Political system of Kenya

The political system of Kenya is that of a presidential republic , the state president is also head of government. The president is elected for a limited time and is bound by certain power limits (by constitution or tradition). There is a bicameral parliament consisting of the National Assembly and the Senate .

In the   2019 Democracy Index of the British magazine  The Economist,  Kenya ranks 94th out of 167 countries and is therefore considered a “hybrid regime” of democratic and authoritarian elements. In the country report  Freedom in the World  2017 by the US  non-governmental organization  Freedom House  , the country's political system is rated as “partially free”. 

overview

Politics in Kenya is always party politics - and this in turn is often based on the interests of the individual ethnic groups or of alliances in the respective particular interests . The essential question is: How much power, influence, posts and money flow into the provinces is associated with the election of a candidate for my ethnic group? In this respect, parties are not to be confused with those of a western character that are built on basic values, ideologies or beliefs and have these ideas fixed in programs. It can happen that in Kenya, when a new party is founded, the new chairman, when asked about a program, says angrily: “That'll come next!” A party like SAFINA that has tried to orient itself towards a program beyond the ethnic groups, one cannot attest to a great future. The terms “liberal”, “national” or “democratic” are relatively interchangeable. Most of the important Kenyan (opposition) politicians were or are involved in the government in one form or another - up to ministerial level. A typical political career is that of Raila Odinga , who was imprisoned for attempting a coup and was a minister of several parties and also governments. Even the group of "Young Turks", ie the politicians who have not yet been consumed in the establishment, such as the former opposition leader Uhuru Kenyatta , was often Assistant Minister. The figure of President Mwai Kibaki himself represented the establishment.

These basic positions make the lightning-fast change of offices and constellations, party alliances and ministerial offices or the inclusion of opposition politicians in the government understandable.

In 2007 (after many pastoral letters ) the committed Catholic Bishops' Conference again gave an overview of the democratic development, the constitutional conflict and corruption , which clearly advocated human rights , peace, constitutional reform, “ good governance ” and against tribalism and violence (e.g. therefore also against mass rallies).

The first three presidents of Kenya were Jomo Kenyatta (1964–1978), Daniel arap Moi (1978–2002) and Mwai Kibaki (2002–2013). Uhuru Kenyatta, Jomo Kenyatta's eldest son, has been president since 2013.

Parties

Portions of this article appear since 2007 is out of date to be .
Please help to research and insert the missing information .

The following parties exist in Kenya :

Parliamentary parties

The NARC ( National Rainbow Coalition ) was a party alliance of DP, FORD-K, LDP and NPK in 2002 to elect President Kibaki - he was elected with 62%; from 2006 no more direct political force, transition to NARC-K (a separate party with unclear connections e.g. to the DP of the president)

Parliamentary parties

Abbreviation	Surname	founding year	Chair	Remarks
DP	Democratic Party	1996	Mwai Kibaki
Ford Asili	Ford Asili	October 16, 1992	Kenneth Matiba	since 2002: 2 of the 212 parliamentary seats
FORD-P	Forum For The Restoration Of Democracy - People	1996	Simeon Nyachae	since 2002: 14 of the 212 parliamentary seats
FORD-K	Forum For The Restoration Of Democracy - Kenya	1990	Musikari combo	-
CANOE	Kenya African National Union	1950	Uhuru Kenyatta	Party of the President
LDP	Liberal Democratic Party	2002	David Musila	-
LPK	Labor Party of Kenya	?	Peter Kubebea	-
NARC	National Rainbow Coalition	2005	?	Party alliance since 2002: 122 of 212 parliamentary seats
NPK	National Party Of Kenya	1992	Charity Kaluki Ngilu	-
NEW CANOE	(New canoe)	2005	Amukowa Anangwe	behind it is Nicholas Biwott
SAFINA	Safina Party Of Kenya ("Bridge")	1990	Paul Muite	since 2002: 2 of the 212 parliamentary seats
Shirikisho	Shirikisho Party Of Kenya ("Union")	1997	Yusuf Abubakar	since 2002: 1 of the 212 parliamentary seats

Parties not represented in parliament

• Mazingira Green Party of Kenya - the Kenyan Greens were founded in 2003 by Wangari Maathai , who later won the Nobel Prize . “Mazingira” is the word “environment” in Swahili .
• Madaraka Party of Kenya - youth party that stands for good governance and sustainability .
• CCU - Chama Cha Uzalendo, a socialist group. The party was founded in 2005 by Maur Abdallah Bwanamaka . The party name in Swahili means "Patriotic Party".

