Senate of Kenya


The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of Kenya. The Senate was first established as part of Kenya's 1963 Constitution. After being abolished in 1966, the Senate was re-established by the 2010 Constitution.

First Senate, 1963–1966

Kenya's 1963 Constitution established a Senate that consisted of 41 senators elected for six years, with one-third of the members retiring every two years. Timothy Chokwe served as the first speaker of the Senate. The Senate was abolished in 1966, when its membership was combined with that of the House of Representatives to form a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly.

Modern Senate, 2013–present

The 2013 Kenya Senate elections took place on 4 March 2013. Under the new constitution, which was passed during the 2010 referendum, the 2013 general election was the first to include the election of Senators representing the 47 newly created counties. They were also the first general elections run by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. According to their share of elected seats, the political parties nominated an additional 16 women. Additional nominations were made for two members representing the youth and two members representing persons with disabilities. The speaker, who is an ex officio member, was elected by the senators sworn in on the first sitting of the Senate.

Powers

Elected Senators

Source: Kenyan Parliament

Senate by-election

County NoCounty Nameformer IncumbentPartyReplaced ByPartyDate
1Migori CountyBen Oluoch OkelloODMGeorge Ochillo AyackoODMOctober 2017

Members of the Senate between 2013 and 2017

The Senate consists of 47 members directly elected by their counties, 16 women nominated by the political parties according to their relative strength in the Senate elections, two members to represent the youth, and two members to represent persons with disabilities.

Elected Senators

Women members nominated to Senate

#NameParty
1Beatrice ElachiAPK
2Catherine Mukite NobwolaFORD-KENYA
3Janet OngeraODM
4Elizabeth Ongoro MashaODM
5Halima Abdille MohamudODM
6Agnes Nzani ODM
7Beth Wambui MugoTNA
8Emma Mbura GetrudeTNA
9Naisula LesuudaTNA
10Joy Adhiambo GwendoTNA
11Martha WangariUDF
12Mshenga Mvita KisasaURP
13Chelule LizaURP
14Adan Dullo FatumaURP
15Judith Achieng SijenyWDM-K
16Zipporah Jepchirchir KittonyKANU

Members nominated to Senate to represent youth

#NameParty
1Kanainza Nyongesa DaisyODM
2Hosea OnchwangiTNA

Members nominated to Senate to represent people with disabilities

#NameParty
1Ben NjorogeTNA
2Godliver Nanjira OmondiODM

Summary by coalition and party Between 2013 and 2017

These summaries are based on post-election coalitions as reported by the press.

Committees