The Registry of Political Parties office is holding a two day learning and development workshop as a build up to elections. The theme of the workshop is Party Branding and Campaign Strategies.
The Registrar for Political Parties, Dr Alphones Gelu, who facilitated the workshop, said that this quarterly run exercise is to help political parties and candidates understand issues relating to elections.
Dr Orovu Sepoe, Chairperson of Integrity of Political Party and Candidates Commission Board (IPPCC), stated that political parties play an important role of linking the people and the government, and that there is a need for this link to be strengthened. She emphasised that workshops like this help to build and strengthen these links.
The workshop highlighted that party branding is as important as branding for companies. People need to know who is who and which party has which candidates in. Parties were encouraged to try to stand out as much as possible.
Another issue that will be discussed is mainstream gender. Dr Gelu mentioned that it was evident in the past that most political parties shy away from female candidates.
“Right now we have three women in the parliament, we want to see the number increase every election and not decrease,” said Dr Gelu.
The Registry of political parties is encouraging parties to take on board women who are interested to run for elections. “Give them a chance by letting them join your party,” stated Gelu.
Other Issues that arose during the discussions was financial returns. Parties are encouraged to submit financial returns within three months of the return of writs.
Kennedy Pius, Lawyer for the Registry of Political Parties (RPPO), said that there are still a lot of compliance issues that parties face. Registration status of each party is also an important issue that political parties need to take seriously.
The Registry of Political Party has reported that there are 34 registered parties. Out of the 34, only 10 parties fully complied with the requirements for funding and were handed their funds at the workshop.
