The
Republic of Kenya is a country in
East Africa.
Lying along the Indian Ocean
, at the equator, Kenya is
bordered by Ethiopia
(north),
Somalia
(northeast), Tanzania
(south), Uganda plus Lake Victoria
(west), and Sudan
(northwest). The capital city is Nairobi
.
Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas. The
population has grown rapidly in recent decades to nearly 38
million. Kenya has numerous wildlife reserves, containing thousands
of animal species.
The
country is named after Mount Kenya
, a significant landmark and the second among the
highest mountain peaks
of Africa, and both were originally usually in English, though
the native pronunciation and the one intended by the original
transcription Kenia was . During the presidency of
Jomo Kenyatta in the 1960s, the
current English pronunciation of became widespread because his name
retained the native pronunciation. Before 1920, the area now known
as Kenya was known as the
British
East Africa Protectorate and so there was no need to mention
mount when referring to the mountain.
History
Prehistory
Giant crocodile fossils have
been discovered in Kenya, dating from the
Mesozoic Era, over 200 million years ago.
The
fossils were found in an excavation conducted by a team from the
University of
Utah
and the National Museums of Kenya in
July–August 2004 at Lokitaung Gorge, near Lake Turkana
.
Fossils found in East Africa suggest that primates roamed the area
more than 20 million years ago. Recent finds near Kenya's Lake
Turkana indicate that
hominids such as
Homo habilis (1.8 and
2.5 million years ago) and
Homo
erectus (1.8 million to 350 000 years ago) are
possible direct ancestors of modern
Homo sapiens and lived in Kenya during the
Pleistocene epoch.
In 1984 one particular
discovery made at Lake
Turkana by famous palaeoanthropologist Richard Leakey and Kamoya Kimeu was the skeleton of a Turkana boy belonging to Homo erectus
from 1.6 million years ago. Previous research on early
hominids is particularly identified with
Mary Leakey and
Louis
Leakey, who were responsible for the preliminary archaeological
research at
Olorgesailie and
Hyrax Hill. Later work at the former was
undertaken by
Glynn Isaac.
Pre-colonial history
Cushitic-speaking people, as termed by
Schloezer, from
northern Africa,
moved into the area that is now Kenya beginning around 2000 BCE.
Arab traders began frequenting the Kenya coast
around the 1st century CE. Kenya's proximity to the
Arabian Peninsula invited
colonization, and
Arab and
Persian settlements sprouted along
the coast by the 8th century, though some of the "Arabs", like in
much of East Africa, were
Afro-Arabs.
During the first millennium CE,
Nilotic and
Bantu-speaking peoples moved into
the region, and the latter now comprise three-quarters of Kenya's
population. The Kenyan coast had served host to communities of
ironworkers and communities of subsistence
farmers, hunters and fishers who supported the economy with
agriculture, fishing, metal production and trade with foreign
countries. Around the 6th or 9th century CE Kenya switched to a
maritime-based economy and began to specialize in shipbuilding to
travel south by sea to other port cities such as Kilwa and Shanga
along the East African coast.
Mombasa
became the
major port city of pre-colonial Kenya in the Middle Ages and was
used to trade with other African port cities, Persia, Arab traders,
Yemen and even India. 15th century Portuguese voyager
Duarte Barbosa claimed, "[Mombasa] is
a place of great traffic and has a good harbour in which there are
always moored small craft of many kinds and also great ships, both
of which are bound from Sofala and others which come from Cambay
and Melinde and others which sail to the island of Zanzibar."
In the centuries preceding colonization, the Swahili coast of Kenya
was part of the east African region which traded with the Arab
world and India especially for
ivory and
slaves (the
Ameru tribe
is said to have originated from slaves escaping from Arab lands
some time around the year 1700.
Initially these traders came mainly from
Arab states, but later many also came
from Zanzibar
(such as Tippu
Tip).
Swahili, a Bantu language with
Arabic,
Persian and other Middle Eastern and South
Asian loan words, later developed as a
lingua franca for trade between the
different peoples.
The
Luo of Kenya descend from early agricultural
and herding communities from western Kenya's early pre-colonial
history. The Luo along with other tribes associated with the
Nilotic language group, are known to have
originated from the north of Kenya, probably the northern regions
of modern Sudan. The
Nilotes as they are
known, are an anthropological group that originated from the
northeastern regions of Africa. They may have moved south because
of the wars that characterized the growth of territories such as
Kush and Egypt. In Kenya, this group
comprises the Luo,
Kalenjin, the
Turkana and the
Maasai as the
main groups. This is clearly evidenced by the presence of similar
dialects among certain tribes in modern day Sudan.
These tribes, include
the Acoli and Lwo (not same
as Luo) who occupy modern Darfur
region.
There are also other tribes belonging to this group in Uganda and
Tanzania.
This is attributed mainly to the Luo's
affinity to Lake
Victoria, which they
have stuck to throughout the three countries (Uganda, Tanzania and
Kenya). In Uganda, they are known to have established the
Buganda Kingdom and the
Toro Kingdom. The Luo in Kenya are known to
have fought numerous wars with their neighbors, notably the
Kalenjin, for control of the lake.
Throughout the centuries, the Kenyan Coast has played host to many
merchants and explorers. Among the cities that line the Kenyan
coast is the City of Malindi. It has remained an important Swahili
settlement since the 14th century and once rivaled Mombasa for
dominance in this part of East Africa. Malindi has traditionally
been a friendly port city for foreign powers.
