The President is the head of state and government, as in most republics. He is also the Commander-in-chief of the Kenya Defence Forces.

The President has the power to appoint every leader within the executive including Cabinet Secretaries and the Attorney General of Kenya.

Kenya has had a total of 4 presidents. Two of the former Presidents, Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi, are deceased. The longest serving president was Moi who served for a total of 24 years.

Qualifications:

• Must be a Kenyan citizen by birth;
• Is qualified to stand for election as a member of Parliament;
• Must not owe allegiance to a foreign state;
• Must be a registered voter;
• Is a holder of a degree from a University recognized in Kenya;
• Is nominated by a Political Party or is an independent candidate;
• Must not be a public officer or acting in any State of public office other than, President, Deputy President or Member of Parliament;
• Must meet the moral and ethical requirements under the Leadership and Integrity Act;
• 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 a person of unsound mind;
• 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:

All requirements for President apply to the Deputy President)

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

• Certified copies of educational qualification certificates, including a Degree Certificate in accordance with Section 22 of the Elections Act, 2011 and Regulation 47 of Elections (General) Regulations, 2012.
• 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 dated and 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).
  • For both Political Party Candidates and Independent Candidates, an electronic and printed copy of not fewer than 2000 voters from each of the majority of the counties in the prescribed form.
• Nomination fees in a Banker’s Cheque payable to IEBC:
  • 200,000 for candidates
  • 100,000 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 and a printed copy of a list of at least 2000 supporters from each of the majority of the counties in the prescribed form, submitted to the Commission.
• A duly filled Form of Intention to Contest, prescribed by the Commission.
• A symbol the candidate intends to use during the election, which has been approved by the Commission 21 days before Nomination day.
• 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