- It is a system of administration which rules people.
- In Kenya a government is formed through and after election.
- On an election (polling) day, registered voters elect:

• President.
• Governor.
• Senator.
• Member of Parliament.
• Female county representative.
• Member of the county assembly.

- The elected leaders form the government at various levels.
Arms of the government
- The government of Kenya is made up of 3 independent arms or branches:

1. The Legislature.
2. The Executive.
3. The Judiciary.

- The legislature is also called parliament. Parliament in Kenya consists of two houses:-

1. The National Assembly
2. The Senate

(I) The National Assembly
- The National Assembly is made up of:

• 290 elected member representing constituencies .
• 47 elected women members representing counties .
• 12 nominated members by political parties .
• The speaker is an ex-official member, elected by the members of parliament.
• Total 350 members.

Functions of the National Assembly

• Making laws (legislation).
• Amending or changing the existing laws.
• Approving the National Budget.
• Determines the revenue to be given to the central and county governments.
• Discussing matters of political implementation.
• Approving declaration of war and extensions of state of emergencies.

(II)The Senate
-The Senate is made up of:-

• 47 elected members representing counties.
• 16 nominated female representatives.
• 2 members (male and female) representing the youth.
• 2 members (male and female) representing persons with disabilities.
• 1 speaker as an ex-officio member, elected by the members if senate.

- Total members of senate members is 68.

Functions of the senate

• Discussing matters concerning the counties.
• Making laws concerning the counties.
• It decides on the allocation of money to the counties.
• Determines resolutions to remove the president and deputy president from position (impeachment).

Qualification for a member of parliament or senator
- A person qualifies to vie or compete for election as a member of parliament if the person:-

• Is a Kenyan citizen.
• Is a registered voter.
• Is able to read and write.
• Satisfies moral and ethical standards.
• Is nominated by a political party or is an independent candidate.
• Is supported bt atleast 1000 registered voters for elections to the National Assembly.
• Is supported by atleast 2000 registered voters for election to the Senate.

- It is the arm of the government that implements or carries out the law.
- The executive is headed by the president.
- It is made up of:

• The President.
• The Deputy President.
• Secretaries.
• The Cabinet.
• The Civil Service.
• The Attorney General.

(a) The President

• The president of Kenya is the head of state and government.
• He/she is the commander in chief of the Kenya Defence Forces.

Election of the president
- The president is elected by registered Kenyan voters.
- He/She is elected on the same day as other elected leaders.
- A person is elected president for a limit of two terms of 5 years each.
- Elections are usually held on the second Tuesday of August in every 5th year.
- The president must be nominated by a political party or be an independent candidate.
- To be declared the winner the person should:

• Get more than 50% plus one of the total votes cast.
• Get at least 25% of the votes in 24 counties or more.

NOTE:
- If there is no outright winner the top two candidates repeat the exercise.
- This is called a run-off.
- This repeat of election is held within 30 days after the previous election.

Functions and powers of the president

• Chairing cabinet meetings.
• Can declare wars, state of emergency, national disasters and public holidays.
• Addresses new parliamentary sessions.
• Leads the country in national celebration.
• Signs bills to become law.
• Chairs National security council meetings.
• Appoints the following senior government officials with approval of the parliament;
  1. Deputy president.
  2. Ambassadors/High commissioners.
  3. Cabinet secretaries.
  4. principal secretaries.
  5. Attorney General.
  6. Chief Justice.
  7. Head of the civil service.
  8. Chief of the General staff.

Qualifications for the president

• Be a Kenyan citizen by birth.
• Be qualified to vie for election as an MP.
• Be nominated by a political party or be an independent candidate.
• Be a registered voter.
• Be supported by not less than 2000 voters from each of the majority counties.

The Cabinet
- The cabinet is the top most and most senior government organ.
- It is composed of:

1. The president
2. The deputy president.
3. Cabinet secretaries.
4. Attorney General.
5. Head of the civil service.

- The president chairs cabinet meetings.
- The head of the civil service is the secretary of the cabinet.

Functions of the cabinet

• The cabinet advises the president on national issues.
• Cabinet secretaries appear before parliamentary select committees to answer questions on issues about their ministries.
• The Attorney General sits in the cabinet as the chief advisor to the government or the president.

