Claiming the space: The inclusion and participation of the youth in Kenya's 11th and 12th Parliaments

Under the Elections Act 91 , a political party that nominates candidates for election is required to submit a
party list with twelve members to be nominated to represent special interests in the National Assembly
and two members to represent the youth in the Senate. 92 The Constitution or nomination rules of the
political party determine the outcome of the party lists, meaning that those nominated have to already
be members of such a political party. 93 In preparing the party lists, political parties must comply with the
principles of non-discrimination against eligible candidates, inclusiveness, openness, transparency and
accountability. 94
It is on the basis of these lists that, once the general election results are declared, the IEBC designates the
specially elected MPs on the basis of proportional representation. 95
This places political parties at the center of promoting the inclusion of young people in Parliament,
by ensuring that the party lists for nomination of the 12 Members to the National Assembly, as well as
nominees to the Senate representing women and PWDs, have a fair share of persons under the age of 35.
For instance, the TNA nomination rules for 2013 provided that the party list for Senate women nominees
would alternate between a woman youth and an older woman, which assured half of the nomination slots
under this category would go to young women. Additionally, the National Assembly party list would alternate
between a man and a woman with the first 4 nominees representing Youth, PWDs and workers and that, of
the 12 names, there must be at least 2 nominees each representing youth, PWDs and workers. 96
Although the other main parties during the 2013 elections did not have similar provisions in their nomination
rules, the parties did include young people in their party lists for nomination to Parliament. Consequently,
during the 11th Parliament, there was a total of ten nominated Youth MPs, of whom two were the youth
nominees to the Senate, one was the youth nominee to the National Assembly, and the other seven were
nominated representing women, PWDs and other marginalized groups.
This changed dramatically during the 12th Parliament whereby, other than the specifically legislated quotas
for youth in the National Assembly and the Senate, only an additional two youth MPs were nominated
under the other categories, to bring the total to five. This marked a drop of 50% from the 11th to the
12th Parliament and illustrates the important role that political parties can play, through their respective
nomination procedures, to enhance the number of young people in Parliament.
Legislative and Institutional Arrangements Supporting the Work of Youth Parliamentarians
a) The Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (KYPA)
The KYPA is the caucus that brings together young MPs from the Kenya parliament, both the National
Assembly and the Senate, to collate and effectively articulate youth issues through advocacy and
legislation. The caucus supports youth MPs through, among others, continuous mentorship and capacity
building, policy and legislative research, as well as providing an avenue for young MPs to network and
support one another.
The KYPA is credited with advocating for and supporting legislation on, among others, review of the Public
Finance Management Act to operationalize UWEZO Fund and Youth Fund; amendment of procurement
laws to reserve one third of all government tenders for women, youth and persons with disability; enactment
of the National Employment Authority Act, and establishment of the Ajira platform.
91 No. 24 of 2011
92 Ibid, section 34(3)
93 Ibid, section 34(8)
94 The Elections (Party Primaries and Party Lists) Regulations 2017, section 4
95 The Elections Act, section 36(4)
96 The Youth Agenda (2013)
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CLAIMING THE SPACE: