Former Machakos Senator and United Democratic Party chairman Johnson Muthama proposes that Kenya should have few but strong political parties.
Muthama wants existing parties merged to form three strong outfits ahead of the 2022 General Election.
Details on the Registrar of Political Parties website shows there are 83 registered parties.
Requests for 176 new applications were declined, while 21 applicants were given certificates of provisional registration pending further scrutiny.
If cleared, this will push the total number of registered parties to over 100. With 19.6 million voters as at the 2017 elections, Kenya has too many parties.
Ahead of the 2020 polls, Tanzania with 29.2 million voters had 22 registered parties. Still high but manageable.
Too many parties foment ethnicity with each tribe believing that it is their best bargaining chip.
The Political Parties Act clearly stipulates that for registration, a party must have a minimum of 1,000 members each in at least 24 counties and operational offices in the same number of counties.
Many parties only meet these conditions on paper and many steal voters personal data to beef up their numbers.
Offices are only set up to satisfy the application requirement but close barely two months after registration.
The Registrar of Political Parties must weed out briefcase parties.
As Muthama rightly puts it, parties should not be formed on the basis of tribes but ideologies.
