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Kenya
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
Kenya is an East African country with a diverse landscape and a population of over 47 million people. Its capital city is Nairobi, which is also the largest city, while Mombasa, a significant port city on the Indian Ocean, is the second-largest. Other notable cities include Kisumu and Nakuru.
Kenya is bordered by South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Indian Ocean. The country's geography ranges from snow-capped mountains, like Mount Kenya, to arid deserts such as the Chalbi and Nyiri deserts. Its climate varies from temperate in the western and rift valley regions to arid in the northern areas.
In 1895, the British government assumed control of Kenya's interior up to Lake Naivasha, establishing the East Africa Protectorate. By 1902, this border extended to Uganda, and in 1920, Kenya became a crown colony. The Rift Valley and Highlands were designated for white settlers, leading to conflicts, particularly with Indian communities. Europeans engaged in extensive coffee farming using Kikuyu labor.
The fertile land attracted migration and conflict. Initially, Germany controlled Zanzibar's coastal areas but ceded them to Britain in 1890. Local resistance, such as that led by Kikuyu chief Waiyaki Wa Hinga, who was killed by the British in 1892, was significant. Financial struggles caused the British East Africa Company to transfer control to the British government in 1895, leading to direct rule and white settlement by 1902. The railway from Mombasa to Kisumu, completed in 1901, was vital for development and migration, with many Indian workers remaining in Kenya.
European settlement aimed to boost the economy, while Africans were primarily involved in subsistence farming. The railway helped combat slavery, witchcraft, disease, and famine, with anti-witchcraft laws introduced from 1909. The Maasai were forcibly relocated in 1911, causing grievances among the Kikuyu. Initially, the colonial administration relied on traditional chiefs but later involved educated younger men in local councils. Local opposition to the railway, notably from Koitalel Arap Samoei of the Nandi, was significant. European settlers gained political power in 1920, but Africans were excluded until 1944.
During World War I, Kenya served as a British military base, facing significant German resistance. The British mobilized over 400,000 Africans through the Carrier Corps, contributing to political awakening. An early anti-colonial movement, Mumboism, emerged in South Nyanza, suppressed by colonial authorities. Post-WWI, African political organization grew, driven by opposition to pro-settler policies, taxes, and land issues. Figures like Harry Thuku and movements such as the Young Kikuyu Association and Kikuyu Central Association advocated for African rights, laying the groundwork for future political activity. The Kikuyu Central Association (KCA), led by figures like Johnstone Kenyatta, focused on unifying the Kikuyu and fighting for African rights.
During the interwar period, political activity remained local, particularly among the Luo. By the 1930s, government policies on education, land, and market controls led to increased political mobilization. European settlers, thriving from coffee and tea farming, gained political influence, while Africans were excluded from meaningful representation. During World War II, Kenya was a crucial British military base. The war stimulated African nationalism, with 98,000 men serving in the King's African Rifles. Post-war, African ex-servicemen sought to maintain socioeconomic gains, leading to increased political activism.
Between 1920 and 1945, British officials aimed to modernize Kikuyu farming, facing resistance. Similar pressures affected Luo traditional farming, leading to commercial agriculture and urban migration. British religious missions shifted to addressing social and educational needs during WWII. The Kenya African Union (KAU), founded in 1944 by Harry Thuku, evolved from earlier Kikuyu movements, demanding land and political representation. Under Jomo Kenyatta, KAU sought broader tribal support, becoming a significant force for nationalism.
The Mau Mau Uprising (1952-1956), led by Kikuyu militants, resulted in intense conflict. Despite suppression, it catalyzed reforms, ending land reservation by race and easing racial policies, setting Kenya on the path to independence. In 1962, a KANU-KADU coalition government, including both Kenyatta and Ngala, was formed. The 1962 constitution established a bicameral legislature consisting of a 117-member House of Representatives and a 41-member Senate. The country was divided into seven semi-autonomous regions, each with its own regional assembly. The quota principle of reserved seats for non-Africans was abandoned, and open elections were held in May 1963. KADU gained control of the assemblies in the Rift Valley, Coast, and Western regions. KANU won majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives and in the assemblies in the Central, Eastern, and Nyanza regions. Kenya achieved internal self-government with Jomo Kenyatta as its first president. The British and KANU agreed, over KADU protests, to constitutional changes in October 1963, strengthening the central government and ensuring that Kenya would be a de facto single-party state. Kenya attained independence on 12 December 1963 as the Commonwealth realm of Kenya and was declared a republic on 12 December 1964 with Jomo Kenyatta as Head of State. In 1964, constitutional changes further centralized the government and various state organs were formed. One of the key state organs was the Central Bank of Kenya, which was established in 1966.
