Know the Elective Positions
The Constitution of Kenya 2010 establishes two levels of Government:
- The National Government
- The County Government
Each of these levels is charged with specific responsibilities. Each level is also provided with public institutions that will enable it to perform its functions.
The Constitution empowers the people to exercise sovereign power directly through elections. Power is exercised at both the Central and County Governments on behalf of the people. For leaders to genuinely exercise power on behalf of the people, they must be elected democratically in free and fair elections. Elections enable the people to exercise their right to the freedom of making political choices.
Elective Positions
There are six elective positions:
- The President (elected with their Deputy)
- The Member of the National Assembly
- One woman elected to the National Assembly by voters in each county.
- The Governor (elected with their Deputy)
- The Senator
- The Ward Representative
In the election of the President and Governor, a Deputy President and a Deputy Governor will also be elected in the same ballot. However, there shall be no separate election for the Deputy President and Deputy Governor but they will be declared elected if the candidate who nominated them as running mates wins the elections. The Deputy is also referred to as the running mate.
The President, the Deputy President and the Cabinet are members of the National Executive. The Legislature also known as Parliament is made up of members of the National Assembly including 47 women elected from each county and Senators.
The Governor and Deputy Governor form the County Executive while the County Ward Representatives constitute the County Legislature known as the County Assembly.
The President and the Deputy President will head the elective positions at the National Government level.
A candidate only wins the Presidential Election if he/she receives:
- More than half of all the votes cast in the election; and
- At least twenty-five per cent of the votes cast in more than half of the counties.
In case no candidate is elected, a fresh election between the two top candidates will be held within the next thirty days. This second round of elections is referred to as the run-off election. The candidate who receives the most votes in the fresh election will then get declared as President within seven days.