In 1414, the Arab
Sultan of Malindi initiated diplomatic relations with Ming Dynasty
China
during the
voyages of the explorer Zheng He.
Malindi
authorities welcomed the great Portuguese
explorer,Vasco da
Gama, in 1498.
Colonial history
The
Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore the region of
current-day Kenya, Vasco da Gama
having visited Mombasa in 1498. Gama's voyage was successful in reaching
India
and this permitted the Portuguese to trade with the
Far East directly by sea, thus challenging
older trading networks of mixed land and sea routes, such as the
Spice trade routes that utilized the
Persian
Gulf
, Red
Sea
and caravans to reach
the eastern Mediterranean. The Republic of Venice
had gained control over much of the trade routes
between Europe and Asia. After traditional land routes to
India had been closed by the
Ottoman
Turks, Portugal hoped to use the sea route pioneered by Gama to
break the once Venetian trading monopoly.
Portuguese rule in
East Africa focused mainly on a coastal strip centred in Mombasa. The Portuguese presence in
East Africa officially began after 1505, when
flagships under the command of
Don
Francisco de Almeida conquered
Kilwa, an
island located in what is now southern
Tanzania.
The Portuguese presence in East Africa served the purpose of
control trade within the Indian Ocean and secure the sea routes
linking Europe to Asia. Portuguese naval vessels were very
disruptive to the commerce of Portugal's enemies within the western
Indian Ocean and were able to demand high tariffs on items
transported through the sea given their strategic control of ports
and shipping lanes.
The construction of Fort Jesus
in Mombasa in 1593 was meant to solidify Portuguese
hegemony in the region, but their influence was clipped by the
English, Dutch and Omani
Arab incursions into the region during the 17th
century. The Omani Arabs posed the most direct challenge to
Portuguese influence in East Africa and besieged Portuguese
fortresses, openly attacked naval vessels and expelled the
remaining Portuguese from the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts by 1730.
By this time the
Portuguese Empire
had already lost its interest on the spice trade sea route because
of the decreasing profitability of that business.
Portuguese-ruled
territories, ports and settlements remained active to the south, in
Mozambique
, until 1975.
Omani Arab
colonization of the Kenyan
and Tanzanian coasts brought the once independent
city-states under closer foreign scrutiny and
domination than was experienced during the Portuguese period. Like
their predecessors, the Omani Arabs were primarily able only to
control the coastal areas, not the interior.
However, the creation
of clove plantations, intensification of
the slave trade and relocation of the
Omani capital to Zanzibar in 1839 by Seyyid Said
had the effect of consolidating the Omani power in the
region. Arab governance of all the major ports along the
East African coast continued until British interests aimed
particularly at ending the slave trade and creation of a
wage-labour system began to put pressure on
Omani rule. By the late nineteenth century, the slave trade on the
open seas had been completely outlawed by the British and the Omani
Arabs had little ability to resist the Royal Navy's ability to
enforce the directive. The Omani presence continued in Zanzibar and
Pemba until the 1964
revolution, but the official Omani Arab presence
in Kenya was checked by German and British seizure of key ports and
creation of crucial trade alliances with influential local leaders
in the 1880s.
Nevertheless, the Omani Arab legacy in East
Africa is currently found through their numerous descendants found
along the coast that can directly trace ancestry to Oman
and are
typically the wealthiest and most politically influential members
of the Kenyan coastal community.
400 px
However,
most historians consider that the colonial history of Kenya dates
from the establishment of a German
protectorate
over the Sultan of Zanzibar's coastal possessions in 1885, followed by the
arrival of the Imperial British East
Africa Company in 1888. Incipient imperial rivalry was
forestalled when Germany handed its coastal holdings to Britain in
1890. This followed the building of the
Kenya-Uganda railway passing through the
country. This was resisted by some tribes — notably the
Nandi led by
Orkoiyot Koitalel Arap Samoei for ten years from
1895 to 1905 — still the British eventually built the railway.
It is believed that the
Nandi were the first tribe to be
put in a native reserve to stop them from disrupting the building
of the railway. During the railway construction era, there was a
significant inflow of Indian peoples who provided the bulk of the
skilled manpower required for construction. It was during this
time, while building the railroad through the
Tsavo National Park, that a number of
the Indian railway workers and local African labourers were
attacked by two lions known as the
Tsavo
maneaters. They and most of their descendants later remained in
Kenya and formed the core of several distinct Indian communities
such as the
Ismaili Muslim and
Sikh communities.
At the outbreak of
World War I in August
1914, the governors of
British East
Africa (as the Protectorate was generally known) and
German East Africa agreed a truce in an attempt to
keep the young colonies out of direct hostilities. However
Lt Col Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck took
command of the German military forces, determined to tie down as
many British resources as possible. Completely cut off from Germany
by the
Royal Navy, von Lettow conducted
an effective
guerilla warfare
campaign, living off the land, capturing British supplies, and
remaining undefeated.
He eventually surrendered in Zambia
eleven days
after the Armistice was signed in
1918. To chase von Lettow the British deployed
Indian Army troops from India and then
needed large numbers of porters to overcome the formidable
logistics of transporting supplies far into the interior by
foot. The
Carrier Corps was
formed and ultimately mobilised over 400,000 Africans, contributing
to their long-term politicisation.
