NAIROBI, Kenya — Efforts by the Linda Mwananchi movement associated with Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna to register as a political party have hit a fresh hurdle after a rival outfit emerged claiming rights to the name and similar colours.
The new group, calling itself the Liberty National Democratic Alliance (LINDA) Party, says it has a prior claim to the identity and wants the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) to recognise its application as it seeks full registration.
The development comes a day after leaders of the Linda Mwananchi movement visited the ORPP headquarters in Nairobi to push for the registration of their proposed party, accusing the Registrar of delaying the process despite months of engagement.
The movement has maintained that it submitted its application earlier and has vowed to pursue legal avenues to secure registration.
However, the emergence of the LINDA Party has introduced uncertainty over the use of the name and abbreviation, with the competing claims likely to require determination by the political parties regulator.
Speaking outside the ORPP headquarters after submitting party documents, LINDA Party founder and leader Phenasio Thuku said the registration process began in 2024 and had already reached an advanced stage.
“The LINDA Party, which stands for Liberty National Democratic Alliance, was founded back in 2024. That was a long time ago, and now we are here. We have been approved,” Thuku said.
He said the proposed party’s name, manifesto, ideology, constitution and nomination rules had already received approval as part of the registration process.
“Our name has been approved. Our manifesto and ideology have been approved. Our party constitution has also been approved, as well as our nomination rules. So we are on the right path to being fully registered by the ORPP as the new young political party to be formed,” he said.
Thuku announced the party’s slogan as “Linda Kenya, Linda Maisha Kenya”, saying the outfit would focus on protecting Kenya’s sovereignty, constitutionalism, human rights, liberty and the rule of law.
He said the party would formally launch soon and continue engaging the public through media briefings.
“I’m happy, and I’m glad to inform the people of Kenya that the LINDA Party will be launching very soon,” Thuku said.
Thuku also rejected claims that the party had been created to frustrate the Linda Mwananchi movement’s registration efforts.
He said the LINDA Party was an independent political initiative that predates the current dispute and denied allegations that it was sponsored by another political formation.
“This is no one’s project. It is my own project,” he said.
He further sought to distance his party from the Linda Mwananchi movement, insisting that his organisation was the legitimate claimant to the LINDA identity.
“This party is not connected to any other Linda movement. We are the legitimate founders of the LINDA Party,” Thuku said.
The dispute follows growing efforts by the Linda Mwananchi movement to transform itself into a registered political party ahead of the 2027 General Election.
During its visit to the ORPP on Tuesday, the movement accused unnamed individuals of attempting to register a political party using a similar name and colours, warning that the development could confuse supporters and undermine its political identity.
The competing claims could now place the ORPP at the centre of a dispute over the proposed party’s name, symbols and other identifying features.
Under Kenya’s Political Parties Act, the Registrar is required to examine proposed party names, symbols, constitutions and other registration documents before granting provisional or full registration.
The law also provides mechanisms for objections where a proposed party’s name, symbol or other identifying features are sufficiently similar to those of an existing or proposed party to cause confusion.
The regulator will therefore have to consider the competing applications and determine whether the similarities between the two political formations meet the legal threshold for objection.
The dispute comes as political activity intensifies ahead of the 2027 elections, with new political formations seeking to secure their identities and establish nationwide support before the election cycle gathers further momentum.
