Why there is need to democratise all parties

Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu has shed light on the massive following the organisations command countrywide. More than 80 of the parties have submitted their membership registers.

They boast a total membership of a whopping 24 million Kenyans.

As the August 9 General Election approaches, the registrar has told the parties to abide by the law and conduct their primaries on time. Of course, they play a pivotal role in the mobilisation of voters at the grassroots and the national political arena. They will pick the absolute majority of the candidates.

As has become evident, the parties demand free and fair elections at the county and national levels but are themselves often undemocratic and totalitarian.

The leaders and their cronies call the shots in the main parties. They end up usurping the right of individual Kenyans to freely choose their leaders.

This they do by imposing candidates on voters. The smaller parties are often briefcase outfits that serve the selfish interests of their owners. This is not how to promote democracy. 

The Constitution, by allowing independent candidates to vie for seats, handed a lifeline to aspirants who would have been locked out by the leaders and owners of political parties. But their impact on the political scene is minimal. 

Greater democratisation will only be realised by making the parties more transparent. The ORPP has a key role here as the regulator of the political parties.

Having received the party membership data, the registrar has promised that they are going to be properly scrutinised.

After all, there have been numerous complaints by people allegedly recruited into some parties without their knowledge or consent. 

As the organisations through which leaders are chosen and literally made, it is important that the parties practise what they preach. The parties must be efficiently managed and their internal democracy enhanced.