CHAPTER III
PARLIAMENT
PART 1
Composition of Parliament

Legislative power

30. The legislative power of the Republic shall vest in the Parliament of Kenya, which shall consist of the President and the National Assembly.

Composition of National Assembly

31. Subject to this Constitution, the National Assembly shall consist of elected members elected in accordance with section 32, nominated members appointed in accordance with section 33 and the ex officio members.

Election of  elected members

6 of 1992 s.7

32 —(1) Kenya shall be divided into constituencies in accordance with section 42, and each constituency shall elect one elected member to the National Assembly in such manner as, subject to this Constitution, may be prescribed by or under any law.

(2) Every person who is registered in a constituency as a voter in elections of elected members shall, unless he is detained in lawful custody, or is disqualified by law from voting in those elections on the ground of his having been convicted of an offence connected with elections or on the ground of his having been reported guilty of such an offence by the court trying an election petition, be entitled so to vote in that constituency in accordance with the law; and no other person may so vote.

(3) (Repealed by 6 of 1992, s. 7).

Nominated  members

9 of 1997 s.5

33. (1) Subject to this session, there shall be twelve nominated members of the National Assembly appointed by the President following a general election, to represent special interests.

(2) The persons to be appointed shall be persons who, if they had been nominated for a parliamentary election, would be qualified to be elected as members of the National Assembly.

(3) The persons to be appointed shall be nominated by the parliamentary parties according to the proportion of every parliamentary party in the National Assembly, taking into account the principle of gender equality.

(4) The proportions under subsection (3) shall be determined by the Electoral Commission after every general election and shall be signified by the chairman of the Commission to the leaders of the concerned parliamentary parties, the President and the Speaker.

(5) The names of the nominees of parliamentary parties shall be forwarded to the President through the Electoral Commission who shall ensure observance of the principle of gender equality in the nominations.

Qualifications for election

1 of 1979 s.2

7 of 1982 s.5

12 of 1991 s.4

34 —Subject to section 35, a person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly if, and shall not be qualified unless, at the date of his nomination for election--

(a) he is a citizen of Kenya who has attained the age of twenty-one years; and

(b) he is registered in some constituency as a voter in elections to the National Assembly; and

(c) he is able to speak and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read the Swahili and English languages well enough to take an active part in the proceedings of the National Assembly; and

(d) he is nominated by a political party in the manner prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.

Disqualifications for election

5 of 1979 s.3

35 —(1) Subject to any order made under subsection (6), a person shall not be qualified to be elected as an elected member if, at the date of his nomination for election, he -

(a) is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign state; or

(b) is under sentence of death imposed on him by a court in Kenya, or is under sentence of imprisonment (by whatever name called)