List of heads of state of Kenya

Kenya became a republic within the Commonwealth under a 1964 constitutional amendment and the monarch, governor-general and prime minister were replaced by an executive president.

Under the 1964 Constitutional Amendment establishing the Republic of Kenya, the president replaced the monarch as head of state and the prime minister as chief executive.

In the event of a vacancy the vice-president would have served as acting president for 90 days until new elections were held.

Following the enactment of the 1969 Constitution of Kenya, the system of election by the National Assembly was replaced by direct elections under a first-past-the-post system, yet true separation of powers was still not established; the president had to also be elected as an MP and he had to appoint ministers from among MPs, the president was still able to dissolve the National Assembly, and the Assembly was still able to declare no confidence in the ministers.

With the enactment of the 2010 Constitution, Kenya's current, the first-past-the-post system was replaced in presidential elections in favor of a two-round system, the post of vice-president was renamed deputy president and was made to automatically succeed to the presidency in case of a vacancy for the remainder of the term in a full, not merely acting, capacity, and the requirement of the president, DP, and ministers to also be MPs was abolished, finally establishing separation of powers between the executive and legislature.