During the early part of the 20th century, the interior central
highlands were settled by British and other European farmers, who
became wealthy farming
coffee and
tea. By the 1930s, approximately 30 000 white
settlers lived in the area and were offered many
political powers due to their effect on the economy. The area was
already home to over a million members of the
Kikuyu tribe, most of whom had no land claims in
European terms (but the land had belonged to the ethnic group
before the Europeans had arrived), and lived as itinerant
farmers. To protect their interests, the settlers
banned the growing of coffee, introduced a hut
tax, and the landless were granted less and less land in
exchange for their labour. A massive exodus to the cities ensued as
their ability to provide a living from the land dwindled.
In 1951,
Sir Horace Hector Hearne
became Chief Justice in Kenya (coming
from Ceylon
, where he
had also been Chief Justice) and sat in the Supreme Court in
Nairobi. He
held that position until 1954 when he became an
Appeal Justice of the
West African Court of Appeal.
On the
night of the death of King George VI,
5 February 1952, Hearne escorted The Princess Elizabeth,
Duchess of Edinburgh, as she then was, to a state dinner at the
Treetops
Hotel
, which is now a very popular tourist
retreat. It was there that she "went up a princess and came
down a Queen".
She returned immediately to England
, accompanied by Hearne.
From October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was under a state of
emergency arising from the
Mau Mau
rebellion against British rule. The governor requested and
obtained British and African troops, including the
King's African Rifles. In January
1953,
Major General Hinde was
appointed as director of
counter-insurgency operations. The
situation did not improve for lack of intelligence, so
General Sir George Erskine was appointed
commander-in-chief of the colony's armed forces in May 1953, with
the personal backing of
Winston
Churchill.
The capture of Warũhiũ Itote (aka
General
China) on 15 January 1954, and the subsequent interrogation led
to a better understanding of the Mau Mau command structure.
Operation Anvil opened on 24 April
1954, after weeks of planning by the army with the approval of the
War Council.
The operation effectively placed Nairobi under
military siege, and the occupants were screened and the Mau Mau
supporters moved to detention
camps. May 1953 also saw the
Home Guard officially recognized as a
branch of the Security Forces. The Home Guard formed the core of
the government's anti-Mau Mau strategy as it was composed of
loyalist Africans, not foreign forces like the
British Army and
King's African Rifles. By the end of
the emergency the Home Guard had killed 4686 Mau Mau, amounting to
42% of the total insurgents.
The capture of Dedan Kimathi on 21 October 1956, in Nyeri
signified
the ultimate defeat of the Mau Mau and
essentially ended the military offensive.
Post-colonial history
The first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council
took place in 1957. Despite British hopes of handing power to
"moderate" African rivals, it was the
Kenya African National Union
(KANU) of Jomo Kenyatta that formed a government shortly before
Kenya became independent on 12 December 1963.
During the same year,
the Kenyan army fought the Shifta War
against ethnic Somalis determined to
see the NFD join with the
Republic of Somalia. The
Shiftas inflicted heavy casualties on the Kenyan armed forces but
were defeated in 1967.
Kenya,
fearing an invasion from militarily stronger Somalia, in 1969
signed a defence pact with Ethiopia which is still in effect. Suffering from
droughts and floods, the NFD is the least developed region in
Kenya.
However, since the 1990s, Somali
refugees-turned-wealthy businessmen have managed to transform the
one-time slum of Eastleigh
into the most prosperous commercial centre of
Eastlands and increasingly much of Nairobi.
On 12 December 1964 the Republic of Kenya was proclaimed and
Kenyatta became Kenya's first president. At Kenyatta's death in
1978,
Daniel arap Moi became
President. Daniel arap Moi retained the Presidency, being unopposed
in elections held in 1979, 1983 (
snap
elections) and 1988, all of which were held under the single
party constitution. The 1983 elections were held a year early, and
were a direct result of
an abortive military coup
attempt on 1 August 1982.
The abortive coup was masterminded by a lowly ranked Air Force
serviceman, Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka and was staged mainly by
enlisted men in the Air Force. The attempt was quickly suppressed
by Loyalist forces led by the Army, the General Service Unit
(GSU) — a paramilitary wing of the police — and later the
regular police, but not without civilian casualties. This event led
to the disbanding of the entire Air Force and a large number of its
former members were either dismissed or court-martialled.
The election held in 1988 saw the advent of the
mlolongo
(queuing) system, where voters were supposed to line up behind
their favoured candidates instead of a secret ballot. This was seen
as the climax of a very undemocratic regime and it led to
widespread agitation for constitutional reform. Several contentious
clauses, including one that allowed for only one political party
were changed in the following years . In democratic, multiparty
elections in 1992 and 1997, Daniel arap Moi won re-election. In
2002, Moi was constitutionally barred from running, and
Mwai Kǐbakǐ, running for the opposition
coalition "National Rainbow Coalition" —
NARC, was elected President. The
elections, judged free and fair by local and international
observers, marked a turning point in Kenya's democratic
evolution.
On November 4, 2008, a public holiday was declared to celebrate the
election of
Barack Obama, whose father
was a Kenyan, as
President of the United
States.
In rural areas like
Kisii District
the cases of people being burnt as witches is on the rise. Victims
have tended to be elderly people who are mostly women. In May 2008
11 people were killed and thirty houses torched.
Origins of the country's name
Until 1920 the area that is now Kenya was called the British East
African Protectorate.
In 1920 Kenya Colony was formed, named after
Mount
Kenya, and .
