MPs approve Anne Nderitu’s nomination as registrar of political parties

Anne Nderitu when she appeared before the Legal Affairs Committee of National Assembly on September 18, 2020. 

Photo credit: Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Ms Nderitu will serve for a non-renewable term of six years and will not be eligible for re-appointment.
  • Since the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties was formed in 2007, it has never had a substantive holder.

The National Assembly has approved the nomination of Anne Nderitu as Registrar of Political Parties.

Ms Nderitu will serve for a non-renewable term of six years and will not be eligible for re-appointment.

Since the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties was formed in 2007, it has never had a substantive holder.

Initially, the registrar of societies, then a department at the Attorney-General’s office, was in charge of registration of political parties after the advent of multiparty politics in 1991.

Ms Lucy Ndung’u served as the acting registrar from 2007 to 2018, when she was appointed a commissioner with the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) also known as Ombudsman.


She was succeeded by Ms Nderitu, the former Head of Electoral Training at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

According to the Sixth schedule of the Political Parties Act, the National Assembly has 21 days of receipt of the names to consider the suitability of the nominees and either approve or reject them.

According to the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, if the National Assembly fails to approve or reject the nominees within the 21-day timelines, the nominees shall stand approved for appointment by the President.

The submission of the names for vetting comes after President Kenyatta was put on the spot for delaying the process of appointing the registrars.

Public Service Commission (PSC) chairman Stephen Kirogo had previously told Nation that the commission had indeed forwarded the list to the president of the individuals deemed to have passed the interview in July.

He however, could not tell why the submission of the names to the National Assembly for vetting had been delayed. 

“We did everything we could as required by the law and submitted the names of the individuals to the appointing authority for action. The list also included how the interviewees performed,” Mr Kirogo told Nation on phone.