The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) on Monday trained political parties’ officials based in Uasin Gishu County for elections preparedness, empowering them on the regulatory framework governing political parties in Kenya, elections laws, and the electoral code of conduct.
Speaking during the training held at Rift Valley Technical Training Institute (RVTTI) in Eldoret, the Regional Coordinator, Office of the Registrar of Political Parties, in charge of the North Rift Region, Hassan Maloba, said the training is key because it will equip party officials with the knowledge they need in ensuring that they are leading political parties in their counties well.
“The training entails taking the officials through the registration process just to appreciate the journey that political parties move from the first step of name search and selection of particulars to the last stage of full registration,” he noted.
It also covers the compliance areas that ORPP looks at and expects political parties to abide by these compliance areas. Additionally, it shed light on the Political Parties Fund and the criteria that political parties are subjected to qualify for funding.
He further explained that they also look at the nomination procedures and criteria within political parties whereby they urge the participants and party officials to be privy to the rules of these parties and ensure that they are able to follow to the latter the rules and nominations procedures governing party nominations within the country.
The North Rift regional Coordinator, ORPP, emphasized the importance of inclusivity across all political parties, noting it’s a critical compliance area.
“It is expected that political parties are all inclusive. That includes youth, women, and people with disabilities. As witnessed today, the participants cut across; we have a representation of PWDs, youth, and women amongst the political party officials, which is a very good gesture in terms of compliance with the composition of party organs and leadership positions within political parties,” explained Maloba.
He highlighted that the ORPP is currently conducting the same trainings on electoral preparedness in 13 regions across the country, focusing on different groups. The first one on Monday targeted party officials; Tuesday’s session will bring in women leaders, followed by youth leaders on Wednesday, while Thursday and Friday sessions will feature PWDs and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), respectively.
IEBC Returning Officer for Kesses Constituency, Uasin Gishu, Mathew Kipchenger, commended ORPP for coming up with such an important session, noting it has come in handy to enable the Commission to carry out its mandate of civic education to political parties’ officials as it readies for the 2027 General Elections.
“They have raised quite a number of questions of what they require. We have informed them about the continuous voter registration going on in our offices. Previously, between March and April, we had enhanced further registration, which we did our best as Uasin Gishu and attained our target,” noted the IEBC Official.
He announced that they are now preparing for the next Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR2), which will come towards the end of the year. He urged all political parties and all interested stakeholders to assist IEBC in conveying information to the electorate, especially young Kenyans, to get IDs as early as possible to register as voters.
Kipchenger revealed that the Commission still has a target of 3.8 million new voters to be registered before the next election as he encouraged Kenyans, including politicians, civil society organizations (CSOs), and others who have not been previously registered as voters, to register as soon as possible so that they are not left out.
“We thank ORPP for giving us a link to talk to them. We have managed to talk to them about the electoral code of conduct, laws governing elections in Kenya, and many others, and I believe going forward, information will reach every other person,” Kipchenger said.
Uasin Gishu County Commissioner Dr. Eddyson Nyale, who officially opened the training, encouraged the political party officials to share and learn from each other during the event as he reminded them to embrace peace and unity as the country prepares for the next General Election.
The CC emphasized the key role played by political parties in Kenya in terms of promoting peaceful, credible, and inclusive elections, calling on the political party officials and members to take into consideration the lessons learnt in the training by ORPP.
By Ekuwam Sylvester
