Simple directory > Regional > Kenya

Country : Kenya Official name: Jamhuri ya Kenya (Republic of Kenya) Head of State: President Mwai Kibaki (Narc) (sworn in 30 Dec 2002) Head of government: President Mwai Kibaki Ruling party: National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) (elected 27 Dec 2002) Area: 582,646 square km Population: 33.52 million (2004) Capital: Nairobi Official language: KiSwahili and English Currency: Kenyan shilling (Ksh) = 100 cents (convertible with currencies of Tanzania and Uganda) Exchange rate: Ksh81.13 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$385 (2003) GDP real growth: 1.90% (2003) Labour force: 11.50 million (2003) Unemployment: 40.00% (2003) Inflation: 3.60% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$1.15 billion (2003) Foreign debt: US$5.70 billion (2003)

Historical profile

From the mid-nineteenth century British interest in the region grew and in 1895 Kenya was declared a British protectorate.

1944 The Kenyan African Union (KAU) was created to voice local demands for good land.

1947 KAU was led by Jomo Kenyatta, a prominent member of the Kikuyu tribe, who later became the first president of the Republic of Kenya.

1952 A state of emergency was announced in response to guerrilla activity against the British settlers by the Kikuyu-led secret society, the Mau Mau. More than 13,500 Africans were killed during the uprising, compared to less than 100 Europeans.

1953 The KAU was suspended. Kenyatta was detained.

1957 Africans were elected to the Legislative Council and offered ministerial posts.

1960 A new constitution gave Africans a majority in the Legislative Council. The KAU split: the Kenya African National Union (Kanu) (which had a strong Kikuyu and Luo membership) and the Kenya African Democratic Union (Kadu) were established.

1961 Kenyatta was freed and became president of Kanu and leader of an all-party African government.

1963 The Republic of Kenya was proclaimed and Kenyatta became president.

1964 Kadu was dissolved.

1978 Jomo Kenyatta died and was succeeded as president by Daniel arap Moi.

1979, 1983 and 1988 Only Daniel arap Moi stood in the presidential elections and there was no vote.

1992 After a lengthy period as effectively a one-party state, multi-party elections were held and President Moi was re-elected.

1997 President Moi and Kanu won the presidential and parliamentary elections.

1999 George Saitoti was appointed vice president. President Moi stated that he would step down in 2002.

2001 President Daniel arap Moi appointed the opposition National Development Party (NDP) leader, Raila Odinga, to his 26-member cabinet, forming Kenya's first coalition government.

2002 The NDP and Kanu announced a merger of the two parties in the run-up to the general election. Uhuru Kenyatta became Kanu's presidential candidate, leading to a wave of defections, including Raila Odinga, former leader of the NDP. Mwai Kibaki of the opposition, National Rainbow Coalition (Narc), won the presidential elections with 62.3 per cent of the vote against 31.2 per cent for Uhuru Kenyatta and 5.9 per cent for Simeon Nyachae of the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People (Ford-People).

For the first time since independence in 1963, the opposition won a presidential and parliamentary election. Kibaki was sworn in as president.

2003 A new draft constitution was presented to parliament, proposing a number of reforms.

2004 The deadline was missed for the enactment of the long-awaited new constitution, which proposes restricting presidential powers and creating a post of prime minister.

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