At independence, in 1963,
Jomo
Kenyatta was elected as the first president. He had previously
assumed this name to reflect his commitment to freeing his country
and his pronunciation of his name resulted in the pronunciation of
Kenya in English changing back to an approximation of the original
native pronunciation, .
Politics
Kenya is a
presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the
President is both the
head of state and
head of government, and of a
multi-party system.
Executive power is exercised by the
government.
Legislative power is
vested in both the
government and the
National Assembly. The
Judiciary is independent of the executive
and the legislature. However, there was growing concern especially
during former president Daniel arap Moi's tenure that the executive
was increasingly meddling with the affairs of the
judiciary.
Kenya has maintained remarkable stability despite changes in its
political system and crises in neighbouring countries. A
cross-party parliamentary reform initiative in the autumn of 1997
revised some oppressive laws inherited from the colonial era that
had been used to limit freedom of speech and assembly. This
improved public freedoms and contributed to generally credible
national elections in December 1997.
In December 2002, Kenyans held democratic and open elections, most
of which were judged free and fair by international observers. The
2002 elections marked an important turning point in Kenya's
democratic evolution in that power was transferred peacefully from
the
Kenya African Union (KANU),
which had ruled the country since independence to the
National Rainbow Coalition
(Narc), a coalition of political parties.
Under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, the new ruling coalition
promised to focus its efforts on generating economic growth,
combating corruption, improving education, and rewriting its
constitution. A few of these promises have been met. There is free
primary education. In 2007 the government issued a statement
declaring that from 2008, secondary education would be heavily
subsidised, with the government footing all tuition fees.
2007 elections
The last general elections were held on December 27, 2007. In them,
President Kibaki under the
Party of National Unity ran
for re-election against the main opposition party, the
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
The elections were seen to have been flawed with international
observers saying that they were below international standards.
After a split which would take a crucial 8% of the votes away from
the ODM to the newly formed
Orange Democratic
Movement-Kenya (ODM-K)'s candidate,
Kalonzo Musyoka, the race tightened between
ODM candidate
Raila Odinga and
Kibaki. As the count came in to the Kenyan Election
Commission, Odinga was shown to have a slight, and then substantial
lead. However, as the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) continued
to count the votes, Kibaki closed the gap and then overtook his
opponent by a substantial margin. This led to protests and open
discrediting of the ECK for complicity and to Odinga declaring
himself the "people's president" and calling for a recount.
The protests escalated into violence and destruction of property..
A group of eminent persons of Africa, led by former
United Nations secretary-general
Kofi Annan, brokered a peaceful solution to the
political stalemate.
This group enjoyed the backing of the UN,
European Union, African Union and United States
governments, as well as
those of various other notable countries across the world.
More information is available in
clashes in Kenya
.
Annan requested mediation support for his team on the Panel
Secretariat from the Swiss based conflict mediation organisation,
the
Centre for
Humanitarian Dialogue.
2008
On 28 February 2008, Kibaki and Odinga signed an agreement on the
formation of a
coalition government in
which Odinga would become Kenya's second prime Minister. Under the
deal, the president would also appoint cabinet ministers from both
PNU and
ODM camps depending
on each party's strength in
Parliament.
The agreement stipulated that the cabinet would also include a
vice-president and two deputy
Prime Ministers. After being debated
and passed by Parliament, the coalition would hold until the end of
the current Parliament or if either of the parties withdraws from
the deal before then.
The new office of the PM will have
power and
authority to co-ordinate and supervise the
functions of the Government and will be occupied by an elected
MP who will also be the leader
of the party or coalition with majority members in
Parliament.
The world watched Annan and his UN-backed
panel and African Union chairman Jakaya Kikwete as they brought
together the erstwhile rivals to the signing ceremony, beamed live
on national TV from the steps of Nairobi's Harambee House. On February 29, 2008,
representatives of
PNU and
ODM began working on the finer details of the
power-sharing agreement. Kenyan lawmakers unanimously approved a
power-sharing deal March 18, 2008, aimed at salvaging a country
usually seen as one of the most stable and prosperous in
Africa. The deal brought Kibaki's
PNU and Odinga's
ODM together and
heralded the formation of the
grand
coalition, in which the two political parties would share power
equally.
Grand coalition
On April 13, 2008, President Kibaki named a
grand coalition cabinet of 41
Ministers- including the prime
minister and his two deputies. The cabinet, which also included 50
Assistant Ministers, was sworn in at the State House in Nairobi on
Thursday, April 17, 2008 in the presence of Dr.
Kofi Annan and other invited dignitaries.
Provinces, districts, and divisions
Provinces of Kenya
Kenya comprises eight
provinces
each headed by a Provincial Commissioner (centrally appointed by
the president). The provinces (
mkoa singular
mikoa plural in
Swahili) are
subdivided into
districts
(
wilaya). There were 69 districts as
of 1999 census. Districts are then subdivided into 497
divisions (
taarafa). The
divisions are then subdivided into 2,427
locations (
mtaa) and then 6,612
sublocations (
mtaa mdogo). The City of Nairobi enjoys the
status of a full administrative province. The government supervises
administration of districts and provinces. The provinces are:
Local governance in Kenya is practised through
local authorities. Many urban
centres host city, municipal or town councils. Local authorities in
rural areas are known as county councils. Local councillors are
elected by civic elections, held alongside general elections.
Constituencies are an electoral subdivision. There are 210
Constituencies in Kenya.
