The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) has approved the reservation of the Linda Mwananchi Movement (LMM) name for 90 days, following a ruling by the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal.
Registrar of Political Parties and CEO J C Lorionokou communicated the decision in a letter dated October 1, 2026, addressed to Bansbury Associates Advocates LLP, the legal representatives of the applicants.
The move comes a day after the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal overturned the Registrar’s earlier decision to reject the reservation of the proposed party name and directed the office to reconsider the application.
In its judgment delivered on Wednesday, September 30, the Tribunal found that the Registrar had no legal basis for declining the reservation and ordered the office to act on the application within seven days.
“The decision by the Registrar declining to reserve the name Linda Mwananchi is hereby set aside,” the tribunal ordered.
The dispute arose after the Registrar declined an application to reserve Linda Mwananchi Movement and its abbreviation, LMM.
The applicants challenged the decision before the Tribunal, arguing that the Registrar had unlawfully blocked their efforts to reserve and register the proposed party name.
The Tribunal subsequently found that the refusal lacked legal justification and held that it had unjustifiably limited the applicants’ right to form or participate in forming a political party.
The case involved Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, Pauline Njoroge and former Law Society of Kenya president Faith Odhiambo, who identified themselves as founders of the proposed movement.
The dispute also involved Liberty National Democratic Alliance (LINDA), which had been cited in the earlier decision to reject the proposed name.
The Tribunal struck out pleadings filed by LINDA as an interested party after finding that it was not a fully registered political party and therefore lacked legal capacity to participate in the proceedings in its own name.
The ruling paved the way for the ORPP to act on the Linda Mwananchi Movement application, with the October 1 letter communicating the approval of the name reservation.