Weeks before the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report was launched to the public at the Bomas of Kenya, there was a lot of talk about a change in the country's governance structure.
At the heart of that debate was the prospect of Kenya embracing a parliamentary system away from the current presidential system.
Even though the BBI report has not recommended a parliamentary system, there are those who contend that the report could be altered in the public participation phase to introduce the controversial governance structure.
What would a parliamentary system mean for Kenya in the event that Kenyans embrace it?
To understand what it would mean, it is important first of all to develop an understanding of what a parliamentary system is.
Britannica defines a parliamentary system as "democratic form of government in which the party (or a coalition of parties) with the greatest representation in the parliament (legislature) forms the government, its leader becoming prime minister or chancellor. Executive functions are exercised by members of the parliament appointed by the prime minister to the cabinet."
What that would mean in practice is that Kenyans would only have the opportunity to elect the legislators and not the prime minister.
The leader of a political party with the biggest number of legislators would have the opportunity to form the next government and be the prime minister.
He or she would work at the mercy of legislators of his or her party.
That is the distinction between a parliamentary system and a presidential system which centres on how the head of government is elected.
In the presidential system, it is the people that elect but in the parliamentary system, it is the legislators that elect.