Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu has petitioned the leadership of political parties to transfer knowledge and good values to the younger generation to help strengthen democracy in the country.
The future of the parties and the country, she said was in the hands of the youth and called for their active engagement in the running and management of political parties.
Nderitu said intergenerational transfer of knowledge and values within the political parties was critical in shaping the future of the country.
She said the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties has rolled out capacity building programs for the parties adding that the youth must also benefit from the training as they prepare to take over the parties.
Her office, she said has decentralized its services by opening 12 regional offices through which political parties can benefit from the training opportunities.
The training which includes governance structures, good governance and fundraising for political parties, she said was critical to build capacity for the political parties and strengthen democracy.
The training, targets Party officials and members to help build strong political parties.
“All the training materials are available in our regional offices and any party that requires the training we are ready to bring our officers to train them for free,” she added.
She challenged Youth and Women leagues of all the political parties to transfer advantage of the training opportunities as they fight for their space in the political arena.
“My office is committed to the growth of political parties. That is why we have opened regional offices to bring our services closer to the people,” she said.
Through the capacity building programs, the Registrar of Political Parties Office, she said targets to put in place structures to build strong political parties based on ideologies.
“Most of our political parties don’t live up to the expectations of their ideologies as required by law. We want them to understand that a political party is not an institution you create and abandon. It has to be nurtured to grow and promote democracy in the country,” he said.
Speaking in Kisumu during the United Green Movement (UGM) party National Delegates Conference (NDC), Nderitu asked Kenyans to join political parties and play an active role in shaping the country’s future.
“The biggest challenge we have is that people join political parties expecting to be paid instead of them paying subscription fees to help grow the parties,” she said.
She lauded the UGM party whose ideology is based on environmental conservation for complying with the law.
“This party has membership in over 50 percent of the counties. In the 2022 General Election you fielded over 100 candidates and this is not a mean feat for a new party,” she said.
UGM Co-party leader Augustino Neto said the meeting approved new party members, discussed fundraising models, party logo, party manifesto, green politics, social justice and equality.
By Chris Mahandara
