tional conference held in 1960, devised the Macleod constitution which mapped out the way to inde- pendence.The new constitutional arrangement which started in 1961 included:
(a) Expanding Legco to: 33 Africans, 10 Europeans, eight Asians and two Arabs, elected on separate voters’ rolls;
(b) Specially elected Members retained at 12 in the same ratio.
In the same year, the ban of
On the basis of the Macleod con-
stitution, a general election on a common voters roll was held in 1961, in which KANU won the majority but declined to join the government, instead insisting on the release of Mzee Kenyatta. The Maulding constitution was
devised during the second Lancaster House constitutional conference held in 1962.The bicameral Parliament was elected on a common adult suf- frage:
(a) House of Representatives (Lower
The party would later rejoin
KANU in August 1963. In May 1963, the first general election was contested for the first time by African political parties. In the following month,KANU
established the first internal self gov- ernment of 18 Ministers, celebrated today as Madaraka Day. By the end of the year, full Independence was attained, with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta sworn in as Prime Minister and head of govern- ment, and Governor Sir Malcolm Macdonald given the title of
Voting in a tent set-up as a polling booth during election time.
nationwide political activities for Africans was lifted. The Kenya African National Union (KANU) was founded at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu under interim chairperson James Samuel Gichuru on 27 March followed by the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) founded at Ngong under chairperson, Mr Ronald Gideon Ngala on 25 June.
House) with 117 constituency and 12 special seats
(b) Senate (Upper House) with 41 district seats;
(c) Regional (Majimbo) federal system of government to be established.
In 1962, the African Peoples Party (APP) –founded by Paul Joseph Ngei – broke away from KANU.
Governor-General and Head of State representing H.M Queen Elizabeth II.
The Kenya National Assembly – 1963 to the present day This era of Parliament will be dis- cussed under three headings:
(i) The Mzee Jomo Kenyatta era – 1 June 1963-22 August 1978