Re-grouping of the parties in 2006

• Split of NARC . After the failed constitutional referendum at the end of 2005, Kibaki dismissed the entire government and then only appointed ministers to a “government of national unity” who had supported the referendum, including members of the previous opposition. With that, the LDP left the government and initially formed the Orange Democratic Movement together with KANU (see below). The NARC remained in the hands of the chairperson Charity Ngilu as a legal shell, but it was not accepted by the central Kenyan politicians around Kibaki. These circles now founded NARC-Kenya as a separate party in order to keep the previous symbol for the upcoming presidential election campaign.
• The NARC-K ( National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya ) was founded by some of the NARC politicians who remained with Kibaki in 2006 as a platform for Kibaki's re-election. The group succeeded in winning 3 out of 5 upcoming constituencies in parliamentary by-elections. In 2007, however, the project stalled after parts of the previous NARC coalition did not support the group.
• Party of National Unity : In order to neutralize the rivalry between the parties and personalities in the government alliance, Kibaki had a new electoral alliance founded shortly before the election in October 2007. This "party of national unity" was supposed to run for the presidential elections as well as for parliament and local authority level. In the parliamentary elections, the alliance with around 43 members was not very successful because the parties affiliated to it often put up several candidates against each other. In addition, many members of the parliament, which had previously been decried as corrupt, were voted out of office, including numerous Kibaki ministers and PNU candidates.
• ODM-K ( Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya ): On August 25, 2006, the opposition decided, essentially the KANU and the LDP, under the ODM alliance, which was successful in the constitutional referendum, to form a new party out of their parties. This was the only way to expect a chance against NARC-K. The party had to change the name to ODM-Kenya because the lawyer Mugambi Imanyara had already secretly registered a party called the "Orange Democratic Movement Party of Kenya" with the right to use the orange symbol in 2005. Party symbols are important for use on ballot papers given the high illiteracy rate. ODM-K was allowed to use one and a half oranges as a symbol. It became regionally strong in Kambaland and moved into parliament with 16 members, where it immediately formed a coalition with Kibaki's PNU.
• ODM ( Orange Democratic Movement ): The ODM movement split before the 2007 election. The minority group under Kalonzo Musyoka managed to bring the registered party ODM-K under their control and to run with it in the election. The majority group around Raila Odinga had difficulties registering another party with a name related to the original party. So she bought Imanyara the rights to the ODMPK party, which he registered, and was able to use the orange symbol in the election campaign, operating under the name "Orange Democratic Movement". Remnants of the original NARC under Chairman Ngilu joined ODM in October. ODM was defeated in the apparently rigged presidential elections, but with 99 members it became by far the largest party in parliament.
• The oldest party, KANU , joined the ODM movement in 2005. It was then shaken by severe turmoil between the new party leadership around Uhuru Kenyatta and old party cadres around Nicholas Biwott . Attempts by the Biwotts to take over the party with the help of delegates' conferences that he had called past the board of directors failed despite government support before the courts. In the summer of 2007, under pressure from party membership and former President Daniel Arap Moi , Kenyatta decided to give up the connection with ODM and to support the renewed candidacy of Kibaki and his electoral alliance PNU. The KANU reserved the right to let its candidates stand under its own name. KANU moved into parliament in 2007 with 14 members.

elections

General election 2007

See also : Unrest in Kenya 2007/2008

The elections in December 2007 were dominated by the regrouping of the parties. Kibaki had formed a new party with the PNU because the chairman of the NARC, Charity Ngilu , with the legal shell of the NARC, sided with her opponent Odinga. The Orange Democratic Movement was constituted as the ODM party.

The two main opponents were President Mwai Kibaki for the PNU party and Raila Odinga for the Orange Democratic Movement party . The third strongest candidate was Kalonzo Musyoka for a splinter group of the ODM .

Presidential election

After the elections on December 27, 2007, turmoil erupted as election officials from Nairobi disappeared with the ballot papers. Raila Odinga led the preliminary counts with a clear majority.

Before the election, Kibaki occupied the majority of the 22-member electoral commission with candidates he had only chosen. This was in contradiction to the previous practice, according to which the President appointed commissioners based on the size of the parliamentary groups on the proposal of the parties represented in Parliament.

