The old adage says, the more the merrier but equally, too many cooks watered down the broth. The constitution of Kenya allows for a creation and operation of many political parties having had learned a bitter lesson during the one party rule by the pitiless Kenya National African Union (KANU).
A check with the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties by mid-February 2026 reveals that Kenya has ninety one (91) fully registered political parties and thirty three (33) others on provisional registration level. This makes it a total of 124 parties and still counting.
South Africa has an interesting political party infrastructure. Having gained its independence in 1994, when iconic Nelson Mandela assumed the presidential throne. South Africa is more than twice the size of Kenya, covering approximately 1,219,090–1,221,037 km² (approx. 471,000 sq mi) compared to Kenya’s 580,367 km² (approx. 224,000 sq mi). South Africa’s population is estimated to reach approximately 63.1 million in 2025. Interestingly, South Africa has over 500 registered political parties.
As of early 2025, there were 15 registered political parties in Ghana according to the Electoral Commission. While over 30 parties have registered during the Fourth Republic (since 1992), two main parties dominate the political landscape: the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). This is against a population of 36 million people and a size of 238,533 sq km.
Nigeria covers a total area of approximately 923,768 square kilometers (356,669 square miles) and has a total population of 254 million people. As of 2024–2025, there are 18 registered political parties in Nigeria recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). While there are many registered parties, the political landscape is dominated by a few major parties, with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) being the most prominent.
While opening up the space for multiparty democracy appears to be a dynamic and progressive move, having too many political parties in many states dilutes the ideological standing of a nation and its people. Imagine, a country having close to 1,000 parties. This ideally fragments the very basic value of having a political party as a base of political freedom. However, fewer political parties may be also rooted on clannism and regional interests, take for instance the Ethiopia case where they have 33 registered parties against a population of 135.5 million and a geographical size of 1,136,240 Sq. kilometers. However, most of the political parties in Ethiopia are clan and ethnic based thus parochial.
A good lesson on political parties can be learnt from Somaliland. Somaliland’s political landscape is defined by a constitutionally capped, three-party system designed to reduce clan-based conflict. The primary, legally recognized national parties as of 2024–2025 are the ruling Kulmiye Peace, Unity, and Development Party, the opposition Waddani (Somaliland National Party), and the Justice and Welfare Party (UCID). Somaliland’s population is estimated to be approximately 6.2 million people as of 2024, according to multiple sources, with an area of approximately 176,120 square kilometers.
However, size is not an important for defining the number of political parties in a democracy, the ideological standing of the parties should be. As Kenya approaches the 2027 elections, the question should be whether we need more that 120 political parties, some with obvious ethnic and regional support and therefore not strong on ideology. We can learn from Somaliland.
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