Key
Facts
582,646 sq km
Nairobi
31 million
Official languages are English and Swahili, but most
people speak a tribal language first (there are 61 languages in use).
Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%,
Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African 1%
Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, indigenous beliefs
10%, Muslim 10%, other 2%.
Tea, coffee, horticultural products, petroleum products
Shilling
47 years
Map
Brief
History
The
“Cradle of Humanity” has long been a popular spot for paleontologists searching
for evidence of early modern humans. Stone and Iron Age cultures thrived in the
region, with the earliest of the modern inhabitants arriving in the region in
around 2,000 B.C.
Arabs settled in the area from the 10th century,
mingling with local cultures and trading into the interior. The Portuguese arrived
in the 16th century, occupying or sacking trading outposts right along the East
African coast. Their colonial rule was harsh, but their grip was tenuous, as the
posts needed to be supplied from Goa in India. The Arabs managed to win control
back from the Portuguese in 1720.
The region suffered a decline in prosperity
after the depredations of the Portuguese era, meaning the other European countries
had little interest in tapping into its wealth. In the interior, the Masai gradually
achieved control over many of the other groups, controlling the Rift Valley and
Abadere Highlands right up until the 1880s.
Disease, famine, and
war, took a considerable toll on the people during the late 19th century, as Britain
began to take an interest in the country. In their weakness, the Masai were forced
to give up much of their prime grazing land to the British for their planned railway
from Mombassa to Uganda. With the rail link established into the interior, more
white settlers arrived in the country, seizing more and more land. The Masai were
herded into reserves, unable to resist the white colonization.
When the
Africans, resisting white settlement, refused to work on the railway, Indian workers
were imported as labourers. These eventually stayed on and became merchants.
The country became part of the British East Africa Protectorate in 1895.
The white settlers maintained their hold on power until after WWI. In the 1920s,
however, the black resistance movement began to organize.
As white
settlers brought more prosperity to the nation, many of the native people were
left with little choice but to adapt to the new way of life. Some tribes, such
as the Kikuyu, still decided to rebel. The Mau Mau rebellion began in the 1950s.
More than 13,000 Africans were killed in the rebellion, while just 100 white people
died. The Kikuyu, largely responsible for the violence, were rounded up and by
1960, 80,000 of them were being held in concentration camps.
The Kenya
African National Union (KANU) was formed in 1960. Joseph Kenyatta, a long-time
independence leader who had spent many years under house arrest, was elected its
President. When he was freed in 1961, Kenyatta led a delegation to London to demand
the country’s independence. KANU won election in 1963, and Kenyatta became the
country’s first President when Kenya became independent later that year.
Kenyatta
led the country for the next 15 years. While during this period Kenya became one
of Africa’s most stable and prosperous nations, it wasn’t without internal conflict.
In 1969, Kenyatta’s former vice-president Oginga Odinga was detained and his rebel
party the Kenya People’s Union banned. In 1975, a former government minister and
government critic J.M. Kariuki was murdered, sparking riots around the country.
Kenyatta weathered these crises, however, holding onto power until his death in
1978.
Daniel Arap Moi was the sole candidate in the Presidential
elections in 1979. Promising to keep Kenyatta’s ideas alive, Moi launched campaigns
against tribalism and corruption. He also forged strong ties with Western countries,
the United States in particular. Moi had little tolerance for opposition groups
and criticism, however, and as more African countries embraced democracy through
the 1980s and early 90s, international aid for Moi’s Kenya began to dry up.
Finally giving in to pressure from the IMF, the World Bank, and major aid
donors, Moi called elections in 1993. He was given a lifeline when the opposition
party, the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) couldn’t decide on a
candidate – splitting behind three men. Moi won the election with just one-third
of the vote.
In 1995, anthropologist Richard Leakey helped form a new
opposition party to unite the opposition. Violence broke out in the Rift Valley
and on the coast, as people grew angry at increasing socio-economic disparities.
The government responded brutally, jailing dissidents and provoking protests from
international human rights groups. Opposition and church groups charged the government
with stirring up the tensions, however the government leveled the same charges
at the opposition. Despite the widespread protests and more united opposition,
Moi won the 1997 elections with just 40% of the vote, amid allegations of vote-rigging
and harassment.
Kenya
is looking at a new era, following recent elections in which KANU – the party
that had held power since the country’s independence – was finally voted out.
Mwai Kibaki became the third President of Kenya following the elections, ending
KANU’s forty-year stranglehold on power. Among Kibaki’s promises, a sweeping anti-corruption
campaign, free primary education, and a program to help the 10,000 children sleeping
on the streets in Nairobi.
Development
Issues
While
Kenya still has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world, last year saw
a drop in the rate from 13% in 2001 to 10.2% in 2002. The rates are still highest
in urban areas. In Nairobi, the prevalence rate is estimated at around 17%.
In May 2002, weeks of torrential rains led to serious flooding across the
country, killing 72 people and affecting around 200,000.
Kenya
is recovering from the drought, which hit the country from 1999-2000. More than
3 million people suffered food shortages, relying on food relief to survive.
Humanitarian advocacy groups won a major victory in December 2001, when the
circumcision of girls under-17 was banned. The campaign to ban the practice completely
continues.
While the recent introduction of free and compulsory primary
education is a positive step for the country’s children, the nation’s schools
are struggling to cope with the influx of new students. Some schools have seen
a 100% increase in the number of children, and overall there has been more than
one million new enrolments in school this year.
Corruption
continues to be a problem in Kenya’s institutions. Transparency International
estimates Kenyan’s are forced to pay a bribe in two out of three transactions
with public officials. The problem continues to cost the country millions of dollars
in aid, with the World Bank withdrawing its support for the country in 2001. However,
the new government has signaled its intention to fight the problem, appointing
a new “anti-corruption czar” and taskforce.
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