Petition filed to overturn rejection of 'The Gen Z Party' name by political parties' registrar

A petition has been filed before the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal seeking to compel the Registrar of Political Parties to register "The Gen Z Party" as an official political entity.

James Ogega made the application after the Registrar of Political Parties rejected his request to reserve and register the name, as stipulated by Section 4B of the Political Parties Act, despite having paid the requisite fees.

"Three weeks after (making the application), the appellant received a call on July 16, 2024, by an officer of the Respondent that there was a letter from the Registrar of Political Parties for his collection," reads official court documents seen by Citizen Digital.

"He picked the letter on the 18th July 2024 The letter dated 11th July, 2024 stated that the name 'The Gen Z Party' had been rejected for allegedly not promoting inclusivity against the principle enshrined in Article 91 (1) (a) (e) of the Constitution."

According to Ogega, the decision of the Registrar of Political Parties goes against the principles enshrined in the constitution, in particular Articles 10, 20(2), 31(3), 27(4), 28, 36, 38 and 232.

"The Learned Registrar misdirected herself by not providing the appellant with her interpretation of the name The Gen-Z Party before her refusal to reserve the name. She only states that the name does not promote inclusivity. The name could be given a plethora of interpretations including and not limited to Generation Zote, Generation Zion, General Zod, Gender Z, General Zeus, amongst others," he argued.

"At the same time, the Registrar of Political Party erred in concluding that the name Gen- does not promote inclusivity being that there are steps to be complied with in accordance to Section 5, 6 and 7 of the Political Parties Act before the full Registration of a Political Party."

He further maintained that the Registrar of Political Parties made her decision before reviewing the proposed party's list of members, hence claiming that the party's name does not promote inclusivity.

"The rejection of the name is thus premature, discriminatory and a violation of the political rights of the appellant. At any rate, Section 8 of the Political Parties Act outlines the prohibited names that are barred from registration," he said.

Additionally, Ogega argued that Section 4B(3) of the Political Parties Act, compels the registrar to respond to such requests within 14 days but the reply came after 21 days. 

"In this circumstance, the Officer of the Registrar of Political Parties called the Appellant on 16th July 2024, the 21st day since the Application was made," said Ogega.

"The 14 days had lapsed making the notification time barred hence the Appellant had deemed that the name was reserved and therefore expected a letter indicating the same. Article 38 (1) of the Constitution gives every citizen the right to form a political party and name reservation is the initial step."

Ogega subsequently requested the Tribunal to declare the Registrar's decision to reject the reservation of the name "The Gen Z Party" as discriminatory and unconstitutional since it violates his political rights.

"This Tribunal issues an order quashing the Decision of the Registrar of Political Parties in the letter dated 11th July 2024 rejecting the Appellants application for reservation of the name The Gen-Z Party," he said.  

"That this Tribunal do issue an order directing the Registrar of Political to issue a letter to the appellant that the name "The Gen Z Party" is duly reserved as at June 24, 2024. In the alternative to the above, this Tribunal do issue an order that the name Gen Z Party is duly reserved as at June 24, 2024."