Requirements to vie as a Member of Parliament in Kenya

The National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Kenya. Requirements to vie as a Member of Parliament in Kenya. Between 1966 and 2013, it served as a unicameral house. In 2013 (11th Parliament), it became the lower house when the Senate was reestablished.

It has a total of 349 seats: 290 elected from the constituencies, 47 women elected from the counties and 12 nominated representatives. The Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya serves as an ex officio member.

The High Court of Kenya ordered lawmakers to introduce gender quotas, or face dissolution in the mid-2010s, following the implementation of the 2010 Constitution.

Requirements to vie as a Member of Parliament in Kenya

NOTICE is hereby given to the public on the qualifications and requirements for candidates contesting for elective positions together with nominees to Party Lists in the upcoming General Election scheduled to be held on 9th August, 2027

Qualifications:

• Must be a Kenyan citizen for at least 10 years before the election
• Must not hold allegiance to a foreign state
• Must be a registered voter
• Is nominated by a Political Party or is an independent candidate
• Must meet the statutory moral and ethical requirements under the Leadership and Integrity Act;
• Must have been Kenyan citizens for at least 10 years;
• Must not hold dual citizenship unless citizenship of the other country has been obtained by operation of law without capacity to opt out;
• Must not be an undischarged bankrupt;
• Must not be subject to a sentence of imprisonment of at least six months from the date of registration of candidates or date of elections;
• Must not have been found to have abused or misused state or public office or contravened Chapter Six of the Constitution; and
• Must not have been dismissed or removed from public office for contravening the provisions of Articles 75, 76, 77 and 78 of the Constitution

Requirements:

The Candidate must submit the following documents to the Commission during the Commission Nomination:

• A copy of a National Identity Card/valid Passport (the document used by the candidate to register as a voter)
• A Passport size photograph with white background submitted in hard and soft copy.
• If a Party Candidate, a Nomination Certificate from a fully registered political party nominating the candidate, duly signed by an authorized official of the party
• A duly signed and dated Code of Conduct (Second Schedule of the Elections Act, 2011)
• A duly filled Commission Nomination Form, including an original Statutory Declaration Form for purposes of nomination (Regulation 18(3) Elections (General) Regulations, 2012) and an original Self-Declaration Form (Regulation 46 of Elections (General) Regulations, 2012)

Nomination fees in a Banker’s Cheque payable to IEBC:

• 20,000 for candidates
• 10,000 for a candidate who is a youth, a woman or a person with a disability

For an Independent Candidate

• A Clearance Certificate from the Registrar of Political Parties certifying that the person was not a member of any political party for the last 3 months before the elections; (Regulation 15(a) (General) Regulations, 2012
• An electronic version and the duly filled list of at least 1000 supporters in the prescribed form, submitted to the Commission.
• Be accompanied by copies of the identity cards of the 1000 supporters.
• A duly filled Form of Intention to Contest submitted to the Commission in the prescribed form.
• A symbol the candidate intends to use during the election, which has been approved by the Commission
• Establish and maintain a functioning office in the respective electoral area where the candidate is contesting, which must be available for inspection by the Commission at least 45 days before the elections. The address, including the physical address of the office must be communicated to the Commission.