Senate | |
---|---|
12th Parliament | |
![]() | |
Type | |
Type | of the Parliament of Kenya |
History | |
Founded | 1963 and 2013 |
New session started | 8 September 2022 |
Leadership | |
Speaker | |
Deputy Speaker | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
Majority Whip | |
Structure | |
Seats | 67 |
![]() | |
Political groups | Government (33)
Opposition (33)
|
Elections | |
47 First Past the Post, 20 co-opted, 1 ex-officio | |
Last election | 9 August 2022 |
Next election | 2027 |
Meeting place | |
![]() | |
Parliament Buildings, [2] Nairobi, Kenya | |
Website | |
Official website |
![]() |
---|
![]() |
The Senate of the Republic of Kenya (swahili: Seneti ya Jamhuri ya Kenya) is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Kenya, along with the National Assembly. The Senate was first established as part of Kenya's 1963 Constitution.
After being abolished in 1966, the Senate was re-established by Article 93 of the new 2010 Constitution to represent counties' interests as well as pass legislation concerning counties.
Kenya's 1963 Constitution established a Senate that consisted of 41 senators elected for six years, with one-third of the members retiring every two years. Timothy Chokwe served as the first speaker of the Senate. [3] The Senate was abolished in 1966, when its membership was combined with that of the House of Representatives to form a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly.
The 2013 General Election took place on 4 March 2013. [4] Under the new Constitution, which was passed during the 2010 Referendum, the 2013 general election was the first to include the election of Senators representing the 47 newly created counties. They were also the first general elections run by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
According to their share of elected seats, the political parties nominated an additional 16 women. Additional nominations were made for two members representing the youth and two members representing Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWD). The Speaker of the Senate, who is an ex officio member, is elected by the Senators sworn in on the first Sitting of the Senate.
The powers and role of the Senate in Kenya are as follows: [5]
Source: Kenyan Parliament (2020) [6]
The Senate consists of 47 members directly elected by their counties, 16 women nominated by the political parties according to their relative strength in the Senate elections, two members to represent the youth, and two members to represent persons with disabilities.
Women Nominated to the senate 2022-2027
Name | Political Party | |
---|---|---|
1. | Abdalla Shakilla Mohamed | WDM |
2. | Beatrice Akinyi Ogolla | ODM |
3. | Beth Kalunda Syengo | ODM |
4. | Betty Batuli Montet | ODM |
5. | Catherine Muyeka Mumma | ODM |
6. | Crystal Kegehi Asige | ODM |
7. | Esther Anyieni Okenyuri | UDA |
8. | Hamida Ali Kibwana | ODM |
9. | Hezena M. Lemaletian | ODM |
10. | Joyce Chepkoech Korir | UDA |
11. | Gloria Orwoba | UDA |
12. | Miraj Abdillahi Abdulrahman | UDA |
13. | Tabitha Maureen Mutinda | UDA |
14. | Karen Nyamu | UDA |
15. | Omar Mariam Sheikh | UDM |
16. | Pesi Peris Tobiko | UDA |
17. | Prof. Margaret Jepkoech Kamar | JP |
18. | Veronica Waheti Nduati | UDA |
# | Senator | Party |
---|---|---|
1 | Beatrice Elachi | APK |
2 | Catherine Mukite Nobwola | FORD-KENYA |
3 | Janet Ongera | ODM |
4 | Elizabeth Ongoro Masha | ODM |
5 | Halima Abdille Mohamud | ODM |
6 | Agnes Nzani (Dr.) | ODM |
7 | Beth Wambui Mugo | TNA |
8 | Emma Mbura Getrude | TNA |
9 | Naisula Lesuuda | TNA |
10 | Joy Adhiambo Gwendo | TNA |
11 | Martha Wangari | UDF |
12 | Mshenga Mvita Kisasa | URP |
13 | Chelule Liza | URP |
14 | Adan Dullo Fatuma | URP |
15 | Judith Achieng Sijeny | WDM-K |
16 | Zipporah Jepchirchir Kittony | KANU |
# | Name | Party |
---|---|---|
1 | Kanainza Nyongesa Daisy | ODM |
2 | Hosea Onchwangi | TNA |
# | Name | Party |
---|---|---|
1 | Ben Njoroge | TNA |
2 | Godliver Nanjira Omondi | ODM |
These summaries are based on post-election coalitions as reported by the press.
Coalition | Party | Elected senators | Nominated senators | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jubilee | TNA | 11 | 6 | 17 |
URP | 9 | 3 | 12 | |
NARC | 1 | – | 1 | |
Total | 21 | 9 | 30 | |
Amani Jubilee-affiliated | KANU | 2 | 1 | 3 |
UDF | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Total | 4 | 2 | 6 | |
Jubilee-affiliated | APK | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Total | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
CORD | ODM | 10 | 6 | 16 |
FORD-KENYA | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
WDM-K | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
FPK | 1 | – | 1 | |
Total | 19 | 8 | 27 | |
Vacant | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Total | 47 | 20 | 67 |
Committees 2022–
Committees 2013–2022
The politics of Kenya take place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the president is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system in accordance with a new constitution passed in 2010.
