The politics of Kenya take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Kenya is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system in accordance with a new constitution passed in 2010.
How Is Kenya Politics Today
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. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Kenya a “hybrid regime” in 2019. The Political terror scale gave the country a rating of 4 meaning those civil and political rights violations had expanded to large numbers of the population. Murders, disappearances, and torture were common parts of life. In spite of its generality, this level of terror affected those who were interested in politics or ideas.
Executive branch
Main office-holders
Office Name Party Since
President William Ruto United Democratic Alliance 13 September 2022
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua United Democratic Alliance 13 September 2022
Administrative divisions
The subdivisions of Kenya have been in place since 2010, replacing the old system. Under the Constitution of 2010 and other reforms to Provincial Administration, the country acquired a new system of Counties. The previous Provinces were scrapped and the 46 Districts, in existence since 1992, were turned into Counties with elected governments.
The counties are divided into sub-counties and a further 290 constituencies, then 1450 Wards (to coincide with the County Assembly Wards of the County Government), and Villages.[1] The City of Nairobi, which enjoyed the status of a full administrative province, would become a County.
Under its old constitution, Kenya comprised eight provinces each headed by a Provincial Commissioner (centrally appointed by the president). The provinces (mkoa singular mikoa plural in Swahili) were subdivided into districts (wilaya). There were 69 districts at the 1999 census. Districts were then subdivided into 497 divisions (taarafa). The divisions are then subdivided into 2,427 locations (mtaa) and then 6,612 sublocations (mtaa mdogo).
Judicial branch
The judiciary is divided into Superior Courts and Subordinate Courts. Superior Courts consist of: a chief justice who is also the president of the supreme court, a deputy chief justice (who is a member of the Supreme Court), Supreme Court judges, High Court judges, and judges of Kenya’s Court of Appeal (no associate judges) appointed by an independent Judicial Service Commission. The Chief Justice and his or her deputy are nominated by the President from names selected by the Judicial Service Commission and voted by the National Assembly. Subordinates Courts are Magistrates Courts, Kadhi Courts and Courts Martial. The current chief justice is Martha Koome. Then the Tribunal are bodies which are established by Acts of Parliament to exercise judicial or quasi-judicial functions and these supplement ordinary courts in the administration of justice but do not have penal jurisdiction.