Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: December 12, 1963.
Constitution: 1963.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state, head of government, commander in chief of armed forces). Legislative--unicameral National Assembly (parliament). Judicial--Court of Appeal, High Court, various lower and special courts, includes Kadhi (Sharia) courts.
Administrative subdivisions: 69 districts, joined to form 7 rural provinces. Nairobi area has special provincial status. The government has gazetted 37 more districts, whose ratification was still in process as of October 2007.
Political parties: Over 100 registered political parties. The ruling party, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), made up of 14 separately registered parties, broke up in 2003, although it is still a registered party. A Government of National Unity composed of Members of Parliament from all political parties was created in 2005. In September 2007, President Kibaki and his supporters formed the new coalition Party of National Unity (PNU). KANU, the official opposition party, is now a member of this pro-government coalition. The main opposition party is now the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), whose leaders were formerly allied with President Kibaki.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.

KENYA GOVERNMENT
The unicameral National Assembly consists of 210 members elected to a term of 5 years from single-member constituencies, plus 12 members nominated by political parties on a proportional representation basis. The president appoints the vice president and cabinet members from among those elected to the assembly. The attorney general and the speaker are ex-officio members of the National Assembly.

The judiciary is headed by a High Court, consisting of a Chief Justice and High Court judges and judges of Kenya's Court of Appeal, all appointed by the president.

Local administration is divided among 69 rural districts, each headed by a commissioner appointed by the president. The government has proposed 37 more districts, but these are not yet ratified by Parliament. The districts are joined to form seven rural provinces. Nairobi has special provincial status. The Ministry of State in charge of Provincial Administration and Internal Security supervises the administration of districts and provinces.

Principal Government Officials
President--Mwai Kibaki
Vice President--Moody Awori
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Raphael Tuju
Ambassador to the United States--Peter Ogego
Ambassador to the United Nations--Zachary Muita-Muburi
Consulate General Los Angeles--Ms. Nyambura Kamau

Kenya maintains an embassy in the United States at 2249 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-387-6101, website: http://www.kenyaembassy.com) and consulates in Los Angeles and New York.

KENYA POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Since independence, Kenya has maintained remarkable stability despite changes in its political system and crises in neighboring countries. Particularly since the re-emergence of multiparty democracy, Kenyans have enjoyed an increased degree of freedom.

In December 2002, Kenyans held democratic and open elections, which were judged free and fair by international observers. The 2002 elections marked an important turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution as the presidency and the parliamentary majority passed from the party that had ruled Kenya since independence to a coalition of new political parties. The government lost a referendum over its draft constitution in November 2005. This vote too was widely accepted as free, fair and credible.

Under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, the NARC coalition promised to focus its efforts on generating economic growth, improving and expanding education, combating corruption and rewriting the constitution. The first two goals were largely met, but progress toward the second two goals has been limited. President Kibaki's current cabinet consists of Members of Parliament from allied parties and others recruited from opposition parties who joined the cabinet without the approval of their party leaderships.

In early 2006, revelations from investigative reports of two major government-linked corruption scandals rocked Kenya and led to resignations, including three ministers (one of whom was later re-appointed). In March 2006, another major scandal was uncovered involving money laundering and tax evasion in the Kenyan banking system. The government's March 2006 raid on the Standard Group media house conducted by masked Kenyan police was internationally condemned and was met with outrage by Kenya media and civil society. The government did not provide a sufficient explanation. No one has been held accountable.

Kenya is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2007. President Kibaki is running for re-election. Opposition candidates include Raila Odinga of the ODM party and Kalonzo Musyoka of the ODM-K party.