Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Uhuru KENYATTA 
• Head of Government: President Uhuru KENYATTA 
• Assembly: Kenya has a bicameral National Assembly (Bunge) consisting of the Senate with 67 seats and the National Assembly with 349 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by qualified majority vote to serve a 5-year term.  To win outright in the first round, one must obtain a majority (50%+1 of the national vote), plus 25% of the vote in at least 50% of counties, which were introduced to decentralize power to the local level and better facilitate people's representation.
• In the Senate 67 members are elected by qualified plurality vote to serve 5-year terms*. In the National Assembly 349 members are elected by qualified plurality vote to serve 5-year terms.**

* Kenya's 2010 Constitution introduced a Senate directly elected by the 47 single-member districts or counties. Each county has an elected executive and county assembly. On top of these 47 seats, 16 women must be nominated by political parties, according to their proportion of members in the Senate. Additionally, 2 members (1 man and 1 woman) representing the youth must be elected proportionally through party lists, and 2 members (1 man and 1 woman) representing people with disabilities must be elected proportionally through party lists. The speaker of the Senate will be an ex officio member.

** The 2010 Constitution introduced several requirements to better facilitate minority representation and devolve power to the local level. In addition to these 290 parliamentary seats, members are nominated by parliament through party lists, in proportion to their nationwide vote share. They must be apportioned to represent special interests of minorities, youth, and persons with disabilities. In addition, 47 women must be elected by registered voters in the 47 counties. The speaker of the National Assembly will be an ex-officio member.

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Kenya: Yes, Field Office 

• Election Judgements: Yes, 3

• Election FAQs: Yes