Sifuna’s Linda Mwananchi Faces Fresh Tribunal Challenge Ahead of Friday’s Crucial Conference

A fresh legal challenge has put Edwin Sifuna’s plan to formalise the Linda Mwananchi Movement under pressure, with a party member asking the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal to stop Friday’s National Delegates Conference.

Emmanuel Willyngtone Khamala, who identifies himself as a registered member of The Equitable Party (TEP), argues that the party has not followed its constitution in appointing officials or selecting delegates for the November 13 meeting.

His complaint raises a fundamental question for the movement: can it approve a new political identity and ratify its leadership if the members expected to give those decisions legitimacy were not properly represented?

Khamala wants the tribunal to suspend the conference until his application is heard and determined. He is also seeking orders declaring the current leadership arrangements unlawful and requiring the party to conduct elections in line with its constitution.

Dispute over who has the mandate to lead

In his petition, Khamala alleges that the party unveiled its proposed leadership without giving registered members an opportunity to scrutinise, vet or elect those appointed.

He also claims that TEP has not held grassroots elections to establish the branch, county and regional structures required under its constitution.

That issue goes directly to the composition of the National Delegates Conference. According to Khamala, delegates should emerge from properly constituted party structures. Without those structures, he argues, there is no clear way to establish whether the people attending the meeting are legitimate representatives or whether the required quorum has been met.

The petitioner has also questioned the authority of interim officials to make decisions that he says should be taken by elected party organs.

The complaint names TEP’s National Executive Committee and National Elections Board, alongside the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties and the Political Parties Liaison Committee. Sifuna is listed as an interested party, rather than as the principal respondent.

Linda Mwananchi limits conference attendance

The movement has, however, pressed ahead with preparations for Friday’s meeting.

In a notice issued on Thursday, November 12, it said attendance would be limited to designated delegates drawn from TEP members who were registered by the time the conference notice was published.

The movement added that each county had been allocated a specific number of delegates based on its registered membership, and that the quotas would have to be observed.

The conference is intended to approve the proposed change of the party’s name from The Equitable Party to Linda Mwananchi Movement and ratify other decisions needed to complete the transition.

The attendance notice sets out the movement’s position on who qualifies to take part. However, it does not settle the central issue raised by Khamala: whether the structures used to identify and select those delegates were established in accordance with the party constitution.

A series of disputes over the party’s transition

The latest petition is not the first challenge to the planned conference.

Paul Kiragu Gachoka and Pamela Achieng Simwata have separately asked the tribunal to stop the meeting, questioning the selection of delegates, the proposed agenda and plans to amend the party’s governing documents.

Their complaint includes an argument that the National Governing Council should have approved the agenda items before they are presented to delegates. The party has opposed their application, arguing that the complainants did not first exhaust its internal dispute-resolution procedures and had not established their membership.

The tribunal reserved its decision in that matter for Thursday, November 12, a day before the scheduled conference. The outcome will be important in determining whether the meeting can proceed as planned.

There was also a separate challenge by James Onyango Nyangor over the notice period for party elections. However, the party told the tribunal that no elections would take place at the November 13 meeting, and the application was subsequently marked as compromised. The conference should therefore not be described as an election meeting.

Sifuna’s rebranding plan faces a test

Sifuna unveiled TEP as the political vehicle for the Linda Mwananchi movement on October 4, 2026. Four days later, the party’s National Executive Committee approved a proposal to change its name.

The Registrar of Political Parties subsequently began the formal gazettement process, publishing the proposed change in the Kenya Gazette on October 16. The conference is part of the party’s efforts to complete the transition and approve other internal changes.

The movement had earlier faced a separate dispute over the reservation of the Linda Mwananchi name. The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal overturned the Registrar’s initial refusal to reserve it and directed the office to reconsider the application, allowing the process to move forward.

But the latest cases have shifted attention from the name itself to the internal processes behind the rebranding.

For a political outfit seeking to build a national profile ahead of the 2027 General Election, the disputes carry implications beyond Friday’s meeting. Its leadership, delegate selection and decision-making procedures will help determine how credible its internal democracy appears to members and potential supporters.

The tribunal’s handling of the pending applications will therefore be closely watched as the movement attempts to move from a political initiative to a fully formalised party structure.

About the Author

Maureen Onyango is a journalist passionate about storytelling, life coaching and spiritual lessons. She studied at the Kenya Institute of Management and enjoys telling stories that inform, inspire and empower communities.