Population of major cities
Geography and climate
At ,
Kenya is the world's forty-seventh largest country (after Madagascar
).From the coast on the Indian Ocean the Low plains rise to central highlands.
The highlands are bisected by the
Great Rift Valley; a fertile plateau in
the east. The Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful
agricultural production regions in Africa.
The highlands are the
site of the highest point in Kenya (and the second highest in
Africa): Mount
Kenya, which reaches and is also the site of
glaciers. Climate varies from
tropical along the coast to
arid in the interior.
Mount Kilimanjaro
( ) can be seen from Kenya to the South of the
Tanzanian border.
Kenya has
considerable land area of wildlife habitat,
including the Masai
Mara
, where Blue
Wildebeest and other bovids participate in
a large scale annual migration. Up to 250,000 blue
wildebeest perish each year in the long and arduous movement to
find forage in the dry season. The
"Big
Five" animals of Africa can also be found in Kenya: the
lion,
leopard,
buffalo,
rhinoceros and
elephant.
A significant population of other wild animals, reptiles and birds
can be found in the national parks and game reserves in the
country. The environment of Kenya is threatened by high population
growth and its side effects.
Kenya has a tropical climate. It is hot and humid at the coast,
temperate inland and very dry in the north and northeast parts of
the country. There is however a lot of rain between March and May,
and moderate rain in October and November. The temperature remains
high throughout these months.
| City |
Elevation (m) |
Max (°C) |
Min (°C) |
| Mombasa |
|
17 |
30.3 |
22.4 |
| Nairobi |
|
1,661 |
25.2 |
13.6 |
| Eldoret |
|
3,085 |
23.6 |
9.5 |
| Lodwar |
|
506 |
34.8 |
23.7 |
| Mandera |
|
506 |
34.8 |
25.7 |
The country receives a great deal of sunshine all the year round
and summer clothes are worn throughout the year. However, it is
usually cool at night and early in the morning.
The long rain season occurs from April to June. The short rain
season occurs from October to December. The rainfall is sometimes
heavy and often falls in the afternoons and evenings. The hottest
period is from February to March and coldest in July to
August.
The annual
animal migration -
especially migration of the
wildebeest -
occurs between June and September with millions of animals taking
part. It has been a popular event for filmmakers to capture.
Economy
20 shilling note from 1994, depicting
then-President Daniel arap Moi
After independence, Kenya promoted rapid economic growth through
public investment, encouragement of agricultural production, and
incentives for private and foreign industrial investment.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at
an annual average of 6.6% from 1963 to 1973. Agricultural
production grew by 4.7% annually during the same period, stimulated
by redistributing estates, diffusing new crop strains, and opening
new areas to cultivation.
Between 1974 and 1993, however, Kenya's economic performance
declined. Inappropriate agricultural policies, inadequate credit,
and poor international terms of trade contributed to the decline in
agriculture.
In 1993, the Government of Kenya began a major programme of
economic reform and liberalization.
A new minister of finance and a new
governor of the Central Bank of
Kenya undertook a series of economic measures with the
assistance of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF). As part of this programme, the
government eliminated price controls and import licensing, removed
foreign exchange controls, privatised a range of publicly owned
companies, reduced the number of
civil
servants, and introduced conservative fiscal and monetary
policies. From 1994 to 1996, Kenya's real GDP growth rate averaged
just over 4% a year.
Between 1997 and 2000, however, the economy entered a period of
slowing or stagnant growth, due in part to adverse weather
conditions and reduced economic activity. In 2001, GDP growth
improved slightly as rainfall returned closer to normal levels.
Economic growth continued to improve slightly in 2002 and reached
1.4% in 2003. it was 4.3% in 2004 and 5.8% in 2005.
In July 1997, the Government of Kenya refused to meet commitments
made earlier to the IMF on governance reforms. As a result, the IMF
suspended lending for 3 years, and the World Bank also put a
$90-million structural adjustment credit on hold. Although many
economic reforms put in place in 1993-94 remained, conservative
economists believe that Kenya needs further reforms, particularly
in governance, in order to increase GDP growth.
The Government of Kenya took positive steps on reform, including
the 1999 establishment of the Kenya Anti-
Corruption Authority (KACA), and
measures to improve the transparency of government procurements and
reduce the government payroll. In July 2000, the IMF signed a
$150 million
Poverty Reduction and
Growth Facility (PRGF), and the World Bank followed suit
shortly after with a $157 million Economic and Public Sector
Reform credit. The Anti-Corruption Authority was declared
unconstitutional in December 2000, and other parts of the reform
effort faltered in 2001. The IMF and World Bank again suspended
their programmes. Various efforts to restart the programme through
mid-2002 were unsuccessful.
Under the leadership of President Kibaki, who took over on December
30, 2002, the Government of Kenya began an ambitious economic
reform programme and has resumed its cooperation with the World
Bank and the IMF. The new
National Rainbow Coalition (NARC)
government enacted the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and
Public Officers Ethics Act in May 2003 aimed at fighting graft in
public offices. Other reforms especially in the judiciary, public
procurement etc., have led to the unlocking of donor aid and a
renewed hope at economic revival. In November 2003, following the
adoption of key anti-corruption laws and other reforms by the new
government, donors reengaged as the IMF approved a three-year
$250 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and donors
committed $4.2 billion in support over 4 years. The renewal of
donor involvement has provided a much-needed boost to investor
confidence.
