The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) officially registered three new political parties on March 20, 2025.
The newly registered parties are the Patriotic Citizens Party (PCP), led by Jordan Sauti; the Solidarity Alliance Party (SA), headed by Dr. Victor Madhlopa; and the Anyamata Atsikana Azimai Party (AAA), with Akwame Bandawe as its president.
These parties had submitted their applications between July and November 2024, undergoing rigorous scrutiny before being granted official status. Dr. Kizito Tenthani, the Registrar of Political Parties, highlighted the importance of adhering to the Political Parties Act of 2018 throughout the registration process.
“Now that we have the ORPP solely dedicated to implementing the Political Parties Act, these new parties faced tougher scrutiny,” said Dr. Tenthani. He revealed that the registration process included physical visits to the premises of the three parties to ensure they met the legal requirement of having a functioning party office.
Dr. Tenthani also issued a stern reminder to the 20 other registered political parties about the importance of maintaining operational offices. “I will be visiting each one of them to make sure that they have functioning party offices, as mandated by the law,” he said.
The Registrar further cautioned the newly registered parties about the challenges ahead. He reminded them of the provisions under Section 16(1)(b) of the Political Parties Act, which require registered political parties to secure at least one seat in parliament or 5 percent of the total national votes in parliamentary elections.
Alternatively, they must win two seats in local government elections or 10 percent of the total national votes in local government elections.
Failure to meet these thresholds in the upcoming September 2025 elections would mean that the parties must achieve these targets by 2030 to avoid deregistration.
“This is a message to all registered political parties. While you may be celebrating your registration, you must remain mindful of the legal obligations and electoral performance requirements. The law is clear, and compliance is non-negotiable,” he said.
Dr. Tenthani
