COUNTRY PERSPECTIVE
The shortest useful version of how power works here.
The president heads the national executive separately from Parliament.
The president heads the national executive separately from Parliament. Parliament is bicameral, with the National Assembly and Senate exercising distinct constitutional functions.
The National Assembly legislates on national matters and exercises budgetary and executive oversight.
The National Assembly legislates on national matters and exercises budgetary and executive oversight. The Senate represents counties, participates in legislation concerning counties and oversees nationally allocated county revenue.
Devolution is a central feature of the 2010 Constitution: counties have elected governments and constitutionally assigned functions.
Devolution is a central feature of the 2010 Constitution: counties have elected governments and constitutionally assigned functions. Courts can review public action under a supreme Constitution.
Some political words change meaning across countries. These are the distinctions worth knowing first.
Kenyan party coalitions often combine regional, ethnic, personal and policy interests, so party labels alone may not reveal a stable left–right ideology.
“Devolution” has a particularly concrete meaning in Kenya: it concerns the constitutional distribution of money, responsibilities and representation between the national government and 47 counties.
Enough structure to make the rest of the page intelligible.
Only the events that help explain how today’s system got here.
Kenya gained independence from Britain and established national representative institutions.
Constitutional change ended the formal one-party system and restored multiparty electoral competition.
Disputed elections were followed by widespread violence and a power-sharing settlement that accelerated demands for institutional reform.
A referendum approved a new Constitution with a presidential system, bill of rights, bicameral parliament and extensive county devolution.
Current-data work still open: Current office holders · Current National Assembly and Senate composition and coalition profiles · Latest national election and turnout · Devolution, rights and civic-space dimensions · Long-term indicator trends