The Privatisation Bill has been enacted although the setting up of
a privatisation commission is yet to be finalised, civil service
reform has been implemented and in 2007 the country won the UN
Public Service reform award. However a lot of work needs to be done
to make the country catch up with the rest of economic giants
especially the Far East. The main challenges include taking candid
action on corruption, enacting anti-terrorism and money laundering
laws, bridging budget deficits, rehabilitating and building
infrastructure. This hopefully will help in maintaining sound
macroeconomic policies, and speed up the rapidly accelerating
economic growth, which grew by 7.2% in 2007.
In 2007, the Kenyan government unveiled
Vision 2030, which is a very ambitious
economic
blueprint and which, if
implemented in its entirety, has the potential of putting the
country in the same league as the
Asian Economic Tigers.
Nairobi continues to be the primary communication and financial hub
of East Africa. It enjoys the region's best transportation
linkages, communications infrastructure, and trained personnel. A
wide range of foreign firms maintain regional branch or
representative offices in the city. In March 1996, the Presidents
of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda re-established the
East African Community (EAC). The
EAC's objectives include harmonizing tariffs and customs regimes,
free movement of people, and improving regional infrastructures. In
March 2004, the three East African countries signed a
Customs Union Agreement.
| GDP |
$17.43 billion (2005) at Market Price. $
41.36 billion (Purchasing Power Parity, 2006)There also exists
a large, informal economy that is never counted as part of the
official GDP figures. |
| Annual growth rate |
5.8% (2005): 2006 = 6.1% : Estimate for 2007 = 7.2% |
| Per capita income |
Per Capita Income (PPP)= $1,200 |
| Natural resources |
Wildlife, land (5% arable) |
| Agricultural produce |
tea, coffee, sugarcane, horticultural products, corn, wheat, rice, sisal, pineapples, pyrethrum, dairy products, meat and meat products,
hides, skins |
| Industry |
petroleum products, grain and sugar milling, cement, beer, soft
drinks, textiles, vehicle assembly, paper and light manufacturing,
tourism |
Trade in 2002
| Exports |
$2.2 billion |
tea, coffee, horticultural products, petroleum products,
cement, pyrethrum, soda ash, sisal, hides and skins, fluorspar |
| Major markets (2006) |
Uganda, United
Kingdom , Tanzania, Netherlands , United
States, Pakistan |
| Imports |
$3.2 billion |
machinery, vehicles, crude petroleum, iron and steel, resins
and plastic materials, refined petroleum products, pharmaceuticals,
paper and paper products, fertilizers, wheat |
| Major suppliers |
United Kingdom, Japan , South Africa, Germany , United Arab Emirates , Italy , India, France , United States, Saudi
Arabia |
Oil exploration
Early in
2006 Chinese
President Hu Jintao
signed an oil exploration contract with Kenya; the latest in a
series of deals designed to keep Africa's natural resources flowing
to China's rapidly-expanding economy.
The deal allowed for China's state-controlled offshore oil and gas
company,
CNOOC Ltd, to prospect for oil in
Kenya, which is just beginning to drill its first exploratory wells
on the borders of Sudan and Somalia and in coastal waters. No oil
has been produced yet, and there has been no formal estimate of the
possible reserves.
Demographics
Ethnicity and languages in Kenya
Kenya is a country of great ethnic diversity. Most Kenyans are
bilingual in
English and
Swahili, also a large percentage speak the mother
tongue of their ethnic tribe.
- Ethnic groups: Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%,
Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other
African 15%, non-African (Asian,
European, and Arab)
1%
- Largest cities
- Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu
, Nakuru
and
Eldoret
.
Religion in Kenya
The vast majority of Kenyans are Christian with 45% regarding
themselves as
Protestant and 33% as
Roman Catholic.Sizeable
minorities of other faiths do exist. There is a fairly large Hindu
population in Kenya (around 500,000), who have integrated well with
the community and play a key role in Kenya's economy. (
Muslim 10%,
indigenous beliefs 10%) but
estimates for the percentage of the population that adheres to
Islam or indigenous beliefs vary widely.Sixty percent of the Muslim
population lives in Coast Province, comprising 50 percent of the
total population there. Western areas of Coast Province are mostly
Christian. The upper part of Eastern Province is home to 10 percent
of the country's Muslims, where they are the majority religious
group and apart from a small ethnic Somali population in Nairobi,
the rest of the country is largely Christian.
Education
Kenya's
education system consists of early
childhood education, primary, secondary and college. Early
childhood education takes at least three years, primary eight
years, secondary four and university four or six years depending on
the course. Preschooling, which targets children from age three to
five, is an integral component of the education system and is a key
requirement for admission to Standard One (First Grade). At the end
of primary education, pupils sit the
Kenya Certificate of
Primary Education (KCPE), which determines those who proceed to
secondary school or vocational training. Primary school age is
6/7-13/14 years. For those who proceed to secondary level, there is
a national examination at the end of Form Four – the
Kenya Certificate of
Secondary Education (KCSE), which determines those proceeding
to the universities, other professional training or employment. The
Joint Admission Board (JAB) is responsible for selecting students
joining the public universities. Other than the public schools,
there are many private schools in the country, mainly in urban
areas. Similarly, there are a number of
international schools catering for
various overseas educational systems.
Historical Background
Independent Kenya's first system of
education was introduced by
British colonists. After Kenya's independence
on December 12, 1963, an authority named Ominde
Commission was formed to introduce changes
that would reflect the nation's sovereignty. The commission focused
on
identity and
unity, which were
critical
issues at the time. Changes in the
subject
content of
history and
geography were made to reflect national cohesion.
