12th Parliament of Kenya

thumb|right|Coat of arms of Kenya The 12th Parliament of Kenya is the meeting of the legislative branch of the national government of Kenya, which began on 31 August 2017.http://www.kbc.co.ke/local-news/new-senators-mps-take-oath-of-office/ Senators and National Assembly members take oath of office Margaret Kalekye 31 August 2017 Kenya Broadcasting Corporationhttps://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-kenyas-new-parliament-numbers/ FACTSHEET: Kenya's new parliament by numbers – Africa Check The National Assembly is made up of 350 members comprising 290 members elected from constituencies, 47 women representatives, 12 nominated members.https://www.parliament.go.ke/the-national-assembly/mps Members of National Assembly | the Kenyan Parliament Website and the Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya.https://www.parliament.go.ke/sites/default/files/2018-04/24_History_of_the_Parliament_of_Kenya.pdf History of the Parliament of Kenya The senate is made up of 67 members, comprising 47 members elected from the counties, and 20 nominated members. The members took office following the 2017 Kenyan general election. Overview The 12th Parliament of Kenya served from 2017 to 2022, overlapping with Uhuru Kenyatta's second term in office. The period was marked by political realignments, increased party loyalty in legislative voting,Jensen Christian B. Kuenzi Michelle Lee Daniel J. 2020 The effects of political parties on roll-call voting in Kenya's Parliament The Journal of Legislative Studies 26 4 523–541 10.1080/13572334.2020.1782077 1357-2334 and legal and political disputes surrounding constitutional changes such as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).Bhatia Gautam 2025 The hydra and the sword: Constitutional amendments, political process, and the BBI case in Kenya https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-constitutionalism/article/hydra-and-the-sword-constitutional-amendments-political-process-and-the-bbi-case-in-kenya/CF012496F808A35E769EE66D307450F9 Global Constitutionalism en 14 2 349–370 10.1017/S2045381724000224 2045-3817 free Researchers have defined the 12th Parliament as a turning point in Kenya's democratic consolidation and the balance between the executive and legislature.Cheeseman Nic Kanyinga Karuti Lynch Gabrielle Willis Justin 2024 Has Kenya democratized? Institutional strengthening and contingency in the 2022 general elections Journal of Eastern African Studies 18 2 240–260 10.1080/17531055.2024.2359154 1753-1055 https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/8352f297-db25-4dff-8a41-7189f345ea9d Background After the 2017 general election, the Jubilee Party coalition rose as the leading force in Parliament. The initial years of the Parliament functioned through high levels of party loyalty and broad support of the executive branch. However, this dynamic shifted in 2018 when President Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, made changes to Kenya's political environment and set the foundation for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).Omulo Albert Gordon 2023 Revisiting Kenya's defunct Building Bridges Initiative: Quest for justice, or manipulation of collective memory for political expediency? Cogent Arts & Humanities 10 1 2264025 10.1080/23311983.2023.2264025 free During this period, Parliament functioned under Kenya's 2010 Constitution, a document that featured checks on the executive, a more independent judiciary and the improvement of county governments, structuring how the 12th Parliament carried out its work. As a result, the 12th Parliament took on an important role in both enforcing and interpreting the reforms mandated by the constitution. Yet, the combination of a new constitutional framework and Kenya's political landscape with shifting alliances led to divisions within the parties and shaped policy direction. Political Dynamics and Party Alliances Research suggests that Kenya's members of Parliament often vote along party lines, displaying loyalty to their political parties. According to Jensen, Kuenzi, and Lee (2020), party dominance reduced the members of Parliament's freedom to vote independently and this dynamic continued throughout the period of the 12th Parliament. Following the Handshake, the opposition coalition, NASA and the Jubilee Party coalition experienced political realignments. These shifting alliances impacted committee membership, changed legislative efforts, and affected the unity of the parliamentary coalitions. Legislative Behavior and Oversight Capacity thumb|right|The Parliament Buildings in Nairobi, Kenya. CC-BY-SA 2.0 Parliament & the Executive While Parliament grew stronger, it did not limit the strength of the executive branch, causing the executive to have control over lawmaking and dominate the legislative agenda. Cheeseman (2024) notes that even with improvements in the judiciary, Parliament remained limited by executive authority. As a result, Parliament was prevented from challenging or monitoring government actions. Oversight on Public Debt According to a 2022 report from the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Parliament faced difficulties in exercising strong oversight of government borrowing, which made them unable to manage the growing public debt. Since members of Parliament relied on information relayed from the executive, they were unable to independently exercise oversight over financial decisions.NDI National Democratic Institute 2022 The Role in Public Debt Oversight in Kenya https://www.ndi.org/sites/default/files/Role%20of%20Parliament%20in%20Public%20Debt%20Oversight%20in%20Kenya.pdf Committee System During the 12th Parliament, legislative committees maintained their importance in distributing political influence. Opalo (2022) argues that committee placements were shaped by patronage ties, enabling members of Parliament to use them for political power instead of policy or oversight. The Building Bridges Initiative The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) was born following the Handshake between Kenyatta and Odinga as a set of constitutional reforms that sought to reduce electoral violence, build unity, and modify the executive system. The central reforms of the initiative included adding a Prime Minister to redistribute executive authority from a single office and expanding legislative representation, increasing the number of elected representatives.Opalo Ken Ochieng' 2022 Leveraging legislative power: distributive politics and Committee work in Kenya's National Assembly The Journal of Legislative Studies 28 4 513–532 10.1080/13572334.2021.1935017 1357-2334 Constitutional Process Bhatia (2025) and other experts emphasize that the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) raised concerns about the amendment processes of the constitution and public participation. The judiciary blocked the initiative after concluding that parts of it overstepped constitutional amendment constraints, ruling it as unconstitutional. The Building Bridges Initiative's Failure According to Omulo (2023), the failure of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) was due to internal divisions and shifting alliances among members of Parliament. A combination of conflicting party agendas, concerns over executive empowerment, and divisions in the Jubilee Party coalition contributed to the initiative's failure. Accountability & Governance Sanctions & Local Accountability Mbate (2023) finds that Parliament lacked the tools for sanctions and their oversight capacities remained weak. Political pressures and a lack of enforcement authority interfered with Parliament's ability to monitor and hold officials accountable across all levels of government.Mbate Michael Can parliamentary sanctions strengthen local political accountability? Evidence from Kenya 2023-09-13 Decentralised Governance: Crafting Effective Democracies Around the World 209–231 Faguet Jean-Paul https://press.lse.ac.uk/site/chapters/e/10.31389/lsepress.dlg.h/ 2025-11-24 LSE Press 10.31389/lsepress.dlg.h 978-1-909890-85-5 Pal Sarmistha free Impact on Democratization Experts are divided on whether the 12th Parliament had a role in strengthening Kenya's democratization. Although the period of the Parliament had seen institutional strengthening, executive dominance and authority, party loyalty, and limited oversight ultimately restricted democratic growth and reform. Overall Impact The 12th Parliament is widely viewed as a significant turning point in Kenya's government institutions. The legislature had presided over the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), reform effort, major realignments, illustrating the capacities and weaknesses of Kenya's constitutional system. See also List of members of the National Assembly of Kenya, 2017–2022 References External links https://www.parliament.go.ke/the-national-assembly/mps Category:Politics of Kenya Category:Kenyan parliaments Category:2017 in Kenya Category:2018 in Kenya Category:2019 in Kenya