Political System of Kenya

Overview

The political system of Kenya is characterized by democratic republic government whereby the President is both chief of state as well as head of government. There is also a vice president and members of the Cabinet who make up the executive branch. The powers of the government in Kenya are distributed among the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. In the political system of Kenya, the judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Kenya is divided into 8 administrative regions consisting of 7 provinces and Nairobi the capital city. The 7 provinces of Kenya are Central, Coast, Eastern, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, and Western. The government of Kenya takes charge of administration of districts and provinces.

The Executive

The executive power in the political system of Kenya is vested in the President who is both Chief of state and also head of Government. The President of Kenya is elected for a term of 5 years by popular vote and is eligible for re-elections for a second term. The President performs his executive functions with the assistance of a vice president and the Cabinet ministers. The President is responsible for appointing the vice President as well as the members of the Cabinet.

The current President of Kenya is Mwai Kibaki since 30 December 2002 and the current Vice President is Moody Awori who's been in office since 25 September 2003. The last general election in Kenya was held on 27 December 2002 and the next is scheduled top be held in December 2008.

The legislature

The legislative power in Kenya is held by unicameral National Assembly or Bunge consisting of 224 members. Out of the 224 members, 210 members are elected by popular vote for a term five years. The remaining 12 nominated members are appointed by the president but selected by political parties on the basis of proportional representation, and 2 ex-officio members. At present the ruling party is National Rainbow Coalition or NARC who had won general elections in the year 2002.

Judiciary

The judiciary in Kenya is headed by the High Court and Court of Appeal. The Chief justice and the judges of the High Court and Court of Appeals are appointed by the President. There are also smaller courts of justices in Kenya like the Resident Magistrate's Courts and the District Magistrate Courts.

The Major Political Parties of Kenya are -

Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya or FORD-Kenya
Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or FORD-People
Kenya African National Union or KANU
National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya or NARC-K
Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya or ODM-Kenya

This article provides an overview of the Political system of Kenya. For more on Kenya, visit- 123independenceday.com