Devolution Committee of the ICPAK Council.

CPA Birya has held various senior management positions in the Kenya Public Sector including Finance & Administration Director, County Director of Treasury, Finance Manager, Grants Manager and Senior Accountant among others. She is an abridged trained trainer and passionately participates a lot in civic education, women empowerment, youth mentorship and church ministry. She has attained numerous outstanding achievements both in employment, professional appointments and community probona services.