Kenya Government - The Government of Kenya Has 3 Arms...

The Kenya government is governed by the country's constitution which was promulgated at independence in 1963. A referendum on a draft constitution which radically overhauls many of the current constitution's provisions will be held in the course of 2010.

There are 3 arms of the government of Kenya. These are the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

In accordance with the doctrine of separation of powers, each of these branches has separate and independent powers and responsibilities. In reality, however, the branches' respective realms may not be as clear cut.

Executive

Kenya a republic so unlike the dynastic rule in the UK, the top executive in the government is the presidential candidate who garners the most votes in the general elections.

Following the unrest that accompanied the disputed 2008 general elections, executive power is currently shared between the President, Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister.

However, owing to the fact that the President is the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he enjoys considerably more powers than the Prime Minister.

In accordance with the provisions of the constitution, to be declared president, a presidential candidate must have garnered at least 25 percent of the votes cast in 5 of the country's eight provinces. And one must have attained the age of 35 before he or she can be allowed to run for president.

The President and Prime Minister are assisted by a 41-minister cabinet and 52 assistant ministers. All ministers, except the Attorney General, are appointed from a pool of the country's members of parliament. The Attorney General need not be an elected Member of Parliament although he has to be a qualified lawyer.

In line with the principle of collective responsibility, the Ministers are bound to support and abide by the policy decisions made by the cabinet even though these may be at odds with their personal views.

For administrative purposes, the country is divided into 8 provinces. Each of these provinces is headed by a all-powerful provincial commissioner.

Legislature

The legislative arm of the Kenya government consists of a single parliamentary chamber formally referred to as the National Assembly.

Its membership consists of 210 Members of Parliament elected to represent the constituencies and 12 persons nominated to represent special interest groups such as women, the disabled and marginalized communities.

At their first sitting, members elect a speaker and deputy speaker. The current speaker is Kenneth Marende, a lawyer who was former Member of Parliament for Emuhaya in Western Province. However, upon ascending to the speaker position, he resigned his position and is now an ex officio member of the legislature.

The Speaker is assisted by the Deputy Speaker, currently Farah Maalim, the MP for Lagdera in the North Eastern Province.

The other ex officio Member of Parliament is the Attorney General, currently Amos Wako.

A Member of Parliament is elected for a 5 year term but can hold office for several decades if she or he is continually re-elected by the constituents. Besides the obvious function of debating and passing laws, the legislators keep the executive arm of the Kenya government in check.

23 parties are represented in the national assembly with the major 2 being ODM which holds 99 seats and PNU 43.

The Constituency Development Fund (better known by its acronym CDF) is one of the remarkable successes of the government of Kenya. It aims to encourage grassroots development by funding viable projects at the constituency level. Ksh. 20 million (about US$ 266,667) is reserved for each of the 210 constituencies each year.

Judiciary

The third arm of the Kenya government is the judiciary. Its primary responsibility is to dispensing justice.

The judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice, currently Justice Gicheru. It consists of the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Magistrate Courts and the Kadhi Courts.

Judges are appointed by the President and hold office until they retain the age of 73 or are removed from office in accordance with a special tribunal's recommendation.

There are 7 levels of magistrate courts with the Chief Magistrate sitting at the top of this hierarchy and the District Magistrate at the bottom.

Kadhi courts determine issues between Muslims concerning personal law. Issues such as marriage, divorce and inheritance between Muslims are within the purview of Kadhi courts.

In 2003, a "radical surgery" was undertaken on the judiciary where several judges who were considered inefficient and corrupt were forced to resign. However, challenges of partisanship, cronyism, corruption and inefficiency remain.

Return from Kenya Government to Facts about Kenya

Return from Kenya Government to Kenya Travel Packages Homepage