Registrar Initiates Gazette Process to Rename the Equitable Party to Linda Mwananchi Movement

The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties has begun the official gazettement of a name change that would convert The Equitable Party into the Linda Mwananchi Movement.

Registrar John Lorionokou confirmed in a letter dated October 13, 2026 that the office had received a submission from the party’s secretary general on October 8, which included the NEC meeting notice, a signed attendance list, a resolution approving the rename, statutory Form PP.10 and proof that the proposed change had appeared in the Daily Nation on October 10 and on the party’s website.

The registrar’s notice states that, under Section 20(1)(d) of the Political Parties Act, Cap. 7D, the gazettement process has been initiated and that the party must allow a fourteen-day period after the newspaper publication to receive any public representations. He wrote, "Upon review of the documents, this Office has initiated the process of gazettement".

After that period, the party is required to inform the registrar of any objections received and to explain how they were addressed, as required by Section 20(4) of the same act.

The move follows Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna’s effort to rebrand his political vehicle ahead of the 2027 General Election, after he launched The Equitable Party as a platform following a split with the Orange Democratic Movement.

Sifuna has repeatedly said the party will adopt the Linda Mwananchi Movement name once the legal steps are completed, and he indicated that the existing name would be retained only if further obstacles arose.

The name change comes after a dispute over the reservation of the Linda Mwananchi Movement title, which the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal ordered the registrar to reconsider on September 30, leading to a reservation approval on October 1 with a ninety-day window.

The timing is significant because parties must submit their names and authorised officials’ signatures to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission by October 15 to contest the 2027 polls.

Among the figures linked to the movement are Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Siaya Governor James Orengo and other regional leaders who attended the party’s launch.