1. GENERAL FACTS.

Location

 

Kenya lies across the equator on the East Coast of Africa. It borders Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan to the North, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the South and the Indian Ocean to the East.

Area

It Covers an area of 225, 000 sq miles (582, 646 sq km) Approximately the size of Texas State, U.S.A.

Administrative Divisions

Eight Provinces including the Nairobi area. The provinces are: Central, Coast, Eastern, North, Rift Valley, Western and North Eastern. These provinces are divided into administrative areas known as districts.

Climate

In the low-lying districts, particularly along the coast, the climate is tropical, hot and humid. On the Plateau and in the highlands the climate is more temperate. Western Kenya and most parts of Nyanza experience heavy conventional rain and have two rain seasons, the long rains from April to June and the short rains from October to November.
 

Population

Approximately 38,610,097 (2009)

Religion

Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, indigenous beliefs 10%, Muslim 10%, other 2%. 

2. GENERAL HISTORY.

The country's history dates to the Stone Age, making Kenya one of the countries in the world that possesses the largest and most complete record of man's cultural development. This is partly because of the country's rich variety of environmental factors conducive to human survival and development. According to archeological finds in various parts of the country, the prehistoric period can best be described under two categories; the Stone Age period which dates from about 2 million years ago and Neolithic period from about 10,000 to 2000 years ago. Available evidence indicates that man left behind traces of his occupation during the Iron Age through the pre-colonial period and up to the present time. The phases of the various periods are characterized by tools ranging from crude to advanced much smaller ones and relevant to the respective lifestyles. The sites for the tools are widespread in Kenya.

History is however not specific on the exact type of inhabitants who occupied Kenya between this early period and the 19th century when the British colonized the country. Islamic immigrants started settling at the coast during the 8th Century. Portuguese followed and are among the first known European settlers along the coast. Up to the 19th Century, very little was known of the Kenyan hinterland until the arrival of the British who came and colonized Kenya.

 

The colonization process was met with resistance which was countered with excessive force. Hence, most of Kenya's modern history is marked by rebellions against the British, with the first one being in 1890 and the last one, known as Mau Mau rebellion in 1952. The outbreak of the Mau Mau paved the way for constitutional reforms and development in subsequent years. In 1955, a myriad of political parties were formed all over the country after the colonial Government yielded to their formation. Elections were held in March 1957, after which racial barriers in the Government began to be lifted. By 1960, LEGCO had an African majority. In 1960, Kenya African National Union (KANU), which advocated for a unitary government was formed. In 1961, Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) which advocated a quasi-federal government (Majimbo) was also formed.

The first full franchise General Elections were held in May 1963 and KANU emerged the winner. In June 1963, Kenya attained internal self-government. On December 12th of the same year, independence was achieved with a complex Majimbo constitution which conceded much autonomy to the regions. On the first anniversary of independence in 1964, Kenya became a Republic with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta as the President. Following his death on August 22, 1978, Hon. Daniel arap Moi assumed the Presidency in accordance with the Kenyan Constitution. He ruled Kenya for 25 years. Following a general election held in 2002, Hon. Mwai Kibaki, the third President of the Republic of Kenya took office on 30th December 2002.

 

The last general elections were held in December, 2007 but the presidential vote results which had declared President Mwai Kibaki as the winner were disputed by the main opposition leader Mr. Raila Oding. Tribal clashes then broke up in some parts of the country in which over 1,000 people lost their lives and over 250,000 were chased away from their homes becoming internally displaced persons (IDPs). However, Following mediation talks headed by Mr. Kofie Annan, President Mwai Kibaki and Mr. Raila Odinga signed a peace agreement on 28th February, 2008 and peace and calm was restored in the country. A Grand Coalition Government was formed and inaugurated on 17th April, 2008. The Grand Coalition Government is headed by Hon. Mwai Kibaki as President, Hon. Raila Odinga as Prime Minister, Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka as Vice-President.

Origin of the name

Kenya is named after a mountain of the same name. The Kikuyu people who lived around present day Mt Kenya referred to it as Kirinyaga or Kerenyaga, meaning mountain of whiteness because of its snow capped peak. Mt Kirinyaga which was the main landmark became synonymous with the territory the British later claimed as their colony. However, the name Kenya arose out of the inability of the British to pronounce Kirinyaga correctly.

Early Visitors

The first people to settle in Kenya were indigenous African communities who migrated from various parts of the continent. Other visitors included traders, explorers and tourists who came in from various parts of the world such as Portugal, Arabia, Roman empire, India and Greece. They visited mainly the East African Coast from as early as the first century A.D. While the majority of the visitors went back to their countries, some settled, and intermarried with the local populations giving rise to a new Swahili culture along the Coast.

 

The civilisation base of craft industries, farming, fishing and international trade gave rise to both Coastal city states such as Siu, Pate, Lamu, Malindi, Gede, Mombasa and Vanga . Islam and Kiswahili language were also introduced . The traders from overseas brought such items as clothes, beads, wines, iron weapons, porcelain and handicrafts. These were exchanged for ivory, timber, gold, copper, rhinoceros horns, animal skins and slaves.

