President Of Kenya
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The president of the Republic of Kenya () is the
head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
and
head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...
of the Republic of Kenya. The president is also the head of the executive branch of the
Government of Kenya The Government of the Republic of Kenya (GoK) is the Central government, national government of the Kenya, Republic of Kenya located in East Africa. It is composed of Counties of Kenya, 47 Counties, each county with its own semi-autonomous gove ...
and is the commander-in-chief of the Kenya Defence Forces. The country's current president is William Ruto since 13 September 2022.


History

On 12 December 1964, the Republic of Kenya was proclaimed, and Jomo Kenyatta became Kenya's first president. Kenya has had a total of five presidents since establishment, in successive order: Jomo Kenyatta,
Daniel arap Moi Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ( ; 2 September 1924 – 4 February 2020) was a Kenyan politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He is the country's longest-serving president to date. Moi previously served as the thi ...
,
Mwai Kibaki Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013. He served in various leadership positions in Kenya's government including ...
,
Uhuru Kenyatta Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta ( born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. The son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, he previously served as Prime Minister of Kenya, Deputy Pri ...
, and the incumbent, William Ruto, who was inaugurated on 13 September 2022. Moi remains the country's longest serving president, having served for a total of 24 years.


Qualifications and election to office

According to the current
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
, if a person wishes to be elected as president, the following qualifications must be met: # Should be a Kenyan citizen by birth; # Should be qualified for election as a Member of Parliament; # Should have been nominated by a political party to stand as its candidate for the presidency, or they may stand as an independent candidate; and # The person should have been nominated by more than two thousand voters from each of a majority of the country's 47
counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
. A candidate will be disqualified to run for presidency if they have allegiance to a foreign state or is working for the government in any capacity as a public officer. Being a public officer is not applicable to the incumbent president if running for a second term. The president is elected by popular vote in the general election held in the month of August every five years. For a presidential candidate to be declared the winner, they must have: # More than half of the total votes cast in the election; and # At least 25% of the votes cast in each of more than half of the 47 counties in the country. The official residence of the president of Kenya is State House,
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
. The wife of the president is referred to as the first lady of Kenya.


Term of office

A president is eligible for two consecutive terms of five years each, starting from the date the president is sworn in.


Roles and responsibilities

The following is a summary of the roles of the president of Kenya as provided in the Constitution of Kenya: * Is the country's head of state and government. * Exercises the country's executive authority. * Is the commander-in-chief of the country's military, the Kenya Defence Forces. * Is the chairperson of the country's National Security Council. * Is a symbol of national unity. The responsibilities of the president are summarised as follows: * Is responsible for addressing each newly elected
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and report once to special parliamentary seating concerning issues of national value and governance. * Holds nominating and appointing authority, with Parliament's approval, over the country's cabinet secretaries, attorney-general, principal secretaries, diplomatic and consular representatives and any other public officer over whom the Constitution grants said authority. * Is the chairperson of Cabinet meetings and oversees the running of operations in various ministries and government departments. * The president may also undertake any other executive functions as permitted by the Constitution. * The president also exercises the power of mercy, whereupon the president may pardon a person convicted of an offence. Additionally, a person serving as president has
legal immunity Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. S ...
, with the exception of crimes under treaties to which Kenya is party with provisions that prohibit such immunity.


List of presidents


Presidential standards

As with most other countries, the president of Kenya has a
presidential standard The presidential standard or presidential flag is the flag that is used in many countries as a symbol of the head of state or president (government title), president. In some countries it may be for exclusive use of the president or only raised w ...
to signify their status as the country's head of state and government. Its design is generally based on the country's
national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...
, although the president has some leeway to customise its appearance. The flag is generally displayed in notable locations associated with the president, usually alongside the national flag, such as the president's offices and the president's official state car, and during notable state occasions. The presidential standards of Kenya's presidents since the country's independence have been as follows: File:First presidential standard of Kenya.svg, First Presidential Standard of Kenya (1963–1970) File:Kenya presidential standard JOMO KENYATTA.svg, Presidential Standard of Jomo Kenyatta (1963–1978) File:Kenya presidential standard DANIEL ARAP MOI.svg, Presidential Standard of Daniel Arap Moi (1978–2002) File:Kenya presidential standard MWAI KIBAKI.svg, Presidential Standard of Mwai Kibaki (2002–2013) File:Kenya presidential standard UHURU KENYATTA.svg, Presidential Standard of Uhuru Kenyatta (2013–2022) File:Kenya Presidential Standard.svg, Presidential Standard of William Ruto (2022–) * Lists of incumbents * Politics of Kenya * Prime Minister of Kenya


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:President Of Kenya 1964 establishments in Kenya