Between 1964 and 1985, the 7-4-2-3-system was adopted – seven
years of primary, four years of lower secondary, two years of upper
secondary, and three years of university. All schools had a common
curriculum.
In 1981, the Presidential Working Party on the Second University
was commissioned to look at both the possibilities of setting up a
second university in Kenya as well as the reforming of the entire
education system. The committee recommended that the 7-4-2-3 system
be changed to an 8-4-4 system (eight years in primary, four years
in secondary, and four
years in
university education). The table under
Present-day education in Kenya below shows the structure of the
8-4-4 system. Although the 7-4-2-3 system theoretically ended with
the introduction of the new 8-4-4 system in 1985, the last batch of
students from the former system graduated from Kenyan Universities
in 1992.
Present-day education in Kenya
The current 8-4-4 system was launched in January 1985. It put more
emphasis on vocational subjects on the assumption that the new
structure would enable school dropouts at all levels either to be
self-employed or to secure
employment in
the informal sector.
In
January 2003, the Government of Kenya
announced the introduction of free primary education. As a result,
primary school enrolment increased by about 70%. However, secondary
and tertiary education enrollment has not increased proportionally
because payment is still required for
attendance.
In class eight of primary school the Kenya Certificate of Primary
Examination (K.C.P.E.) is written. The result of this examination
is needed for placement at secondary school. In form four of
secondary schools the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination
(K.C.S.E.) is written. Students sit
examinations in eight subjects.
KCSE Grading System
| Grade |
A |
A- |
B+ |
B |
B- |
C+ |
C |
C- |
D+ |
D |
D- |
E |
| Points |
12 |
11 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
The
average grade is based on performance in
the eight subjects. Where a candidate sits for more than eight
subjects, the average
grade is based on the
best eight subjects. University matriculation is based on the best
eight and performance in particular subjects relevant to degree
courses.Example below:
| Subject |
Group |
Grade |
Points |
| English |
1 |
B+ |
10 |
| Kishwahili |
1 |
A- |
11 |
| Mathematics |
1 |
A |
12 |
| History & Government |
3 |
B |
9 |
| Geography |
3 |
A- |
11 |
| Physics |
2 |
B+ |
10 |
| Chemistry |
2 |
B- |
8 |
| Biology |
2 |
A- |
11 |
The total number of points is 81.
The average grade is 81 divided by 8, which equals 10.1
(approximately 10.0 points) which is Grade B+ according to the
grading system. This student qualifies to join one of the Public
Universities for his good score. Training institutions and
faculties and departments determine their own minimum entry
requirements.
Students who manage a grade of C+ qualify to do a degree course at
the University. Owing to competition, and fewer places at the
University, those with B and in a few cases B-, and above are taken
for degree courses at the
Public Universities
and benefit by paying government-subsidised fees. The rest join
private universities or
middle-level colleges.
Interestingly, the number of students admitted to public
universities through J.A.B depends on the total number of beds
available in all the public universities. Nonetheless, those who
miss out but attained the minimum university entry mark of C+ or C
with a relevant diploma certificate are admitted through the
parallel degree programmes (module II) if they can afford the full
fees for the course.
This has been the subject of much discussion with people
questioning the rationale and morality of locking out qualified
students from public institutions yet still admitting those who
come from financially able families.
Criticism
The Kenyan 8-4-4 system of
education has
weathered many storms in the 24 years of its existence. Immediately
after the first batch of students of this system graduated in 1989,
most of the country was up in arms, criticizing the government of
"haphazard adoption of the system". Critics claimed that the system
was producing "below par" graduates who could not effectively
compete with their counterparts from other parts of the world.
Others argued that the system had produced graduates who were
either too young or ill-prepared for the job market. The government
turned a deaf ear, probably because the prospect of overhauling the
new system was unwelcome for the cost that the exercise would
involve.
Over the years however graduates have proved critics wrong by
excelling in universities locally and abroad. Indeed, the
braindrain being experienced where health workers and scholars
emigrate to Western countries is proof of this. Many 8-4-4
graduates have also excelled in universities outside the
country.
The emphasis on vocational training has waned and recent changes to
the curriculum have now laid more emphasis on information
technology, sciences, mathematics and languages. In any case, the
academic workload and emphasis on passing written examinations has
left little room for carpentry, masonry, cooking and other
vocational training.
Culture
Kenya is a diverse country, with many different cultures
represented. Notable cultures include the
Swahili on the coast,
pastoralist communities in the north, and
several different communities in the central and western regions.
Today, the
Maasai culture is well known,
given its heavy exposure from tourism, however, Maasai make up a
relatively minor percentage of the Kenyan population. The Maasai
are known for their elaborate upper body adornment and
jewelry.
Kenya has an extensive music, television and theatre scene.
Sports
Kenya is active in several sports, among them
cricket,
rallying,
football ,
rugby
union and
boxing. But the country is
known chiefly for its dominance in Middle-distance and
long-distance athletics. Kenya has
consistently produced
Olympic and
Commonwealth Games champions in
various distance events, especially in 800 m, 1,500 m,
3,000 m steeplechase, 5,000 m, 10,000 m and the
marathons.
Kenyan athletes (particularly Kalenjin) continue to dominate the world of
distance running, although competition from Morocco
and Ethiopia has reduced this supremacy. Kenya's
best-known athletes included the four-time women's
Boston Marathon winner and two-time world
champion
Catherine Ndereba, former
Marathon world record-holder
Paul Tergat, and
John Ngugi.
