The Linda Mwananchi Movement has cleared a major hurdle in its push to establish a political party after the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal overturned the Registrar of Political Parties’ decision to reject its proposed name.
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, September 30, the Tribunal ordered the Registrar to reserve the name Linda Mwananchi Movement within seven days, holding that the refusal had no legal justification.
The Tribunal said the decision had denied the applicants their right to form or participate in the formation of a political party.
“The decision by the Registrar declining to reserve the name Linda Mwananchi is hereby set aside,” the Tribunal ordered.
The case was filed by Caroli Omondi, Pauline Njoroge and Faith Odhiambo, who presented themselves as founders of the Linda Mwananchi Movement.
They had moved to the Tribunal after the Registrar declined their application to reserve both the name Linda Mwananchi Movement and its abbreviation, LLM.
The applicants sought an order compelling the Registrar to approve and reserve the name in their favour, arguing against the decision that had blocked the reservation.
The Tribunal has now directed the Registrar to proceed with the reservation within seven days from the date of the decision.
The proceedings also involved the Liberty National Democratic Alliance (LINDA), popularly known as Linda Party, which had been admitted into the case as an interested party.
However, the Tribunal found that LINDA was not a fully registered political party and therefore did not have the legal standing required to sue, be sued or participate in proceedings in its own name.
The Tribunal consequently struck out all pleadings that LINDA had filed as an interested party.
In its determination, the Tribunal stated that the interested party, being not a fully registered political party, lacked the requisite legal capacity to participate in the proceedings.
The ruling, however, did not grant every request made by the applicants. Apart from overturning the Registrar’s decision and directing the reservation of the Linda Mwananchi name, the Tribunal declined the remaining prayers sought in the case.
The order means the Registrar now has seven days to reserve the Linda Mwananchi Movement name following the Tribunal’s decision.