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That Edith Nyenze was last week nominated to succeed her husband, Francis Nyenze, in the Kitui West parliamentary race did not come as a surprise.
If she triumphs in the by-election scheduled for March 26, Mrs Nyenze will be joining the league of politicians who took over parliamentary seats from family members.
Her husband served as Minority Leader in the last Parliament before he died on December 6, 2017 from colon cancer.
While many fought to carve a leadership niche for themselves, a good number of leaders today have names that are easily recognizable from the country's past political arena.
The death of Kipkalya Kones alongside Lorna Chepkemoi Laboso in a plane crash on June 10, 2008 occasioned two parliamentary by-elections, one in Bomet and the other in Sotik constituencies on September 25, 2008.
In Bomet constituency, Kipkalya Kones' window, Beatrice, won her husband's seat on an Orange Democratic Party (ODM) party ticket.
In the neighboring Sotik constituency, Laboso's sister, Joyce Cherono Laboso won the seat. Ms Laboso is the current Governor for Bomet County.
In Naivasha, the late Paul Kihara was the first MP for Naivasha constituency when it was created in 1997. He served the people of Naivasha until February 2003 when he died in a South African Hospital after a long illness.
During the by-election, his wife, Jayne Kihara, won the seat.
Pundits and some of the leaders who have inherited the seats see nothing wrong with hereditary politics.
Philip Chebunet, a political science lecturer, says because of their proximity to power, close relatives of prominent politicians enjoy a lot of media exposure from a tender age.
“By the time they want to contest, they are well known. It is therefore hard for an upcoming politician to enjoy such publicity; they are disadvantaged by obscurity,” said Dr Chebunet.
Governor Joyce Laboso, who was elected as Sotik MP in 2008 following the death of her sister, Lorna Laboso, says there is nothing wrong with hereditary politics.
"As long as one is capable of articulating their constituents' issues and can deliver on the mandate given by electorate, I don't think it is bad for anyone to inherit an elective position," she said.
Critics say hereditary politics has consequences on the country's democratic legitimacy.
"It creates a situation where a small number of families monopolise political power, undermining the quality of democratic representation," says veteran politician Koigi Wa Wamwere.
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