ABDULLAHI: Political parties maturing and progressing, not failing

Public commentary on Kenya’s political parties often swings toward pessimism. A recent article painted parties as ethnic vehicles operating outside their constitutions, incapable of internal democracy and unwilling to comply with the law.

That narrative may sound convincing if we focus only on noisy political quarrels. But the real institutional picture tells a different story, one of gradual and measurable reform across internal democracy, financial reporting, compliance and enforcement. It is a story of a sector that is maturing. Not perfectly and not in a straight line, but steadily.

Internal democracy stronger

Critics often claim internal democracy has collapsed. In reality, the opposite is true. Kenya’s political parties today have formal structures that were almost unthinkable two decades ago.

Almost every registered party has an Independent Elections Board responsible for planning, supervising and managing primaries and internal elections.

These boards work under published rules filed with the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties and are required to uphold transparency and party constitutions.

Alongside these boards, every political party must maintain Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanisms. These committees handle disputes over nominations, membership, disciplinary issues and leadership transitions.

The law requires party members to exhaust these internal mechanisms before approaching the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal and in recent cycles, hundreds of disputes were resolved internally. A system with disputes is not a system in crisis, it is a system using its own institutions to manage inevitable political friction.

This is how healthy democracies work. In the United Kingdom, Labour and the Conservatives run detailed internal election systems. In the United States, Democrats and Republicans have their own elaborate nomination procedures that vary state by state. Disputes are normal everywhere. What matters is having systems to manage them. Kenya has those systems and they work.

Constitutions and vacancies
A common claim is that parties ignore their constitutions when filling vacant posts. The reality is more layered and frankly, more responsible than the critics suggest.

Most political parties today are institutionalised in ways we didn’t see 20 years ago. They have written constitutions, clear governance structures and defined chains of responsibility.

Though the structures vary by party, the architecture is broadly similar: at the top sits the National Delegates Congress (NDC); beneath it is the National Governing Council (NGC); and below that the National Executive Committee (NEC). Each organ has a specific mandate set out in the party constitution.

Because the NDC is a large body that meets infrequently, most party constitutions legally empower the NEC or NGC to act on behalf of the NDC when urgent decisions are required, including filling leadership vacancies in an acting capacity. This isn’t a loophole or a power grab. It is a deliberate stopgap designed to keep the party running until the next NDC convenes. Almost every political party constitution spells this out.

Problems only emerge when parties delay NDC meetings for too long or when decisions are not communicated clearly. Then, accusations of manipulation gain traction. The point, however, is that governance structures do exist and most parties use them. The challenge going forward is
consistency, documentation and a culture of predictable implementation.

‘Ethnic party’ myth
Another persistent critique is that Kenyan political parties are nothing more than ethnic outfits. This claim ignores both global political trends and Kenya’s legal reality.

First, regional strongholds exist everywhere. In the United States, entire states have remained predictably red or blue for decades. Germany’s Christian Social Union (CSU) is overwhelmingly Bavarian.

India’s national parties rely on long-established regional bases. The United Kingdom has had Labour-leaning cities and Conservative-leaning countryside for generations. Kenya’s regional voting patterns fit this global pattern. Identity, history, economic structure and political culture always shape geography. That doesn’t turn parties into illicit ethnic clubs.

Second, Kenya has some of the toughest political party registration requirements on the continent anchored in Article 91 of the constitution and Section 7 of the Political Parties Act (PPA) that is religiously enforced by ORPP.

To be fully registered, a party must: demonstrate national character, recruit members in at least 24 counties, ensure gender, youth and disability representation, renounce violence, maintain functional governing organs and offices, file a constitution, maintain verifiable membership registers and present leadership that reflects national diversity.

Most proposed parties never make it past provisional registration because the bar is intentionally high. Those that succeed are required to maintain compliance throughout their existence, not just at registration. These are not the hallmarks of ‘ethnic’ parties. They are hallmarks of a system deliberately designed to prevent ethnic capture.

Toward issue-based politics

Despite our noisy public debates, Kenya is slowly shifting from personality-based politics toward more ideological and issue-oriented competition. More parties are framing their identity around policy themes such as economic justice, social welfare, governance reform, climate resilience, digital innovation and youth empowerment.

Coalitions increasingly negotiate policy platforms, not just individual power arrangements. No country develops ideological parties overnight. Even the world’s oldest democracies took decades. But the early markers are visible in Kenya and they’re growing stronger.

Better financial reporting

Before 2011, financial reporting by political parties was practically non-existent. Today, the evolution is dramatic. All political parties that receive public money are required to submit audited financial statements every year and the results from the most recent cycle of audit by the Auditor General tell a pretty encouraging story.

Forty-eight parties received public funds and out of these, more than twenty-one earned unqualified audit opinions, which is basically the auditor’s cleanest bill of health. The rest had only minor procedural issues like a late document here or a mislabelled item there; the sort of “other matters” auditors flag not because money is missing, but because paperwork needs tidying up.

What didn’t show up is just as important. There was no misappropriation of funds, no illegal financing and no foreign money sneaking in from prohibited sources.

For a sector that was once barely regulated, this level of financial discipline is unusual, even compared to many public institutions with far more mature administrative systems. The turnaround didn’t occur by accident. It’s the result of the ORPP setting clear rules, enforcing them consistently, training party officials, modernising compliance tools and insisting on mandatory annual audits.

Enforcement bites

Enforcement of political party regulations has become more robust and effective, challenging the notion that parties face no consequences for breaking the law. In recent years, five political parties have been suspended and denied several rights, including access to the Political Parties Fund, due to non-compliance. Several others are currently under active review and face the risk of deregistration.

The Registrar of Political Parties carries out annual compliance audits, inspects offices, verifies membership records and reviews leadership structures. Coalition agreements now must be filed formally, with walk-outs lacking legal documentation no longer accepted.

These enforcement measures consistently prompt parties to reform: updating registers, convening meetings, correcting leadership filings and addressing documentation issues. The impact is clear: enforcement is real and it is working.

Complying with Constitution, PPA

Today’s political parties function under one of the region’s strictest regulatory frameworks. They are required to maintain continuous compliance with multiple layers of law and regulation, including Article 91 of the constitution, the Political Parties Act, their own constitutions and the Political Parties Code of Conduct.

They must comply with coalition regulations, financial reporting rules and operational requirements such as functional offices, governing organs, internal dispute resolution mechanisms, NEC meetings, minutes and membership records. This represents a dramatic shift from the pre-2010 era, when most parties existed only on paper and became visible only during election season.

Public scrutiny healthy and welcome

The author of the recent op-ed argued that political parties need more scrutiny. On this, we
wholeheartedly agree. Public oversight strengthens compliance, exposes weaknesses and keeps all actors accountable. ORPP has always treated scrutiny as a democratic partner, not a threat. What we challenge is the use of isolated incidents to make sweeping claims that erase the substantial progress made. Criticism is welcome. But it must be grounded in facts, not outdated assumptions.

System growing up
Kenya’s political parties are far from perfect and no regulator would claim otherwise. Yet, over the past decade, they have become significantly more structured, compliant, transparent and institutionally grounded.

Today, we see stronger internal democracy, functioning election boards and IDRM committees, clean financial audits, rising compliance, firm enforcement, transparent coalition arrangements and the beginnings of ideological development.

Reform is not a single event but a continuous journey and Kenya’s parties are moving steadily along that path. The Registrar of Political Parties will continue to support this growth through fair enforcement, capacity building and guidance. The message is clear: Kenya’s party system is maturing, not collapsing and acknowledging this progress is essential to building a stronger, more resilient political landscape.