On December 30, 2007, Mwai Kibaki was named the winner by Kenya's Electoral Commission. He is said to have won with around 230,000 votes ahead of the most promising pursuer Raila Odinga. There were obvious irregularities in the election count. The turnout in one constituency in the Central Province was 115%. The EU election observers were in another constituency to see a result of around 50,000 votes for Kibaki himself; this number was then increased to 75,000 when the election commission established the numbers in Nairobi. The opposition accused Kibaki of election fraud and called for a new count. But there were also irregularities in the opposition. Alexander Graf Lambsdorff , the German head of the EU election observer mission, called for the votes to be recounted: “There are polling stations where the turnout is 99 percent - that normally doesn't exist in Kenya. Both in the President's Central Province and with Mr. Odinga. "

After the controversial election victory of President Mwai Kibaki, hundreds of people were killed in violent protests, clashes with the police and clashes in the slums. In various parts of the country, people from the Kikuyu ethnic group in particular were attacked and killed.

After the escalation of violence, the chairman of the electoral commission, Kivuitu, admitted to journalists that he had only announced the election results under pressure and that he himself did not know who won the election.

At the end of January 2008, mediated by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Kibaki and Odinga met for talks to find a solution to the political crisis in Kenya. First progress was announced in February. A new constitution and a reform of the electoral law should be drawn up within a year. On April 13, 2008, Raila Odinga was appointed Prime Minister of Kenya by President Kibaki, he was supposed to head a coalition government with representatives of the PNU and ODM.

Parliamentary elections

Kibaki's PNU suffered a defeat in the parliamentary elections ( National Assembly ) taking place at the same time . More than 20 ministers from his previous government were not re-elected; ODM candidates predominantly won their place. The determination of the results, however, initially faltered for a quarter of the electoral districts; on January 2, 51 of the 210 seats were considered not yet taken. Of the rest, the ODM won 99 seats compared to 43 for PNU and another 35 for parties allied with Kibaki (KANU, Safina). 16 seats went to the regional party ODM-Kenya. The NARC, allied with ODM, won three seats.

General election 2013

In the general elections on March 4, 2013, the President, the National Assembly, the Senate as well as governors and representatives of the counties were newly elected. It was the first elections under Kenya's new constitution and the first elections to be conducted by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC) .

Presidential election

Eight candidates ran in the presidential election. On March 9, Uhuru Kenyatta , eldest son of Kenya's first president Jomo Kenyatta, was declared the winner by the electoral commission . As a result, the election result was contested by several losing parties, above all Raila Odinga , before the highest court. On March 30, all appeals were dismissed. According to the official final result published on July 18th, 6,173,433 valid votes were cast for Uhuru Kenyatta, so that the necessary absolute majority was achieved with 50.51% of all valid votes. Raila Odinga achieved 43.70% with 5,340,546 valid votes.

Official end result

candidate	Result		Position at the time of nomination	Running mate	coalition	Political party
	be right	percent
Uhuru Kenyatta	6,173,433	50.51%	Deputy Prime Minister	William Ruto	Jubilee	TNA
Raila Odinga	5,340,546	43.70%	prime minister	Kalonzo Musyoka	CORD	ODM
Musalia Mudavadi	483.981	3.96%	Deputy Prime Minister	Jeremiah Ngayu Kioni	Amani	UDF
Peter Kenneth	72,786	0.60%	MP, Gatanga Constituency	Ronald Osumba	Eagle Alliance	KNC
Mohammed Abduba Dida	52,848	0.43%	Former high school teacher	Joshua Odongo	-	ARC
Martha Karua	43,881	0.36%	MP, Gichugu Constituency	Augustine Lotodo	-	NARC Kenya
James Ole Kiyiapi	40,998	0.34%	Former State Secretary, Ministry of Education	Winnie Kaburu	-	RBK
Paul Muite	12,580	0.10%	Former MP, Kikuyu Constituency	Shem Ochuodho	-	Safina

Parliamentary elections

In the elections to the National Assembly, 167 of the 349 seats went to the Jubilee coalition , 141 to the CORD coalition , 24 to the Amani coalition and a further 17 seats to other small parties.

General election 2017

Presidential election

In the August 2017 election, Kenyatta won with around 54% of the vote against Odinga; however, it was declared invalid due to irregularities and had to be repeated in October. Odinga boycotted this election. Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote, but the turnout was only around 39%, compared to 80% in August.

Non-governmental organizations

Numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played their part in civic engagement over the past few decades.

