Executive power is exercised by the executive branch of government, headed by the President, who chairs the cabinet, which is composed of people chosen from outside parliament. Legislative power is vested exclusively in Parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. In Kenyan politics, the executive wields considerable power and other institutions have limited means of checking that power.[1]
The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Kenya a "hybrid regime" in 2022.[2] The Political terror scale gave the country a rating of 4 meaning that civil and political rights violations had expanded to large numbers of the population. Murders, disappearances, and torture were common parts of life.
The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. As of the 2013 March general election, the Constitution of Kenya has two requirements for any candidate to be declared winner:
to win at least 25% of the vote in a majority of Kenya's forty-seven counties[3]
to garner 50% + 1 vote of the total valid votes.
If none of the candidates fulfills these requirements there is to be a runoff between the two contenders with the highest number of votes. The Deputy President is the running mate of the candidate that wins the presidential election[4] whilst other cabinet members will be appointed, with the approval from the National Assembly, from outside Parliament.
Between 2008 and 2013 Kenya was governed by a Grand coalition, established by a power-sharing agreement, signed by then President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement. That government was semi-presidential in form, with the executive headed by a President and a Prime Minister, and ministers were appointed to reflect political parties' relative strength in Kenya's 10th Parliament in which Raila Odinga's party, the Orange Democratic Movement was the largest party. Under the power-sharing agreement, each of the two major parties also nominated a deputy prime minister.[5] The post of the Prime Minister was abolished after 2013, returning Kenya to a presidential system of government. [6]
The BicameralParliament consists of a National Assembly and Senate. The National Assembly, or Bunge, has 349 members, 290 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies, 47 women elected from each county, 12 members nominated by political parties in proportion to their share of seats won in the single-member constituencies, and an ex officio member: the speaker.[7]
There is also a Senate with 67 members. 47 elected from counties acting as single-member constituencies, 16 women nominated by political parties, a man and a woman representing youths and a man and woman representing people with disabilities.[8] The speaker is an ex-officio member.[9]
Under the 2010 Constitution, Kenya is divided into 47 counties (including the Cities of Nairobi and Mombasa), each comprising a whole number of Parliamentary constituencies. Each county has an elected Assembly,[15] whose members are elected from single-member wards.[16]
There are provisions for additional Assembly members to be appointed to improve the gender balance and to represent special groups such as persons with disabilities and youth. Each county is administered by an elected County Governor and Deputy Governor, backed by an Executive Committee.
Since independence in 1963, Kenya has maintained remarkable stability, despite changes in its political system and crises in neighboring countries. Particularly since the re-emergence of multiparty democracy, Kenyans have enjoyed an increased degree of freedom. A cross-party parliamentary reform initiative in the fall of 1997 revised some oppressive laws inherited from the colonial era that had been used to limit freedom of speech and assembly. This improved public freedoms and contributed to generally credible national elections in December 1997.
In December 2002, Kenya held democratic and open elections and elected Mwai Kibaki as their new president. The elections, which were judged free and fair by local and international observers, marked an important turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution. President Kibaki campaigned on a policy of generating economic growth, improving education, combating corruption, and implementing a new constitution, the draft of which was produced by Professor Ghai under the Moi regime. Considerable success has been achieved in the first two policy areas, the constitutional process had become mired (see below) and the fight against corruption has been a disaster.
There have been major scandals (including Anglo-Leasing), which the government has failed to investigate. John Githongo, then Permanent Secretary to the President on Ethics and Governance, resigned in protest, and donor nations, in particular the British, have made public criticisms of the lack of progress. Following disagreements between the partners in the then-government coalition, constitutional reform proceeded slower than anticipated. The NAK faction (allied to President Kibaki) favored a centralized presidential system, while the LDP faction—which had fewer parliamentary seats in that coalition than NAK—demanded a federal, parliamentary system, referred to in some circles as Majimbo.
A Kenyan private security officer.
Prior to the 2002 election, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was agreed between NAK and LDP, which laid the basis for the two groups to contest the election under the NARC (Rainbow Alliance) banner. The MoU agreed that a new constitution would be established shortly after the election, which provided for the new role of a strong Prime Minister while weakening the role of the President. Raila Odinga, then leader of LDP, maintained aspirations to become Prime Minister. However, that draft constitution was modified by the government from what was written by Professor Ghai and amended by the Bomas committee.
This maintained a strong President, who controls a weaker Prime Minister. This led to a split between NAK and LDP, with the former campaigning for a 'Yes' vote in a 2005 referendum on the constitution and the latter a 'No'. Also supporting a 'No' vote was the majority of Uhuru Kenyatta's KANU party, the sole party of government from independence to 2002. The outcome of that referendum, in which the draft constitution was rejected, signalled a wider re-alignment before the 2007 elections, in which the No team reorganised itself as the Orange Democratic Movement with Raila Odinga as their presidential flag bearer whilst those in the Yes team ended up in several political parties including the Party of National Unity.