Elections in Kenya take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a presidential system. The President, Senate and National Assembly are directly elected by voters, with elections organised by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Amos Wako is a former Attorney General of Kenya and the first senator for Busia County from 2013 to 2022. Wako won the senatorial seat after defeating former minister of finance Chris Okemo. He won the senator seat on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) being led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Wako currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Constitutional Experts for Drafting the EAC Political Federation Constitution, the committee drafting the constitution for the East African Confederation.
Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi 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 Affairs cabinet secretary of Kenya. As of 1 November 2024, he is also serving as the cabinet secretary in the ministry of interior, albeit in an acting capacity, succeeding Prof. Kithure Kindiki who was appointed Deputy president following the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua. He is a former party leader of the Amani National Congress (ANC), one of the founding political parties, of the Kenya Kwanza alliance.
The Senate of Kazakhstan is the upper house of two chambers in Kazakhstan's legislature, known as the Parliament (Parlamenti). The Senate is composed of elected members: two from each region and two from three municipalities which are Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent.
The Party of National Unity (PNU) is a political party in Kenya originally founded as a political coalition. On 16 September 2007, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki announced the party's formation and declared that he would run as its presidential candidate in the December 2007 Kenyan elections. Following the conditions set by the Political Parties Act which were passed in Kenya in 2008, PNU became an official political party. Recently PNU has launched activities to revamp itself ahead of the 2022 general elections.
Amason Kingi Jeffah is a Kenyan politician currently serving as the Speaker of the Senate of Kenya. He is a member and leader of the Pamoja African Alliance party, which he founded. The party is part of the Kenya Kwanza alliance. He served as the first governor of Kilifi County from 2013 to 2022, having been elected twice to the position.
Johnson Nduya Muthama is a Kenyan businessman and politician. He is serving as a Commissioner of Parliamentary Service Commission.
David Musila is a Kenyan politician. He belongs to the Wiper Democratic Movement and was elected to represent Mwingi South Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya in the Kenyan parliamentary election of 1997. In 2013 he was elected as the first senator representing Kitui County.
Samuel Losuron Poghisio is a Kenyan politician who served as the Majority Leader of the Kenyan Senate. He belongs to the Kenya African National Union - KANU and was previously a member of the United Republican Party - URP and the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya and was elected to represent the Kacheliba Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya since the 2007 Kenyan parliamentary election.
The Government of the Republic of Kenya (GoK) is the national government of the Republic of Kenya located in East Africa. It is composed of 47 Counties, each county with its own semi-autonomous governments, including the national capital of Nairobi, where the national government is primarily based.
Ekwee David Ethuro is a Kenyan politician. Currently he is the Chairperson of the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). He was elected as the first Speaker of the modern Kenyan Senate on 28 March 2013. From 1998 to 2013 he served as a Member of Parliament representing Turkana Central. He also served as the Assistant Minister for Planning and National Development from 1998 to 2002 under the government of President Daniel arap Moi. He was re-elected as Member of Parliament for Turkana Central in the 2007 general elections and steered the proceedings of the 10th Parliament in the position of acting Speaker of the House whenever the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were absent.
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.
Daisy Kanainza Nyongesa, is a nominated senator in the Senate of Kenya, representing the youth on an Orange Democratic Movement party (ODM) ticket.
Irũngũ Kang'ata is a Kenyan politician. He is the governor of Muranga County. He also is the former senator of Murang'a County, and the former Senate of Kenya Majority Chief Whip, former member of parliament for Kiharu Constituency and a former Councillor for Central Ward in Murang'a town. He is a law graduate from the University of Nairobi and a principal in the firm Irungu Kangata & Co. Advocates located at Flamingo Towers 4th floor, Upperhill, Nairobi. He holds PhD (Law) University of Nairobi and teaches law at Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi.
Naisula Josephine Lesuuda, is a Kenyan politician and women's rights activist. She is a Member of the Parliament of Kenya.
Ochilo George Mbogo Ayacko is a Kenyan politician who has served as the governor of Migori County since August 2022.
Fatuma Adan Dullo is a Kenyan politician and the current elected Senator for Isiolo County as well as the shortest serving Minority Whip. She once served as the Deputy Majority Leader – Senate of the Republic of Kenya. Fatuma Dullo made history after being among the first three female senators to be elected as well as the only one from the Northeastern Region. She is a lawyer and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and previously served in various capacities in the public sector and in civil society. Her expertise is in public administration, governance and human rights advocacy. Her interests include human rights and education particularly of marginalised groups, community mobilisation and capacity-building.
Esther Okenyuri Anyieni commonly known as "Essy" and locally "Nyaituga" is a Member of Parliament at the 4th Senate of Kenya, / 13th Parliament of Kenya, nominated by Kenya's ruling party, United Democratic Alliance. She is a member of KEWOPA, the Vice Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Trade, Industrialization and Tourism, a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Health, and the Senate Powers and Privileges Committee. She is the current Deputy Secretary General of the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association, and the Organizing Secretary of Kenyan Women Senators Association. She is an Executive Member, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Kenya Branch.
Abass Sheikh Mohamed is a Kenyan politician currently serving as a senator for the Wajir County elected on the ticket of United Democratic Movement (UDM) in 2022. He was previously a member of the 11th parliament of Kenya from Wajir East Constituency in Wajir County. He was elected on the ticket of the United Republican Party (URP) with the support of Jubilee Coalition in 2013.