The Liberal Democratic Party was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. It was established by Denise A.O Kodhe and members of the

National Rainbow Coalition The National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) is a political party in Kenya. As an alliance, it was in power from 2002 and 2005 when it collapsed due to disagreements between members over a constitutional referendum. Formation In preparation of the 2002 ...

in 2002. In the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

held on 27 December 2002, the party was a partner in the National Rainbow Coalition, which won 56.1% of the popular vote and 125 out of 212 elected seats. The party itself took 59 of these seats. In the presidential election held on the same day, the party supported

Mwai Kibaki Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013. He served in various leadership positions in Kenya's government including ...

, who won 62.2% of the vote and was elected. Before 2002 the party had been an insignifanct splinter group which was joined by a large number of former KANU members after the nomination of

Uhuru Kenyatta Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta ( born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. The son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, he previously served as Prime Minister of Kenya, Deputy Pri ...

to be KANU's presidential candidate. Members of the former National Democratic Party NDP of Raila Odinga which had joined KANU only in summer 2001 left the then ruling party together with KANU politicians who were opposed to what they perceived as imposition of Kenyatta as candidate by the then president Moi. After leaving KANU, they did not take the risk of attempting to register a new party under a government controlled by Moi but instead opted to join the existing LDP which offered them a space. LDP then teamed up with the

National Alliance Party of Kenya The National Alliance (TNA) was a political party in Kenya. It took on its current identity when Uhuru Kenyatta assumed control and renamed it as the vehicle for his 2012 presidential campaign. History The National Alliance was founded as the N ...

(NAK) of Mwai Kibaki to form NARC which won the 2003 election with Kibaki as its presidential candidate. Tensions developed soon as Kibaki did not honour a memorandum of understandíng signed between the partners in NARC and which envisaged a share of 50% of cabinet posts for LDP plus a new constitution which would curtail the power of the president and create the post of a prime minister which was to go to Odinga. After the Kenyan constitutional referendum in 2005 LPD left the NARC-government. Instead, LDP and KANU formed a coalition known as ''

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement that was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augus ...

'', later registered as a political party, ''ODM-Kenya''. KANU later left the coalition only to join Party of National Unity, a new coalition led by President Mwai Kibaki. Consequently, some KANU politicians including

William Ruto William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto (born 21 January 1967) is a Kenyan politician who is the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the first elected Deputy President of Kenya, ...

and

Musalia Mudavadi Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi (born 21 September 1960 in Vihiga County Kenya Colony) is a Kenyan politician and land economist who is currently serving as Prime Cabinet Secretary of Kenya, and since 2023, in an expanded role of Foreign & Diaspora ...

left KANU to stay with ODM-Kenya. ODM-Kenya, on the other hand, split into two parties,

(ODM) and ODM-Kenya. The former is led by Raila Odinga and the latter by Kalonzo Musyoka. Thus LDP did not participate the 2007 general elections as most of its members had either joined ODM, while some joined ODM-Kenya. Following the enforcing of the Political Parties act in December 2008, LDP ceased to be a registered political party. LDP was an observer party at the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberalism, liberal political parties. The political international was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal and progressive democratic parties aim ...

References

{{interlib Defunct political parties in Kenya Liberal parties in Kenya Political parties established in 2002 Defunct liberal political parties 2002 establishments in Kenya