Part II The Relationship Between the Legislature and the Executive, 4 Kenya’s Budding Bicameralism and Legislative–Executive Relations

This chapter examines the changes in the 2010 Kenyan constitution, which have resulted in a higher degree of separation of powers between the legislature and executive with an elaborate system of checks and balances. The decision to opt for a presidential system of government (as opposed to a parliamentary or mixed one) and the re-introduction of the Senate are the defining features of the legislative and executive organs. However, the new system is superimposed on a longstanding institutional and political culture that was based on the presence of executive dominance in legislative affairs in a unicameral setting. The new system of government will, therefore, operate in a broader social, political, and historical context that will have a greater impact on their overall effectiveness.