The People's Liberation Party: Martha Karua's Vehicle

The People's Liberation Party (PLP) is the party Martha Karua has led for years under its old name, NARC-Kenya. The Registrar of Political Parties issued the change-of-name certificate on 31 January 2025, and the party was relaunched in purple on 27 February 2025. Karua declared at PLP's National Delegates Conference on 26 September 2025 that she will run for president in 2027 on its ticket, "within a united opposition", and serve one term if elected. As of 23 September 2026 she was also co-convener, with Kalonzo Musyoka, of the opposition principals trying to agree on one candidate.

From NARC-Kenya to PLP

The change went through the Registrar in the ordinary way. A notice under section 20(1)(d) of the Political Parties Act announced the intended changes, The Star reported on 6 January 2025. On 31 January the then Registrar, Anne Nderitu, handed Karua the certificate at the Registrar's Lion Place offices in Nairobi. Nderitu has since joined the IEBC as a commissioner.

Four things changed at once:

The Star reported that the rebrand was aimed at Generation Z voters after the 2024 protests, and that it followed the party's exit from the Azimio la Umoja coalition it had joined for the 2022 election. Karua said in November 2024 that PLP wanted to be the first Kenyan party with term limits for its top leaders. "This means that in the next party elections, I will not be eligible to contest," she said, as quoted by The Star.

Kalonzo, Eugene Wamalwa and Rigathi Gachagua all attended the relaunch on 27 February 2025, Capital FM reported. Gachagua used it to tell young people to register and vote. Why so many Kenyan parties change their names rather than their habits is the subject of why Kenyan parties rebrand.

Karua

Karua was MP for Gichugu from 1993 to 2013 and served in Mwai Kibaki's Cabinet, first in Water and then as Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, a post she resigned from in April 2009. She ran for president in 2013 on NARC-Kenya and finished sixth with 43,881 votes. In 2022 she was Raila Odinga's running mate, the first woman on a major presidential ticket as a deputy. She turned 69 on 22 September 2026.

Her presidential declaration on 26 September 2025 came with a pledge The Star reported in her words: "Martha Karua, yours truly, is seeking a single term, one term." She has also said she will not be anyone's running mate, People Daily reported. The arithmetic behind her bid is set out in Martha Karua's 2027 case.

PLP in the opposition

PLP is one of the parties in the united opposition, and Karua is one of its two conveners. She and Kalonzo convened the principals' meeting of 1 September 2026, which Wamalwa, Fred Matiang'i and Omingo Magara attended, with Cleophas Malala standing in for Gachagua. The principals remained split on method: Kalonzo's camp prefers a negotiated ticket, while the Gachagua and Matiang'i camps want opinion polling to pick the flag-bearer. Who signed what is explained in the united opposition's principals.

In the first week of September 2026 Karua criticised the detention of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye on 3 September, said on 4 September that Kenya Kwanza's "days of ruling through fear" were numbered, and on 7 September called Ruto's order against foreign small traders xenophobic.

We could not find a verified count of PLP's elected representatives as of September 2026. What is clear is how the money works: Kenya's party fund pays out mostly on votes won at the last general election, which leaves small and renamed parties with little of it. That mechanism is explained in the 2026/27 Political Parties Fund. NARC, the party NARC-Kenya grew out of, is itself a case study in why Kenyan political parties die.

What to watch

Under the IEBC's election timetable, PLP, like every party, had until 15 October 2026 to submit its authorised officials and specimen signatures, and the Registrar's deadline for certifying nomination rules is 30 October. The bigger question is outside the party. The Star reported on 23 September 2026 that Kalonzo's camp wanted him named joint opposition candidate by 10 October, with Sifuna as running mate. Karua has said she is running herself. Whichever way the opposition settles on one name, Karua's PLP either carries a presidential candidate in 2027 or becomes one partner in somebody else's ticket.