In 1 June 1963, the
Dominion of Kenya had her first prime minister. The head of state remained
Queen Elizabeth II who was represented through a governor-general in Kenya. The governor-general could then select a prime minister from whichever political party had the majority in the House of Representatives; the prime minister would be head of government;
Jomo Kenyatta was elected as the first prime minister of Kenya on 27 May 1963. The prime minister office was only effective up to 12 December 1964, before Kenya became a republic; Kenyatta became president. Following the
2007–2008 Kenyan crisis, H.E. the late President
Mwai Kibaki and Hon.
Raila Odinga reached an agreement to form a coalition government on 28 February 2008. Kibaki was to remain the head of state, while Odinga would have a new role of prime minister. Both would appoint half the cabinet. Both leading coalitions produced a deputy prime minister:
Musalia Mudavadi for
ODM, and
Uhuru Kenyatta for
PNU. The prime minister office was reestablished through the
National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008. The post was abolished in 2013 after the
Constitution of Kenya was changed, which did not provide for the office of prime minister, making Kenya a purely presidential system. Efforts have been initiated to reintroduce the office through constitutional amendment through the
Building Bridges Initiative constitutional referendum attempt. On 31 March 2022, the
Supreme Court of Kenya upheld the rulings of the lower courts, ruling that, "The Constitution Amendment Bill of 2020 is unconstitutional," because President Kenyatta [Uhuru] initiated the amendments through his creation of the Presidential Taskforce on Building Bridges to Unity Advisory, and vocal endorsement of the legislation crafted based on their findings. ==Prime ministers of Kenya (1963–1964; 2008–2013)==