NAIROBI, Kenya – Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna’s plan to transform The Equitable Party (TEP) into the Linda Mwananchi Movement has encountered a fresh procedural challenge, with a parliamentary aspirant asking the Registrar of Political Parties to establish whether the proposed changes received the approval required under the party’s constitution.
Chepalungu parliamentary aspirant Ruto Festus filed an objection on Wednesday, October 21, questioning whether TEP’s National Delegates Conference (NDC) had endorsed the rebranding after the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) initiated the process.
Festus is not asking the Registrar to reject the Linda Mwananchi name outright. Instead, he wants the office to verify the party’s internal approval records before treating the proposed changes as final.
In his submission, Festus said the NEC resolved on October 8 to pursue the name change but questioned whether the decision had subsequently been approved by the delegates’ conference, as required by TEP’s constitution.
“I do not assert that no such meeting or approval exists; rather, I respectfully ask the Registrar to verify the position from the party’s official records,” he wrote.
Why the Delegates’ Conference Matters
Festus cited Article 10.3.1 of TEP’s constitution, which provides for proposals affecting the party’s name, symbol, colours and constitution to be presented to the NDC for approval.
His concern is whether the NEC’s October 8 resolution was sufficient to complete the rebranding or merely authorised the process to begin.
He has asked the Registrar to establish whether a delegates’ meeting was convened, whether the required quorum was met and whether the proposed changes received the necessary approval.
The objection therefore centres on the distinction between initiating a party amendment and securing the internal approval needed to finalise it.
Registrar Had Already Started the Gazette Process
The challenge comes after the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties confirmed that it had reviewed documents submitted by TEP in support of the proposed change.
In a letter dated October 13, Registrar John Lorionokou said the office had initiated the gazettement process under Section 20(1)(d) of the Political Parties Act.
The documents submitted by the party included the NEC resolution, notice and signed attendance list for its October 8 meeting, statutory Form PP.10 and evidence that the proposed name change had been published in the Daily Nation newspaper and on the party’s website.
The statutory process also requires the party to report public representations received after the prescribed period and explain how any objections have been addressed.
However, the Registrar’s earlier communication that the gazettement process had commenced did not, by itself, establish that every internal constitutional requirement had been satisfied.
Festus is asking the office to consider that question before treating the rebranding as final.
Sifuna’s Political Vehicle Ahead of 2027
TEP was unveiled on October 4, with Sifuna presented as its party leader and presidential candidate for the 2027 General Election.
The proposed rebranding would align the party’s official identity with the Linda Mwananchi Movement, a political platform associated with Sifuna and allies including Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and Siaya Senator James Orengo.
The party has sought to change not only its name but also its colours, symbol and constitution.
The latest objection adds to separate scrutiny of the proposed identity. The Liberty National Democratic Alliance (LINDA) has also challenged the name change, citing two unresolved matters before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal. That objection raises distinct concerns from Festus’s question about internal approval.
Festus has asked the Registrar to establish the facts from official records rather than assume that the required approval was either granted or withheld.
