The Typical Age of a Kenyan MP is 48 years

According to data from the 13th parliament, the typical age of a Kenyan MP is 48 years, with Western and Nyanza regions electing slightly older lawmakers at an average of 54 and 52 years, respectively. Joseph Maero Oyula, who represents Butula Constituency, is the oldest parliamentarian in the 13th parliament at the age of 75. He was reelected after a long career in civil service. Johnson Manya Naicca, the Member of Parliament for Mumias West, closely follows as the second oldest parliamentarian in the 13th parliament. He won the election at the age of 72.

During the 1983 and 1988 Kenyan elections, the typical age of a member of parliament was 43 years. The average age of MPs has increased by 5 years over the 40-year period. The consecutive reelection of MPs is one of the contributing factors to the rise in age among parliamentarians. An instance of this is Shakeel Shabir, who has been a Member of Parliament for Kisumu East since 2008 and is currently 69 years old.

The average age of MPs in Sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest among all regions, with an average age of 49 years. The global mean age of male MPs is 53 years, while that of female MPs is 50 years. As of 2015, there were 46,552 MPs worldwide, with an average of 245 parliamentarians per country. China has the largest parliament, with 3,000 members in the Chinese National People’s Congress, while Micronesia has the smallest parliament with only 14 MPs. Globally, there are 8,716 women parliamentarians, representing 19% of the total number of MPs. In the 13th parliament, Kenya has 27 elected women MPs out of a total of 290 MPs.