GOVERNMENT OF KENYA AND POLITICAL SETTINGS IN KENYA

Just like most of the countries in Africa Kenya is a democratic country where by all the rights of all citizens are preserved and presented fully in all government of Kenya dealings.  Peace is one of the attributes used to describe Kenya. This is due to the harmonious living of all the different tribes in the country in bid to promote economic growth and development in the country.

Colonial Government

 The government of Kenya came into power after the colonial government seized power in 1962. One of the prominent political leaders at that time Jomo Kenyatta was given the mandate to lead the country with his political party KANU-KADU.  Various leaders of the government formulated the first constitution that governed all government dealing and activities and this in turn helped in ensuring that there was peace and order in the county. Some people believe that Kenyatta Government did not formulate the document, instead the British Colonial government tailor –made the constitution for the country. To some extent this is understandable since at that time the country did not have the necessary skills and expertise to formulate this crucial document on its own.

Since then the constitution was amended several times so as to effectively meet the diverse needs of the country in terms of fostering equitable share of resources as well as management of protection of human rights. A major change in government of Kenya  took place in 2009 when the country carried out a constitution referendum exercise that paved way for the implementation of a new constitution. This was seen as a very important move from the government since the document encompassed most of the sectors that had not fully being enumerated in the earlier version of the constitution. Some of the new inclusion in the government of Kenya includes development of county governments and revision of the human rights bill that seek to ensure that all the citizens’ freedom and rights are protected.

47 Counties

There are a total of forty seven counties in the country and 210 constituencies. The main aim of introducing the county government according to the policy makers was to ensure economic growth and equity in sharing of resources and other benefits that result from economic growth in the country. This in turn helps government of Kenya  to ensure that all parts of the country receive equal share of resources as well as economic growth. In the past some parts in the North Eastern have being sidelined by the government resulting in poverty and frequent drought as a result of poor representation in the government of Kenya . This are some of the issues that the new constitution seeks to solve in a few years to come after the necessary policies are put in place.

Government of Kenya is governed by a president who is elected in a general election that is supposed to be carried out after every five years in accordance to the new constitution. There are a few regulations that person vying for the seat has to be adhere to. This measures help in ensuring that the person elected as the president is not only popular but has the right skills and knowledge on how to lead the country. According to the new constitution the former provinces are to be replaced by the county governments which are more effective in ensuring that promoting economic growth in the county. Debate has risen regarding the jobs of the current provincial officers but the government has promised to give officers new jobs in the government instead of laying them off.

The government of Kenya is made of three bodies which include:

·         The executive

·         Judiciary

·         Legislative Branch

The Executive is composed of the president and the cabinet members who lead the government ministries. The Judiciary comprises of the superior courts and other sub-courts that are located in all parts of the country.  The Legislative Branch is composed of members of the parliament that represent various constituencies in the country.

Major Problems facing the government of Kenya

1.      Corruption that results from misappropriation of public funds and abuse of public offices