| Post: | Deputy President |
| Body: | the Republic of Kenya |
| Native Name: | Naibu Rais wa Jamhuri ya Kenya |
| Insignia: | Coat of arms of Kenya (Official).svg |
| Insigniasize: | 100 |
| Insigniacaption: | Coat of arms of Kenya |
| Residence: | The Deputy President's Mansion |
| Seat: | Nairobi |
| Appointer: | Direct popular vote or, if vacant, President |
| Style: | His Excellency/Her Excellency |
| Termlength: | Five years, renewable once |
| Incumbent: | Rigathi Gachagua |
| Incumbentsince: | 13 September 2022 |
| Inaugural: | Jaramogi Oginga Odinga |
| Constituting Instrument: | Constitution of Kenya |
| Salary: | KSh.14,724,000.00 annual[1] |
| Website: | www.deputypresident.go.ke |
The deputy president of the Republic of Kenya (Swahili: Naibu Rais wa Jamhuri ya Kenya) is the principal assistant of the President of the Republic of Kenya.[2]
Prior to the 2010 Constitution of Kenya, the deputy president was known as the vice president, and the president had the power to appoint and dismiss the vice president at will.
In order to remove the repeated abuse of this privilege, the new Constitution promulgated in 2010 mandated that the person nominated as the running mate of a candidate for the presidency during the elections becomes the deputy president-elect upon their candidate being declared the winner of the presidential elections. In addition to this change in appointing responsibility, unlike in the previous Constitution where the vice president usually held a secondary role of being a Cabinet Minister,[3] the new Constitution mandates that the deputy president is not permitted to hold any other state or public office and shall only perform the duties assigned to the office by the Constitution and by the president.
Since the country's independence, there has been one vacancy in the office, from 8 January 1998 until 3 April 1999. Three of Kenya's Vice/Deputy Presidents, Mwai Kibaki, Daniel arap Moi and William Ruto have gone on to serve as president, with the latter currently serving as the incumbent president since 13 September 2022.[4] Prior to this, he served as acting president for a few days after president Uhuru Kenyatta temporarily transferred his powers and office to appear before the International Criminal Court.[5]
The 2010 Constitution states that for a person to become the Deputy President, the person must be nominated as the running mate of a candidate in the presidential elections and the person must themselves qualify to be nominated as a candidate for election as president.[6]
Upon a person being nominated as a running mate and their candidate wins the elections, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission then declares that the candidate is the President-elect, and the running mate is subsequently the Deputy President-elect.
The Deputy President-elect takes office on the same day as the President-elect and serves from the date sworn in until:
The following is a summary of the responsibilities of the Deputy President as provided in the Constitution:[7]
| No. | Picture | Name | Term of office | Political party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
| Vice President of Kenya | |||||||
| 1 | Jaramogi Oginga Odinga | 12 December 1964 | 14 April 1966 | KANU | |||
| 2 | Joseph Murumbi | 3 May 1966 | 30 November 1966 | KANU | |||
| 3 | Daniel arap Moi | 5 January 1967 | 22 August 1978 | KANU | |||
| 4 | Mwai Kibaki | 14 October 1978 | 24 March 1988 | KANU | |||
| 5 | Josephat Karanja | 24 March 1988 | 1 May 1989 | KANU | |||
| 6 | George Saitoti | 1 May 1989 | 8 January 1998 | KANU | |||
| 3 April 1999 | 30 August 2002 | KANU | |||||
| 7 | Musalia Mudavadi | 4 November 2002 | 3 January 2003 | KANU | |||
| 8 | Michael Kijana Wamalwa | 3 January 2003 | 23 August 2003 | NARC | |||
| 9 | Moody Awori | 25 September 2003 | 9 January 2008 | NARC / PNU | |||
| 10 | Kalonzo Musyoka | 9 January 2008 | 9 April 2013 | ODM–K | |||
| Deputy President of Kenya | |||||||
| 11 | William Ruto | 9 April 2013 | 13 September 2022 | Jubilee | |||
| 12 | Geoffrey Rigathi Gachagua | 13 September 2022 | Incumbent | UDA | |||