The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal has certified as urgent a case challenging the Registrar of Political Parties’ decision to reject the reservation of the name “LINDA MWANANCHI MOVEMENT” as a political party.
The Tribunal, chaired by Innocent Muganda, directed that the matter be dealt with on an expedited basis and ordered the Registrar of Political Parties to respond to the application. The case has been filed by applicants including Pauline Njoki Njoroge, Faith Odhiambo and Michael Caroli Omondi, who are seeking to secure the name Linda Mwananchi Movement (LMM) for purposes of registering a political party.
According to the applicants, they applied to the Registrar on June 4, 2026, seeking reservation of the name but the request was initially rejected on grounds of “public interest.” They claim that following a meeting held on August 4, 2026, the Registrar agreed to reserve the proposed name, only to reverse the decision three days later. The applicants say they were subsequently informed that the name could not be reserved because another entity, Liberty National Democratic Alliance, had been registered using the acronym LINDA.
They have now moved to the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal seeking orders to stop the Registrar from considering, processing, reserving or registering the name “LINDA”, “LINDA MWANANCHI” or any similar variation in favour of another person or entity while their dispute remains pending.
They argue that the Registrar’s decisions are contradictory and risk undermining their political rights guaranteed under Article 38 of the Constitution. The applicants have also cited the growth of their movement as part of their case, claiming that their digital platform operating under the Linda Mwananchi Movement name had attracted 55,592 self-subscribed members and more than 13,232 volunteers as of August 13, 2026.
Following the filing of the case, the Tribunal certified the application as urgent and directed the Registrar of Political Parties to file and serve a response by August 24, 2026.
The applicants have until 11am on August 25 to file and serve any supplementary affidavit.
The dispute is scheduled for an inter partes hearing on August 25, 2026, at 2:30pm.
