Registrar denies State influence in the Linda dispute

The Registrar of Political Parties John Cox Lorionokou during an interview with The Standard on October 6, 2026. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

The Registrar of Political Parties, John Cox Lorionokou, has denied being a State puppet in the execution of his duties, saying he is guided by the Constitution and the Political Parties Act.

In an interview with The Standard, Lorionokou struggled to explain why his office rejected the reservation of the Linda Mwananchi movement associated with Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, only to be compelled by the court to rescind the decision.

He said his office had declined to reserve the name because another party had reserved a name with the acronym LINDA. “The registrar can reject the name of a political party if it resembles the name of another party or the slogan appears like that of another party. That is what informed my decision to decline to reserve the Linda Mwananchi name.”

He also faced questions about why previous registrars had not objected to multiple political parties using the word “democratic,” yet his office had raised concerns over Linda Mwananchi.

Lorionokou said party registration begins with name reservation. An interested Kenyan can apply online or physically, after which his office verifies the information against its database. If the Registrar determines a proposed name does not contravene the law, it is reserved for 90 days, after which it becomes available to others.

“I would like to inform Kenyans that my office does not take instructions from elsewhere in the performance of its work. We are guided by the Constitution and the Political Parties Act. In the case of Linda Mwananchi, there was already another party  with the initials LINDA reserved,” he said.

Lorionokou said there were 91 registered parties when he assumed office last year, but 10 more had since been registered, bringing the number to 101. He said the registrations had been conducted without external interference.

He added that decisions by his office could be challenged before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal and the courts, whose decisions the Registrar said his office respected.

Lorionokou said his office was open to public scrutiny and that all Kenyans had a right to fair and unbiased service.

Sifuna said his team went to court to protect the Linda Mwananchi brand, rather than a particular political party. “We were not fighting for a party; we had several parties at our disposal. We were fighting for a brand.