Kenneth Kedi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Speaker of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands | |
| In office 4 January 2016 –3 January 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Donald Capelle |
| Succeeded by | Brenson Wase |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kenneth A. Kedi [1] 1971 (age 52–53) |
| Political party | Kien Eo Ad (KEA) |
Kenneth A. Kedi (born 1971) is a Marshallese politician. He was Speaker of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands between 2016 and 2024,having been re-elected in 2020. Kedi is a member of the Kien Eo Ad (KEA) party.
Kedi was born in 1971. [2] Kedi is a member of the Kien Eo Ad (KEA) party. [3] He represents the Rongelap Atoll in the Legislature. He has stated that people from the atoll are hesitant to return after nuclear testing on the island by the United States during the 20th-century. [4]
In June 2011 when Kedi was Minister of Transport and Communications,he was charged with ten counts of criminal acts relating to misappropriation of funds,making it the first time a Marshall Islands minister was charged with criminal acts. [5] [6] When the case went to court the next month seven of the charges were dropped,and Kedi pleaded no contest to the remaining three. The amount of money involved in the case was around US$2000. Kedi received a suspended prison sentence of 30 days,and a $1000 fine. He continued to serve as Minister. [7]
On 4 January 2016 Kedi was elected Speaker of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands. He won the election with 19 to 14 votes of former Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak. [2] He succeeded Donald Capelle. [3] In November 2018 he supported an ultimately unsuccessful vote of no-confidence in President Hilda Heine. [8] In October 2019 the Supreme Court of the Marshall Islands struck down the country's voting law as unconstitutional relating to an issue for offshore postal ballots. Kedi subsequently argued that previous election law which did allow for offshore postal ballots to take effect again. [9]
On 6 January 2020 Kedi was re-elected as Speaker,defeating Brenson Wase with 19 against 14 votes. [10] [11]
In February 2023, The Washington Post reported that Kedi is under investigation by the Marshall Islands' attorney general. [12]
Kedi lost his seat during the 2023 Marshallese general election. [13] He was succeeded as Speaker by Wase on 3 January 2024. [14]
Kessai Hesa Note is a Marshallese politician who was President of the Marshall Islands from 2000 to 2008.
The Legislature of the Marshall Islands has 33 members,elected for a four-year term in nineteen single-seat and five multi-seat constituencies. The last election was November 20,2023. Elections in the Marshall Islands are officially nonpartisan,but most members of the Nitijeļā are affiliated with one of the four active political parties in the Marshall Islands:Aelon Kein Ad (AKA),Kien Eo Am (KEA),United People's Party (UPP),and United Democratic Party (UDP).
The government of the Marshall Islands operates under a mixed parliamentary-presidential system as set forth in its Constitution. Elections are held every four years in universal suffrage,with each of the 24 constituencies electing one or more representatives (senators) to the lower house of RMI's unicameral legislature,the Nitijela. The President,who is head of state as well as head of government,is elected by the 33 senators of the Nitijela. Four of the five Marshallese presidents who have been elected since the Constitution was adopted in 1979 have been traditional paramount chiefs.
Iroij Litokwa Tomeing was the President of the Marshall Islands from January 2008 until October 2009.
Ruben R. Zackhras was a Marshallese politician. He was acting President of the Marshall Islands from 21 October 2009 to 26 October 2009. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 1992 to 1998.
Iroijlaplap Jurelang Zedkaia was a Marshallese politician and Iroijlaplap. He served as the President of the Marshall Islands from 2009 to 2012. He was elected as the country's 5th head of state on October 26,2009,following the ouster of his predecessor,Litokwa Tomeing,in the country's first successful vote of no confidence.
David Kabua is a Marshallese politician who served as President of the Marshall Islands from 2020 to 2024. He has represented Wotho Atoll in the Legislature of the Marshall Islands since 2008 and served terms as Minister of Health and Internal Affairs.
Hilda Cathy Heine is a Marshallese educator and politician who has been serving as the president of the Marshall Islands since 2024,having previously served from 2016 to 2020. Prior to assuming office,she served as the Minister of Education. She was the first individual from the Marshall Islands to earn a doctoral degree,and the founder of the women's rights group Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI).
General elections were held in the Marshall Islands on 16 November 2015.
Casten Ned Nemra is a Marshallese politician who was President of the Marshall Islands for 17 days in January 2016. He was elected by the Nitijeļā(Parliament) as President in January 2016,following the 2015 general election,narrowly defeating Senator Alvin Jacklick,a seven-term member of Parliament,by a 17–16 vote. He was the youngest person to hold the job and the second commoner. He was ousted by a vote of no confidence after just two weeks in office by the opposition for jumping ship and joining Iroij Mike Kabua's Aelon Kein Ad party along with Senators Dennis Momotaro and Daisy-Alik Momotaro.
Mattlan Zackhras was a Marshallese politician and government minister. He was a member of the Nitijeļāfor Namdrik Atoll since 2004 and was serving as Minister in Assistance to the President of Marshall Islands under President Hilda Heine from January 2016 until his death.
Events in the year 2017 in the Marshall Islands.
Amenta Matthew is a Marshallese politician. She was a member of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands from 2007 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019,representing the electorate of Utrik. She was Minister of Health under Presidents Litokwa Tomeing and Jurelang Zedkaia from 2008 to 2011 and Minister of Internal Affairs under Hilda Heine from 2016 to 2019. She was the second woman in the Marshall Islands to serve as a government minister.
General elections were held in the Marshall Islands on 18 November 2019. Opponents of President Hilda Heine won a majority of seats.
Events in the year 2020 in the Marshall Islands.
Kitlang Kabua is a Marshallese politician. She was elected to the Legislature of the Marshall Islands (Nitijeļā) for Kwajalein in the 2019 Marshallese general election,receiving 931 votes. She was 28 at the time of her election,making her the youngest person ever elected to the Nitijeļā. Kabua and former President Hilda Heine were the only two women who obtained a seat. She subsequently was appointed Minister of Education,Sports and Training in the cabinet of her uncle President David Kabua. Kabua took her oath of office on 13 January 2020. The formal inauguration of the cabinet took place on 20 January.
Brenson S. Wase is a Marshallese politician and a long-time member of the cabinet and senator in Nitijela.
General elections were held in the Marshall Islands on 20 November 2023,alongside a constitutional referendum.
Events in the year 2023 in the Marshall Islands.
Events in the year 2024 in the Marshall Islands.
