The politics of Kenya take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic 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.
The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 1944 but due to pressure from the colonial government, KAU changed its name to Kenya African Study Union (KASU) mainly because all political parties were banned in 1939 following the start of the Second World War. In 1946 KASU rebranded itself into KAU following the resignation of Harry Thuku as president due to internal differences between the moderates who wanted peaceful negotiations and the militants who wanted to use force, the latter forming the Aanake a forty, which later became the Mau Mau. His post was then occupied by James Gichuru, who stepped down for Jomo Kenyatta in 1947 as president of KAU. The KAU was banned by the colonial government from 1952 to 1960. It was re-established by James Gichuru in 1960 and renamed KANU on 14 May 1960 after a merger with Tom Mboya's Kenya Independence Movement.
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.
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022.
Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka is a Kenyan politician who was the tenth Vice-President of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. Musyoka served in the government under the late President Daniel arap Moi as the Secretary of Kenya African National Union party (1980-1988), Assistant Minister for Works (1986-1988), Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly (1988-1992), Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1993 until 1998, Minister of Education (1998-2001); and subsequently, under the late President Mwai Kibaki, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs again from 2003 to 2004, then Minister of the Environment from 2004 to 2005. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2007 presidential election, after which he was appointed vice-president by Kibaki in January 2008.
The Liberal Democratic Party was a political party in Kenya.
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).
William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto 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 from 2013 to 2022. Previously, holders of the position were referred to as Vice President and the officeholder was unelected and appointed by the President. He previously served in three cabinet portfolios as the Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister of Agriculture and as Minister for Higher Education.
Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi is a Kenyan politician and land economist who is currently serving as Prime Cabinet Secretary of Kenya and expanded role of Foreign & Diaspora Affairs Minister of Kenya, he is also the party leader of the Amani National Congress (ANC), one of the founding political parties, of the Kenya Kwanza alliance. He served as the 7th Vice-President of Kenya in 2002 and Deputy Prime Minister (2008–2012), when he resigned to contest for the Presidency in the 2013 Kenyan general election and emerged third. He was the deputy party leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) (2005–2012) and Party Leader of the United Democratic Forum Party (UDF) from May 2012 to July 2015.
Raila Amolo Odinga is a Kenyan politician who was the prime minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Langata Constituency from 1992 to 2013 and has been the Leader of Opposition in Kenya since 2013. He is the leader of Azimio la Umoja–One Kenya Coalition Party.
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement which was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in August 2007 into the Orange Democratic Movement Party of Kenya and the Wiper Democratic Movement – Kenya.
George Musengi Saitoti, E.G.H. was a Kenyan politician, businessman and American- and British-trained economist, mathematician and development policy thinker.
The Wiper Democratic Movement–Kenya (WDM-K), formerly Orange Democratic Movement–Kenya (ODM–Kenya), is a political party in Kenya, which originated as a result of the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. It is headed by Kalonzo Musyoka, who ran for president in 2007 and served as the vice-president in the Grand Coalition of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. He is now a member of the main opposition Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Party.
General elections were held in Kenya on 27 December 2002. Voters elected the President, and members of the National Assembly. They coincided with the 2002 Kenyan local elections.
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 formation and said that he would run as its presidential candidate in the December 2007 Kenyan elections. It has since become a political party in its own right following conditions set by the Political Parties Act, passed in Kenya in 2008. Recently PNU has launched activities to revamp itself ahead of the 2022 general elections.
General elections were held in Kenya on 27 December 2007. Voters elected the President, and members of the National Assembly. They coincided with the 2007 Kenyan local elections.
The 9th Parliament of the Republic of Kenya was opened by elected President Mwai Kibaki on February 18, 2003. It was the first time that the formerly-dominant Kenya African National Union of Daniel arap Moi was in the minority. The triumphant NARC, which dominated in the general elections of 2002 was in the majority, led by Kibaki.
General elections were held in Kenya on 4 March 2013. Voters elected the President, members of the National Assembly and newly formed Senate. They were the first elections held under the new constitution, which was approved in a 2010 referendum, and were also the first run by the new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). They coincided with the 2013 Kenyan local elections.
The 2018 Kenya handshake was a political truce made on 9 March 2018 between Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The two had been the leaders of opposing political factions amidst widespread political violence and civil unrest; they had previously faced one another in the contested 2017 Kenyan general election. Under the agreement, their political feud with an agreement that Kenyatta would support Odinga in the upcoming presidential elections. Consequently, the Azimio coalition was formed, Uhuru became its chairman, and Odinga became the presidential candidate with Martha Karua as his running mate. They lost to William Ruto, who was then Kenyatta's deputy. They challenged Ruto's victory in the Supreme Court, but Chief Justice Martha Koome said his claims did not meet the evidentiary threshold and dismissed the case. At a March 2023 protest in Nairobi they demanded an audit of the IEBC election servers.
Azimio la Umoja–One Kenya Coalition Party, popularly referred as Azimio la Umoja, or simply Azimio, is a Kenyan political alliance and party headed by Raila Odinga. It is composed of the Orange Democratic Movement, the Jubilee Party, NARC–Kenya, KANU, and other parties. Former president Uhuru Kenyatta is the party's patron. The alliance fielded Odinga as its presidential candidate and Martha Karua as its deputy presidential candidate in the 2022 Kenyan election, which they lost.
