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Kenya's 1963 Constitution, also called the Independence Constitution, was based on the standard "Lancaster House template" used for the former British colonies in Africa, was subject to early amendments, and was replaced in 1969.

Under the Constitution of Kenya, the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, was represented as head of state by a Governor-General of Kenya. The Constitution also provided for a bicameral parliament, the National Assembly, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each province had an elected assembly.

In 1964, the Constitution was amended to make the country a republic with the President as both head of state and head of government, and in 1966, the membership of the Senate and House of Representatives was combined to form a unicameral National Assembly.

History

The KANU and the KADU

The Kenya African National Union (KANU) and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) were the two major political parties in Kenya during the early 1960s, KANU being the more popular of the two. The KADU and the KANU had opposing views on government structure and as both parties were involved in the development of the Independence Constitution, this made the process more difficult as evident throughout the Independence Conferences.

The KANU were pushing for a largely centralized government structure where power would be concentrated at the center while the KADU were proponents to regionalism, where power would vary distributed across a variety of geographical regions.

The Independence Conferences

Between the years 1960 and 1963, three Independence Conferences, also named the Lancaster House Conferences (Kenya), were held between British officials, European settlers, and a Kenyan delegation at the Lancaster House. These conferences were instrumental in setting Kenya up for independence from the British and for uniting the political factions in Kenya. The Independence Conferences represented two things. One, that there was a great imbalance of power that Britain still had over Kenya even at the brink of independence and two, that there were deep internal divisions between Kenya's political factions that posed a threat to the stability of the fledgeling independent state.

Before "setting Kenya free" the British wanted to ensure that their interests, which were primarily land related, were still remained a priority in Kenya. The KANU and KADU had continual disagreements over the course of the first two conferences which prevented any true progress from being made.

Independence Conference of 1960

The first Independence Conference was dominated by demands by both the British government and Kenyan delegation with no formal solutions defined. Britain introduced the Westminster format that the constitution would follow and the Kenyan delegation argued for representation, the ability to participate in their own government systems, and the release of political prisoners.

Independence Conference of 1962

By 1962, the KANU and KADU had been formed and their political animosity toward each other was evident at the Independence Conference of 1962. While the Kenyan delegation was more representative of the Kenyan population as a whole, the disagreements of the dominant political parties over regionalism and centralized government dominated the conversation made the interests of the indigenous Kenyans nonexistent.

This conference ended with further construction of what government would look like Kenya but still no constitution.

Independence Conference of 1963

Jomo Kenyatta became the Prime Minister of Kenya after the 1963 general election which resulted in the KANU being the dominant political party in Kenya. As a result, the political tensions that had been present at previous Independence Conferences were absent at this final conference. The Independence Conferences took place between September 25 and October 19, 1963 and the Independence Constitution was finally completed. On December 12, 1963 Kenya officially declared its independence.

Basic Outline

As the Independence Constitution was based off the Westminster system, it followed the basic structure of having a legislative, executive, and judiciary branch. The Constitution also outlined a Bill of Rights.

Chapters

Chapter 1: Citizenship

Chapter 2: Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual

Chapter 3: The Governor-General

Chapter 4: Parliament

Chapter 5: Executive Powers

Chapter 6: Regions

Chapter 7: Special Provisions Relating to Legislative and Executive Powers of the Centre and the Regions

Chapter 8: Finance

Chapter 9: Police

Chapter 10: The Judicature

Chapter 11: The Public Service of Kenya

Chapter 12: Land

Chapter 13: Local Government

Chapter 14: Alternation of Regional Boundaries

Chapter 15: Miscellaneous

Bill of Rights

Property

1. The compulsory acquisition of the property of any individuals must have public justifications.
2. The justification for the acquisition of the property of another must be reasonable.
3. Those who have their property taken are entitled to full compensation for their loss.

Discrimination

Discrimination is defined by the Constitution to be "affording different treatment to different persons attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, tribe, place of origin, political opinions, colour or creed whereby persons of one such description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another such description are not made subject, or are accorded privileges or advantages which are not accorded to persons of another such description."

The Kenyan Constitution states that no law may be made to discriminate against another nor may any person discriminate against another and claim it was justified through law or governmental authority.

However, for all that it says against discrimination, the Constitution does permit some forms of discrimination.

Citizenship

As a newly created country, Kenya had never had dealt with ideas of Kenyan citizenship before and set about doing so with considerable difficulty.

Government Structure

Legislature

Kenya's legislature was bicameral.

Executive

Changed as the focus from regionalism to centrism occurred.

Judiciary

Primary function was to uphold the Constitution.

Regions

Highly contested portion of the Constitution because of the differences in opinion between the KANU and KADU.

Amendments

Between the years 1964 and 1969, the Independence Constitution had 10 amendments added to it.

No.	Action	Year	Description
1	28	1964	Established Kenya as a Republic with a president and set up structures for succession.
2	38	1964	Began stripping power from regional governments.
3	14	1965	Completed the destabilization of regionalization and weakened the amendment process for the constitution.
4	17	1966	Enforced attendance requirements for Members of Parliament and gave the President the power to appoint and fire public officials.
5	17	1966	Enforced attendance requirements for Members of Parliament and gave the President the power to appoint and fire public officials.
6	18	1966	Gave the President increased power while removing the power in other branches to check the executive.
7	40	1966	Established a unicameral legislature.
8	16	1968	Abolished regionalism.
9	45	1968	General Election established at the way to elect a President.
10	5	1969	Brought together previously listed amendments.

Public Reception of the Independence Constitution

From the start of the Independence Conferences in 1960, Kenyas were averse to the idea of basing their constitution on the Westminster model.