• A famous example is the Green Belt Movement of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai .
• Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization ( MYWO ): women's organization

The new constitution

referendum

The current democratization movement is grappling with the dispute over a new constitution. It was developed in an emotionally fierce public discussion process that lasted for years, a kind of "national assembly" (most recently in an open-air museum, the "Bomas of Kenya").

In November 2005, the population voted in a referendum after a campaign that had strongly polarized the country. One of the main points of contention was the president's strong position against the idea of ​​power shared with a strong prime minister. On November 21, 2005, a referendum took place on the new constitution, a work in 21 chapters, 290 articles and six “timetables”. This draft did not correspond to the original "Bomas Zero Draft", but was a heavily modified constitutional draft of the government, which the Attorney General had presented as the "Wako Draft".

The draft constitution was in favor of a strong president. Many social groups took a stand: the new draft constitution could only be approved or rejected across the board. So called z. B. the Catholic Bishops' Conference, which belongs more to the "Yes wing" (their symbol: the banana), the Kenyans to vote. One of the bishops, Philip Sulumeti , was a leader in this process. Article 288, which in the 6th timetable even stipulated the time in which all human rights violations of the previous governments would have to be taken up and followed up by a commission of inquiry, was a source of ignition. The “no-camp”, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) - their symbol: the orange - included z. B. the former state party KANU with its chairman Uhuru Kenyatta (a Kikuyu and son of the former first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta ), but also another son of a former political figure Oginga Odinga , who participated in the rainbow coalition through his party (LDP) Raila Odinga (a Luo ) who wanted to take over the office of prime minister (strong under the new constitution).

The referendum , which took place on November 21, 2005 and was counted the day after, showed a clear rejection of the new constitution by the Kenyan population with 58%. The turnout was around 40% lower than expected. After the constitutional referendum was lost, President Kibaki dismissed his entire government team and, after lengthy negotiations, reinstated politicians who were close to the Banana Wing or who overflowed them as ministers. However, he did not dissolve the parliament, but only gave it a leave of absence (until March 22, 2006). The dissolution would have meant new elections that Kibaki did not want to face. The German ambassador Bernd Braun also recommended new elections, as the lost referendum indicates that the government has lost the trust of the people. It is also noticeable that the journalist John Githongo , who voluntarily went into exile in England and who had been an anti-corruption advisor to the President in the rank of State Secretary until his resignation, was not reinstated. After Githongo's resignation, Germany had stopped 50 million euros for the fight against corruption. The government argued, not wrongly, that referendum and elections are separate issues. The new elections would be scheduled for 2007 as normal.

The Kiplagat Constitutional Committee

On February 24, 2006, President Kibaki surprisingly appointed a team of 15 experts made up of lawyers, professors and administrative experts, headed by former Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, as the new constitutional committee. One of the members was, for example, Onesmo K. ole Moi Yoi , a renowned microbiologist and department head at ICIPE , Nairobi. In his opening speech of the new parliament on March 22, 2006, President Kibaki pointed out that a new constitution should be approved by parliament. Obviously, according to the president's wish, there shouldn't be another referendum. An opinion poll showed that three quarters of Kenyans would have agreed to a constitution that would have complied with the “boma draft”.

On June 6, 2006, after hearing many citizens, the Kiplagat Committee presented the President, who reacted positively, and later to Parliament, a 133-page report with several viable routes that could lead out of the messy situation. Each of the routes (“routes”) aimed at a referendum, ie a popular poll, which should not be held parallel to a parliamentary or presidential election. The routes were also evaluated with their advantages and disadvantages, but it was initially left open who had to decide on which route to take.

• 1. National Assembly ("Constituent Assembly"): For this purpose, the people would first have to elect the members of the constituent national assembly who, with the help of constitutional lawyers, would submit a text for a referendum. The Kiplagat Committee described this path as ideal, but expensive, time-consuming and possibly also leading to the polarization of the country.
• 2. Expert Committee ( "Committee of Experts"): This committee could be based on the work already done preliminary work and to focus exclusively on the issues. This way was less grassroots, but quick and inexpensive; Quarrels about the choice of the right experts were foreseeable.
• 3. Electoral Forum ("Forum of Representatives"): The electoral representatives, representing the government, industry and all social groups (trade unions, churches, women, etc.) would present a constitution quickly and cheaply. The danger of this path lay in a possible elite orientation and the assertion of their interests.