Internal wrangling within that governing coalition also negatively affected other crucial areas of governance, notably the planned large-scale privatisation of government-owned enterprises. The 2007 presidential elections were largely believed to have been flawed with international observers stating that they did not meet regional or international standards. Most observers suggest that the tallying process for the presidential results was rigged to the advantage of the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, despite overwhelming indications that his rival and the subsequent Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, won the election. In July 2008, exit polls commissioned by the US government were released, revealing that Odinga had won the election by a comfortable margin of 6%, well outside of the poll's 1.3% margin of error.[17]
There was significant and widespread violence in Kenya—2007–2008 Kenyan crisis—following the unprecedented announcement of Kibaki as the winner of the 2007 presidential elections. The violence led to the death of almost 1,000 people and the displacement of almost 600,000 people. Some researchers note it allowed the violent settlement of land disputes between ethnic groups over controversial concepts of 'ancestral homelands'.[18]
A diplomatic solution was achieved, as the two rivals were later united in a grand coalition government following international mediation, led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, under a power-sharing National Accord on Reconciliation Act, entrenched in the constitution. Following the agreement, power was shared between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister, Raila Odinga. Several steps were recommended to ensure stability and peace for the Nation during the negotiations that led to the formation of the Coalition government. One of these reforms was the famous Agenda 4 which deals with reforms in various sectors. A new constitution was identified as a key area in fulfilling Agenda 4. A draft constitution was published and Kenyans adopted it in a vote on 4 August 2010. In 2013 the coalition government was rendered ineffective due to the constitution. General elections were held and the Jubilee coalition with President, Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President, William Samoei Ruto clinched victory. The new constitution also provided for a bicameral house, the Senate and the National Assembly. These were duly filled up with elected candidates. The nation was also divided into counties headed by governors and represented in the Senate by senators. Women in these counties were also represented by electing women Representatives. The five-year term ended on 2017 and the country went in for the elections. The President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy William Samoei Ruto were re-elected on 30 October 2017.[19] This will run up to 2022 when the next elections will be conducted. The historical handshake in March 2018 between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his long-time opponent Raila Odinga meant reconciliation followed by economic growth and increased stability.[20]William Ruto was declared the winner of the 2022 Kenyan general election[21] On 13 September 2022, William Ruto was sworn in as Kenya's fifth president.[22]
Related Research Articles
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.
Emilio Mwai Kibaki was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013.
Not to be confused with Uhuru.
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. It was established by Raila Odinga and members of the National Rainbow Coalition in 2002.
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).
Forum for the Restoration of Democracy–Kenya (FORD–Kenya) is a Kenyan political party. The party has sat in the government of Kenya once, under the National Rainbow Coalition, from 2003 to 2007, having ended forty years of one party rule. In April 2022, the party joined the Kenya Kwanza coalition for the August 2022 elections, and is headed by Moses Wetangula, the current speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya. The party tends to be more popular among the Luhya people.
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 served as 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 prime minister of Kenya was a post in the Kenyan government. The first prime minister of Kenya was Jomo Kenyatta, who became prime minister in 1963. In 1964, Kenya became a republic, the post of prime minister was abolished and Jomo Kenyatta became president. Following a power-sharing agreement in February 2008, the role was recreated that April and held by Raila Odinga. The position was again abolished by the 2010 Constitution after the 2013 elections.
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 August 2007 into the Orange Democratic Movement Party of Kenya and the Wiper Democratic Movement – Kenya.
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. The party tends to be more popular among the Kamba people. 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.
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.
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 inauguration of Uhuru Kenyatta as the 4th president of Kenya took place on 9 April 2013. Kenyatta won 50.07% of the vote in the 2013 presidential election, after the supreme court dismissed the Raila petition on 30 March 2013. According to Article 141 (2) (b) of the constitution, in case the Supreme Court upholds the victory of the president-elect, the swearing in will take place on "the first Tuesday following the seventh day following the date on which the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid." The event was held at Kasarani Stadium.A reception bouquet took place at State House,Nairobi.
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.
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.
The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) was a proposed set of amendments to the Constitution of Kenya initially proposed in October 2019. In the wake of the 2017 general election annulment and subsequent re-run, incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta mandated the formation of the Presidential Taskforce on Building Bridges to Unity Advisory on 31 May 2018. The Taskforce was assigned to provide constitutional and legislative solutions in 9 broad categories:
Lack of National Ethos
Ethnic Antagonism and Competition
Responsibilities and Rights
Shared Prosperity
Divisive Elections
Safety and Security
Devolution
Corruption
Inclusivity
References
↑ Gichohi, Matthew K.; Arriola, Leonardo R. (2023), "Kenya", Democratic Backsliding in Africa?, Oxford University Press, pp.137–162, ISBN0-19-286732-6
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