ORPP opens new regional office in Machakos

The Registrar of Political Parties John Lorionokou speaking during the launch of the Regional office for Lower Eastern regions of Machakos Kitui and Makueni at Mutonguni building in Machakos town./KNA

The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties for Lower Eastern regions of Machakos, Kitui and Makueni has been officially opened at Mutonguni building in Machakos town to enhance access to services that promote accountable political parties and inclusive democratic participation.

During the launch, the Registrar of Political Parties John Lorionokou emphasised the importance of decentralising their services to counties and for the Lower Eastern region to enhance accessibility, compliance and democratic processes at grassroots level.

“This office is a hub and is closer to the people where we are free to channel our concerns, complaints, and the political parties represented in the three counties have an office they can reach faster compared to Nairobi,” added Lorionokou.

He said that Machakos was the 12th county they were launching an office in and disclosed plans to fully devolve their services to the 47 counties to bring services closer to the people in line with the constitution’s devolution principles.

“Every other county will have a representation of such an office so as to cater for all political parties,” said Lorionokou.

He highlighted the importance of collaboration and cooperation among stakeholders such as the ORPP, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, political party leaders and other stakeholders in the management of the upcoming 2027 general election.

He commended the IEBC for their cooperation and said they were actively working together in clearing of candidates for elections whether they are party members or independent candidates.

“As IEBC proceeds to register candidates for elections, we on our part are also working on having integrated systems that can work together to facilitate the process of validating membership of the party,” he said.

He lauded the introduction and use of ICT that has been integral in their work as it assists in record management, registration, membership verification while improving data accuracy. Lorionokou added that their presence on eCitizen is to provide critical and convenient access for Kenyans to manage their political party affiliation.

He affirmed that they have embraced the requirements of the office of the Data Protection Act by building trust through securing sensitive and personal data for party members by enforcing consent and confidentiality thus reducing risk of fraud.

Further, Lorionokou noted that for a party to register a member, their details have to be filled on the website or phone using their ID number and a message would be delivered asking if they were consenting to be registered as a member of a political party.

“Now it is no longer possible for a party to go to a shop and just generate a list. You have to speak to the person being registered. The registration process has made it difficult for parties to just publish people’s names without their consent,” he added.

Additionally, he disclosed that there are 90 registered political parties, two parties are in the process of exiting and 32 are on the waiting list to be fully onboarded as political parties.

He was accompanied by assistant registrars Agatha Wahome, Florence Birya, Lower Eastern regional coordinator Hope Nandwa, IEBC county elections manager Ms Nelly Illongo, and Machakos county assembly speaker Ann Kiusya, among others.