How To Become A Member Of Parliament in Kenya

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Mesothelioma Survival Rates About 40 percent of patients with mesothelioma survive the first year after diagnosis. That survival rate depends on many factors, including age, cancer stage, cancer type, race and gender. TANGAZO Kenyans in every constituency elect a Member of Parliament every five years. We are a country that practices representative democracy. We elect persons to represent us in government and to manage and distribute resources to us.
Therefore, a Member of Parliament is integral to running the affairs of the state and government.
Article 1 of the Constitution says that all sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya. The people may exercise their sovereign power either directly or through their democratically elected representatives. Therefore, the people delegate this sovereign power under the Constitution to parliament as a state organ. A Member of Parliament forms one of the bases of the legislative body that is parliament.
A Member of Parliament exercises this sovereign power at the national level. The devolved system of governance brought about the county governments. These are semi-autonomous local governments with their own legislative arms. A Member of Parliament has no jurisdiction at the county level. They can only exercise their power at the national level. The MCAs handle the legislative work at the county level.
A Member of Parliament plays three key roles. These are representation, legislation, and oversight. The fourth role, which cuts across the other three, is resource (budget) allocation. For representation, they should promote the interests of the people who elected them. For legislation, they should make and amend laws in parliament. They should also play oversight over the Executive arm of the government and other state organs. The oversight function ensures transparency and accountability. For budget allocation, they play a key role in resource sharing by determining what each government ministry, department, and agency gets.
The term Member of Parliament (MP) refers to the Senators, Women Representatives, and MPs representing the Constituencies. The National Assembly has 290 MPs representing the Constituencies, 12 nominated MPs and 47 Women Representatives. The Senate has 47 MPs elected to represent the Counties and 20 nominated MPs.

Qualifications to become a Member of Parliament (Article 99, CoK).

First, the person must be a registered voter. Second, they should satisfy any educational, moral, and ethical requirements prescribed by the Constitution or by an Act of Parliament. Currently, MPs do not need any educational requirements by law. However, there is a proposal before the National Assembly to ensure MPs have university degrees by 2017. Chapter 6 of the Constitution forms the basis of moral and ethical requirements to becoming a Member of Parliament. It deals with leadership and integrity.  The Leadership and Integrity Act is an Act of Parliament that supplements Chapter 6.
Third, a political party should nominate the Member of Parliament to vie for their desired seat. For the National Assembly, at least 1000 registered voters in the Constituency should support the MP. For the Senate, at least 2000 registered voters in the county should support the MP (senator). The support is in form of signatures.
A person should not be a member of a registered political party to become an independent political candidate. The person should also not have been a member for at least 3 months immediately before the election date.  For the National Assembly, at least 1000 registered voters in the Constituency should support the MP. For the Senate, at least 2000 registered voters in the county should support the MP (senator).

Disqualification from being a Member of Parliament

A person can fail to qualify as a member of parliament:

1. If the person is a State officer or other public officer, other than a Member of Parliament.
2. has, at any time within the five years immediately preceding the date of election, held office as a member of IEBC.
3. has not been a citizen of Kenya for at least the ten years immediately preceding the date of election.
4. is a member of a county assembly.
5. is of unsound mind.
6. is an undischarged bankrupt.
7. is subject to a sentence of imprisonment of at least six months, as at the date of registration as a candidate, or at the date of election; or
8. is found, in accordance with any law, to have misused or abused a State office or public office or in any way to have contravened Chapter Six.

Recalling a Member of Parliament in Kenya.

Article 104 of the Constitution allows the public to recall an MP. Section 45 of the Elections Act (2011) contains the grounds for recalling a Member of Parliament. Anyone can recall a Member of Parliament if:

• the due process of the law finds the MP to have violated the provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution.
• the due process of the law finds the MP to have mismanaged public resources.
• the court convicts an MP of an offence under the Elections Act.