Hon Aden Keynan Wehliye is a National Assembly MP in Northern Kenya. He served Wajir West from 1997 to 2002 and then from 2007 to 2013. He then moved to Eldas constituency.
Which was curved from Wajir West. Keynan served as Eldas MP in the 11th Parliament. He was then re-elected to serve the same constituency in the 12th parliament.
He represented the Orange Democratic Movement until 2017, when he switched to the Jubilee Party. He was re-elected to parliament in 2022.
Education and Early Career
Keinan received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree at Moi University and Kenyatta University, respectively.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Public Administration (honoris causa) by Commonwealth University in collaboration with the London Graduate School.
Before joining politics, Keinan was a Director at the National Housing Corporation between 1996 and 1997.
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Social and Parliamentary Responsibilities
In 2011, he formed a foundation, the Adan Keynan Foundation, to help afforestation, education, and youth and women empowerment in Wajir county.
He was first elected into parliament in 1997 as an MP for the then Wajir West parliamentary seat.
He has held a seat on the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) for three parliamentary terms, serving as its Vice Chairman between 2011 and 2012.
Committees of Parliament
He was Chairman of the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee during the Tenth Parliament.
In the Eleventh Parliament, he chaired the Public Investment Committee, where he also investigated and audited state expenditure.
Which included the defunct Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited. He has also been a member of the House Business Committee of the Kenyan Parliament.
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1998 and 2002
He served in the Finance and Planning and Trade Committee and the Administration, National Security, and Local Government Committees between 1998 and 2002.
Keinan is a member of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Also, as Parliamentarians for Global Action and Parliamentarians Against Corruption, and an Executive Committee.
Global Responsibilities and County Honors
Member of the Commonwealth Association of Public Accounts Committees. He is also a former member of the Kenya National Audit Commission.
Keynan is known as the “kingmaker” of Wajir politics. In 2013, the relatively inexperienced politician Ahmed Abdullahi was encouraged by Keynan to challenge Mohamed Abdi Mohamud as Wajir Governor and won the election.
In the 2017 general election, Keynan led all elected leaders in the Jubilee Party and offered his support for Amb Mohamed Abdi Mohamud as governor, which again was successful.
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Awards
Keynan received the Spirit of Detroit Award at Michigan State University in 1999 in recognition of his dedication to improving the quality of life in Kenya.
In 1999, he received an award in the Role of Legislatures in Governance, Washington DC, and in 2013 he was awarded the Chief Order of the Burning Economic.
This was with the First Class Spear commendation by the President of Kenya for distinguished service to humanity and Kenya.