Kenya won several medals during the Beijing Olympics, 5 gold, 5
silver and 4 bronze, making it Africa's most successful Nation in
the 2008 Olympics. New athletes gained attention, such as
Pamela Jelimo, the women's 800m gold medalist
who went ahead to win the
Golden
League jackpot, and
Samuel
Wanjiru who won the men's marathon.
Retired Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion
Kipchoge Keino helped usher in Kenya's
ongoing distance dynasty 1970s and was followed by Commonwealth
Champion
Henry Rono's spectacular string
of world record performances.
Lately,
there has been controversy in Kenyan athletics circles, with the
defection of a number of Kenyan athletes to represent other
countries, chiefly Bahrain
and Qatar
.
The
Kenyan Ministry of Sports has tried to stop the defections, but
they have continued anyway, with Bernard
Lagat the latest, choosing to represent the United States. Most of these defections occur because of
economic or financial factors however some elite Kenyan runners who
cannot qualify for their country's strong national team also find
it easier to qualify by running for other countries.
Kenya has also been a dominant force in ladies'
volleyball within Africa, with both the clubs and
the national team winning various continental championships in the
past decade. The women's team has also competed at the Olympics and
World Championships
but without any notable success.
Cricket is another popular and the most successful team sport.
Kenya has competed in the
Cricket World Cup since
1996. They upset some of the World's
best teams and reached semi-finals of the
2003 tournament. They also won the
inaugural World Cricket League Division 1 hosted in Nairobi and
participated in the World T20. Their current captain is
Steve Tikolo.
Kenya is making a name for itself in
rugby
union. It is popular in Kenya especially with the annual
Safari Sevens tournament.
Kenya sevens team
ranked 9th in IRB Sevens World Series for the 2006 season.
Kenya was a regional power in soccer but its dominance has been
eroded by wrangles within the
Kenya Football Federation.
This has
led to a suspension by FIFA
which was
lifted in March, 2007.
In the motor
rallying arena, Kenya is home
to the world famous
Safari Rally,
commonly acknowledged as one of the toughest rallies in the world,
and a part of the
World Rally
Championship for many years until its exclusion after the 2002
event owing to financial difficulties. Some of the best rally
drivers in the world have taken part in and won the rally, such as
Björn Waldegård,
Hannu Mikkola,
Tommi
Makinen,
Shekhar Mehta,
Carlos Sainz and
Colin
McRae. Though the rally still runs annually as part of the
Africa rally championship, the organisers are hoping to be allowed
to rejoin the World Rally championship in the next couple of
years.
Literary perspective
Ngugi wa Thiong'o is one of the
best known writers of Kenya. His book,
Weep Not, Child is an illustration of
life in Kenya during the British occupation. This is a story about
the effects of the Mau Mau on the lives of black Kenyans. Its
combination of themes—
colonialism,
education, and love—help to make it one of the best-known novels in
Africa.
M.G. Vassanji's 2003 novel
The In-Between World
of Vikram Lall won the
Giller Prize in 2003. It is the
fictional memoir of a Kenyan of Indian heritage and his family as
they adjust to the changing political climates in colonial and
post-colonial Kenya.
Since 2003, the literary journal
Kwani? has been publishing Kenyan contemporary
literature.
See also
References
- The Spelling of Kenya. B. J.
Ratcliffe. Journal of the Royal African Society, Vol. 42, No. 166
(Jan., 1943), pp. 42-44
- Kenya's first dinosaur dig yields fossil wealth,
ABC News Online, 2005-03-10
- Wonders of the African World - PBS
- Hybrid Urbanism By Nezar Al-Sayyad
- The African Dispersal in the Deccan By Shanti Sadiq
Ali
- Swahili Coast. Nationalgeographic.com.
- Sultan of Malinda, PBS
- Ismaili muslim
- Sikh
- "We Want Our Country". Time. November 05,
1965.
- Kenya, AfricaGenWeb
- Post-Independence Low Intensity Conflict In
Kenya
- Many Voters Stay Home as Kenya Drops Secret Ballot in
Parliamentary Election http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1241691.html
:The Washington Post Article date:February 25, 1988 Author:Blaine
Harden
- religiousfreedom.lib.virginia.edu/rihand/Kenya.html
- Horror of Kenya's 'witch' lynchings
- Mob burns to death 11 Kenyan 'witches'
- Kenya election violence threatens its economic gains
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/auvideo/2008-01/07/content_6375707.htm
-
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL0743589._CH_.2400
-
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20080113081804606C678503
- 'Hope is back' for Kenya - CNN.com at
edition.cnn.com
- Kenyan MPs pass power-share law
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/111A3F40-0FD9-4DCB-ACB0-822D1E3A09EA.htm
Al Jazeera English 18th March
- Central Bureaus of Statistics (Kenya): Census cartography: The Kenyan Experience
- Kenya Roads Board Constituency funding under the RMLF
- http://www.7thglobalforum.org/Forum_Information/unpsa.htm
-
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan026198.pdf
- U.S. Department of State
- IAAF: Changes of Allegiance 1998 to 2005
- New Vision, June 3, 2004: Wrangles land Kenya indefinite FIFA ban
- The Auto Channel, July 21, 2001: FIA RALLY: Delecour takes points finish on Safari Rally
debut
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