There is an ongoing push to have parties in the Kenya Kwanza Coalition fold and form one entity.
This has generated mixed feelings with some for and others opposed to the idea.
Kenya currently has 101 political parties as per the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties. Most of these are only active at election time.
While multiple parties give voters a wider choice, briefcase parties are nothing but money-making ventures for individuals come elections.
Many revolve around individuals and are purely ethnic driven while others are registered by the 'system' for strategic reasons.
If the Political Parties Act were to be fully enforced, most parties would be delisted.
Registered parties are required to recruit not less than 1,000 registered voters from each of more than half of the counties as members of the party.
They must equally provide the location and addresses of the branch offices, which should be in more than half of the counties.
Most parties only manage the above mostly at election time through crooked means, but a post-election audit will show a different picture.
While we should not go back to the era of single-party dictatorship, the Office of Registrar of Political Parties needs to clear its cabinets of briefcase parties.
Quote of the Day: “Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.”
Henry Clay
The American politician, known as "the Great Compromiser", was born on April 12, 1777