The British government bought out the white settlers, who mostly left Kenya. The Indian minority dominated retail business in the cities and most towns but was deeply distrusted by the Africans. As a result, 120,000 of the 176,000 Indians kept their old British passports rather than become citizens of an independent Kenya; large numbers left Kenya, most of them headed to Britain. Once in power, Kenyatta swerved from radical nationalism to conservative bourgeois politics. The plantations formerly owned by white settlers were broken up and given to farmers, with the Kikuyu the favored recipients, along with their allies, the Embu and the Meru. By 1978, most of the country's wealth and power was in the hands of the organization which grouped these three tribes: the Kikuyu-Embu-Meru Association (GEMA), together comprising 30% of the population. At the same time, the Kikuyu, with Kenyatta's support, spread beyond their traditional territorial homelands and repossessed lands "stolen by the whites" – even when these had previously belonged to other groups. The other groups, a 70% majority, were outraged, setting up long-term ethnic animosities.
The minority party, the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), representing a coalition of small tribes that had feared dominance by larger ones, dissolved itself voluntarily in 1964 and former members joined KANU. KANU was the only party from 1964 to 1966 when a faction broke away as the Kenya People's Union (KPU). It was led by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, a former vice-president and Luo elder. KPU advocated a more "scientific" route to socialism—criticizing the slow progress in land redistribution and employment opportunities—as well as a realignment of foreign policy in favor of the Soviet Union. On 25 February 1965, Pio Gama Pinto, a Kenyan of Goan descent and freedom fighter who was detained during the colonial period, was assassinated in what is recognized as Kenya's first political assassination. He was also Oginga Odinga's chief tactician and link to the Eastern bloc. His death dealt a severe blow to Oginga Odinga's organizational efforts.
The government used a variety of political and economic measures to harass the KPU and its prospective and actual members. KPU branches were unable to register, KPU meetings were prevented, and civil servants and politicians suffered severe economic and political consequences for joining the KPU. A security Act was passed in Parliament in July 1966, granting the government powers to carry out detention without trial, which was used against KPU members. In a series of dawn raids in August 1966, several KPU party members were arrested and detained without trial. They included Ochola Mak'Anyengo (the secretary general of the Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union), Oluande Koduol (Oginga Odinga's private secretary), and Peter Ooko (the general secretary of the East African Common Services Civil Servants Union).
In June 1969, Tom Mboya, a Luo member of the government considered a potential successor to Kenyatta, was assassinated. Hostility between Kikuyu and Luo was heightened, and after riots broke out in Luo country, the KPU was banned. The specific riots that led to the banning of the KPU resulted in the incident referred to as the Kisumu massacre. Kenya thereby became a one-party state under KANU.
Ignoring his suppression of the opposition and continued factionalism within KANU, the imposition of one-party rule allowed Mzee ("Old Man") Kenyatta, who had led the country since independence, to claim he had achieved "political stability." Underlying social tensions were evident, however. Kenya's very rapid population growth and considerable rural-to-urban migration were in large part responsible for high unemployment and disorder in the cities. There also was much resentment by blacks at the privileged economic position held by Asians and Europeans in the country.
At Kenyatta's death on 22 August 1978, Vice-president Daniel arap Moi became interim President. On 14 October, Moi formally became president after he was elected head of KANU and designated its sole nominee. In June 1982, the National Assembly amended the constitution, making Kenya officially a one-party state. On 1 August, members of the Kenyan Air Force launched an attempted coup, which was quickly suppressed by Loyalist forces led by the Army, the General Service Unit (GSU) – the paramilitary wing of the police – and later the regular police, but not without civilian casualties.
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