The civil servants
- Public or civil servants are employed and paid by the government.
- They are paid from the tax collected by the government. Their work is to:

1. Do other services to the citizens.
2. Implement the government policies.
3. Enforce law and order.

- The body that employs most civil servants is the Public Service Commission.
- All civil servants are headed by the head of the civil service.

- It si the arm of the government that interprets the law.
- It settles disputes and ensures justice is done.
- It is the arm of the government that is made up of:

• The Chief Justice.
• Chief Registrar of the Judiciary.
• Deputy Chief Justice.
• Judges.
• Magistrates.
• Court clerks.

- The chief justice and deputy chief justice are appointed by the president.
- Magistrates and other court officials are appointed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
- The judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice.

The Supreme Court
- It is the highest court in Kenya.
- It is headed by the Chief Justice.
- The Deputy Chief Justice deputises the Chief Justice.
- There are other 5 judges.
- It hears and determines election petition of the president.
- It also hears appeals from other courts.


The Court of Appeal
- It is made up of court of Appeal judges.
- The number of judges should not be less than 12.
- It is headed by a judge elected by other judges amongst themselves.
- The court of Appeal hears and determines appeals from other courts.

The High Court
- It is made up of High court judges.
- The High court hears and determines election petition of members of parliament.

Note
- The supreme court, court of appeal and high court are called superior courts.
- These courts have judges appointed by the presidents.

Subordinate courts
- Subordinate courts in Kenya are;

1. Magistrate's Courts.
2. Kadhis' Courts.
3. Court Martial.

Note
- These courts have magistrates appointed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
- Kadhi's courts hear and determine civil cases involving person's of Islamic faith.
- Court Martials try members of the Kenya Defence Forces.

Other courts in Kenya
- Children's (Juvenile) courts - they deal with case involving minors (persons under 18 years).
- Anti - corruption courts - they deal with cases of corruption and abuse of public office.

- The money the government gets from various sources is called revenue.
- The following are the sources of money for the government.

• Taxes: Value added tax, import duty, pay as you earn and service charge.
• Sale of government stamps and licences.
• Loans and grant (Aids).
• Profit and parastatal companies.
• Fines paid by law-breakers in courts.
• Fees from some government services.
• Money got after government property is sold eg. buildings.
• Fuels levy charged per litre for fuelling at petrol station.

How the government spends Revenue
- The following are ways in which the government spends money.
- The expenditure is divided onto two:

1. Recurrent expenditure.
2. Development expenditure.

Recurrent expenditure
- These are expenses that never stop and are always pa out everyday, every month or for fixed periods.

• Salaries for civil servants.
• Medicine/drugs and other health facilities.
• Money for free primary/secondary education.
• Bursaries for needy learners.
• Constituency Development Funds (CDF).

Development expenditure
- These are expenses incurred by the government for projects like:

• Building of roads/railway lines/airports.
• Construction of dams.
• Repairing/maintaining government vehicles.
• Putting up government buildings.

- The organs that ensure security for Kenya and her citizens are:

• Kenya Defence Forces.
• National Police Services.
• National Intelligence Service.

Kenya Defence Forces
- It consist of: the Army, Navy and Air Forces.
- These 3 branches of the KDF defend Kenya from external attacks i.e attacks from outside any other countries.
- Other duties that may be performed by KDF are;

• Participating in rescue missions.
• Building/repairing roads/bridges.
• Offering humanitarian assistance to people struck by disasters.
• Restoring peace in areas hit by clashes eg. in the tribal crashes of 2007/2008.

- Both the Kenya Police and Administration police form the National police service.
- The National police service is headed by the Inspector general.

The units of the Kenya police
- General Service Unit which is charged with queling riots and violent demonstrations.
- Criminal Investigation Department (CID) which investigates crime and arrests law breakers.
- Traffic police control traffic on the roads.
- Anti-stock theft unit (ASTU) deal with cattle rustling.
- Airport and port police provides security in Kenya airport/seaports.
- Anti-Terrorism police unit deals with terrorists activities.
- Diplomatic police provide security to ambassadors and other senior foreign officials working/visisting Kenya.
- Tourist police provide security to tourists in Kenya.
- Anti-Narcotics police deal with illegal drugs.
- The Administration police are under a Deputy Inspector general.
- The Kenya prisons rehabilitate convicted criminals.
- Prisoners are taught skills in prison to enable them to use these skills to earn a living after release and to become a responsible citizens.
- The prisons services is headed by a commissioner of prisons.