The committee also recommended that the president set up a reconciliation commission to help heal the political wounds of the past. The members of parliament would have to play a leading role in this, even if many of the citizens heard were of the opinion that the parliamentarians in particular were the cause of hatred and discord.

The committee recommended that the issues of the last draft constitution ("Boma" or "Wako draft") be resolved in three different ways, depending on their importance. The first category, such as questions about the position of the president (for example in relation to the minister-president), one- or two-chamber legislature or the provincial administration, could be resolved by parliament. In the second category, further consultations and public discussions should be held, for example on questions of Islamic jurisdiction (Kadhi courts). The third category comprised issues that had split the country and this time should not find their way into the constitution, such as issues of abortion or homosexuality. In order to reach a real agreement on all these issues, the committee recommended setting an increased quorum of around 2/3 approval. In the case of questions on which, despite all the discussion, no agreement could be reached beforehand, the people should vote separately in a referendum.

New attempt: cross-party committee

On August 22, 2006, at the invitation of the President, under the leadership of Justice Minister Martha Karua , two representatives from 14 parties met to find out how the constitutional reform process could be revived. The then official opposition leader Uhuru Kenyatta (Kanu) took part in the meeting, Raila Odinga (LDP) stayed away under protest.

The assembly decided to form a 15-member committee (each party sends one representative plus one NGO representative) to answer the crucial and controversial question of comprehensive (government) or minimal reforms (opposition) before the next elections in 2007. President Mwai Kibaki was less hostile than before to calls for minimal reforms at a ceremony marking the 28th anniversary of President Jomo Kenyatta's death .

The opposition's minimal reform included calls for the curtailment of presidential power, the right of parliament to determine its own schedule, minority rights for women, children and other groups, strengthening the rights of the electoral commission to prevent election rigging, dual citizenship and the right to vote for Kenyans abroad, ban on government-funded election campaigns and government funding of all political parties. The government camp also wanted to deal with the issues of the distribution of power between the president and prime minister, a two-chamber system of government, administrative reform of the public sector (provinces, districts), a quota of women of one third in parliament and religious jurisdiction, known from the referendum lost in 2005 Clarify Kadis and other groups.

Adoption of a new constitution on August 4, 2010

→ Main article : Constitutional referendum in Kenya 2010

On August 4, 2010, the majority of the population adopted the new constitution of Kenya in a referendum : In addition to land reform , the president's power will be limited and his electoral term will be limited to two legislative periods. A two-chamber system is introduced and an abortion right is permitted if the mother is at risk. Islamic jurisdictions are enshrined in the constitution.

See also

• Constitutional referendum in Kenya 2010
• National Assembly (Kenya)
• Senate (Kenya)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Democracy-Index 2019 Overview chart with comparative values ​​to previous years , on economist.com
2. ↑ Kenya. Retrieved January 2, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Number of deaths in Kenya rises to over 200 Welt Online, January 1, 2008.
4. ↑ Hamster purchases and Kalashnikovs Der Spiegel, December 30, 2007.
5. ↑ Report by the Kenyan newspaper Nation on the statement by the EU observer: ( allafrica.com )
6. ↑ Election supervisor in Kenya admits irregularities  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. NDR Info, December 30, 2007.  
7. ↑ Kenya: Over 150 dead in unrest after a controversial election ( memento of the original from January 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Basler Zeitung. December 31, 2007.  
8. ^ I acted under pressure In: East African Standard. January 2, 2008
9. ↑ Kibaki and Odinga join hands Spiegel Online, January 24, 2008.
10. ↑ Annan sees “considerable progress” in Kenya, Tagesspiegel, February 15, 2008.
11. ^ SF Tagesschau : Odinga new head of government of Kenya from April 13, 2008.
12. ↑ Government website of January 11, 2008: Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ↑ Kenya: Text of Supreme Court Decision Upholding Election Results. allafrica.com, March 30, 2013, accessed September 22, 2013 . 
14. ↑ ^{a b} Kenya election results 2013. Kenya Today, July 18, 2013, accessed September 22, 2013 . 
15. ↑ Summary of results for member of national assembly. IEBC, July 18, 2013, accessed September 22, 2013 . 
16. ↑ Kenya: Election Commission reports almost 100 percent for Kenyatta. spiegel.de from October 30, 2017, accessed on November 1, 2017
17. ↑ Nationmedia  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ Nationmedia  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
19. ↑ Time: A deeply divided country votes on a new constitution

Web links

• Parliament official seat distribution (english)
• Constitution of Kenya (English)