Passaris moves to High Court as Political Parties Tribunal appeal falls through

Businesswoman Esther Passaris has now moved to the High Court to compel the Registrar of Political Parties to register her Harambee Democratic Party.

Passaris had earlier appealed for the reversal of Political Parties Registrar Lucy Ndung’u ruling at the Political Parties Tribunal – an appeal that was rejected by the tribunal.

In a letter dated 10th June, the registrar had declined to register the name saying it could not be reserved for use by a political party as it did not comply with the Political Parties Act and Article 91 of the Constitution.

It is, however, unclear how the proposed Harambee Democratic Party name was not in compliance with the Political Parties Act and the Constitution as not further explanation was provided.

Following the rejection of her application, Passaris moved to court seeking orders to have Ndungu register the party arguing that the proposed name “is not an improper use of the word Harambee and is not prohibited under the provisions of Section 3 of the National Flag, Emblems and Names Act.”

Passaris, through her lawyer Maobe Maotsetung, claimed that there are several parties that been registered under the same Harambee name, adding that Ndungu’s rejection has no legal basis.