 

The first major European presence in East Africa started with the arrival of the Portuguese in the East African waters in 1498 when Vasco Da Gamas fleet made its initial forays on its way to the East Indies. On the first voyage his only negotiations were with the ruler of Malindi and, indeed, for the next hundred years this alliance was the foundation of the Portuguese network in the region. Their quest to control and dominate the lucrative Indian Ocean trade, the conquest of several city-states along the coast, and the establishment of their dominance, lasted 200 years.

 

The Portuguese presence was however, hated and resisted and there were many insurrections against them. For example, on the 16th August 1631, the Arab Sultan of Mombasa called Dom Jeronimo Chingulia entered the Portuguese Citadel of Fort Jesus with a band of followers through the passage of the Arches. He killed the Portuguese Captain, Pedro Leitao de Gamboa, and then gave the signal to his followers outside the Fort to set fire to the Portuguese houses in the town. There was no marked resistance and in the course of the next two weeks all the Portuguese were killed. The Portuguese were finally kicked out of the Coastal towns through a combination of local nationalisms, aided by the Omani Arabs. To ensure the Portuguese did not return, Sultan Seyyid Said of Oman moved his capital to Zanzibar and ruled the entire East African Coastline until the establishment of British rule.

Colonial Rule

The scramble for colonies in Africa among European countries reached fever pitch in 1884, when the Berlin Conference was convened to partition Africa amongst European colonial rivals. Among British acquisitions was the land we today call Kenya. A British trading company, Imperial British East Africa Company, was set up and posted to administer Kenya under the name British East Africa Protectorate. When it was realised that the company could not contain Kenyas hostile communities the British declared the country a colony and Protectorate on 1st July 1895 and posted the first Governor, Sir Arthur Hardinge, to establish a formal British administration.

 

The seventy years of colonial rule in Kenya were characterised by punitive economic, social and political policies. Most outstanding among these policies was racial discrimination. Huge fertile land was alienated for white settlement, and harsh labour laws were enacted to force the Africans to work at low wages on settler farms and public works. In addition, African political participation was confined to local government.

 

It was against this scenario that African protest movements began in earnest from the early 1920s. Several political associations, including the Young Kikuyu Association, East African Association, Young Kavirondo Association, North Kavirondo Central Association and Taita Hills Association, were formed to articulate African grievances against forced labour, low wages, heavy taxation, continuing land alienation, and racial discrimination.

 

Between 1944 and 1960 African political activity and pressure were intensified. In 1944, the first countrywide nationalist party, Kenya African Union (KAU) was formed. And in the same year the first African, Eliud Mathu, was nominated to the settler dominated Legislative Council. Unhappiness with the slow political and economic change led to the breakdown of law and order in the early 1950s, and in 1952 Governor, Sir Everlyn Baring declared a state of emergency following the outbreak of the Mau Mau rebellion, whose major grievances included land alienations, racial discrimination and lack of political progress.

 

The state of emergency, however, intensified political resolve for independence, forcing the colonial government to come up with constitutional proposals. Under the Lyttleton constitution of 1954 Africans were allowed to directly elect their representatives to the Legislative Council. The elections were held in 1957, and eight African leaders - Ronald Ngala, Tom Mboya, Daniel arap Moi, Mate, Muimi, Oginga Odinga, Oguda and Muliro, were elected. They stepped up agitation for widened representation and independence. After considerable discussion, it was decided to form a mass organization to mobilize the people for the final assault on colonialism, hence the birth of Kenya African National Union, (KANU). KANU was formed in March 1960, at Kiambu town, and on 11 June 1960, it was registered as a mass political society. But as the objective of freedom became evident, many of the smaller communities feared domination by the larger ethnic groups, and on June 25, 1960 they formed the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU). The first election on a broad electoral register was held in 1961, and was won by KANU. In another election in May 1963, KANU captured 83 of the 124 seats in the House of Representatives and formed the Madaraka Administration on 1st June 1963, and the independence Government on 12th December 1963, under Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

Independent Kenya

The first Government of independent Kenya immediately had to deal with some pressing economic and political problems. The priorities were acceleration of growth, Kenyanisation of the economy and redistribution of incomes. None of this, however, could be achieved without political stability, and it was first felt necessary to neutralize those elements in the country who supported extreme policies and who were undermining, rather than building confidence in the new nation. Thus, Kenya embarked on the road to peace and stability, which has made it possible for the country to realize great strides in development.

 

The country has had three Presidents since independence. Upon Jomo Kenyattas death on 22nd August 1978, Daniel arap Moi took over the leadership. He retired on 30th December 2002 in line with a constitutional Provision which limits the Presidential term to a maximum 10 years of 5 years each. This provision took effect in 1991 following the re-introduction of multipartism. Previously Kenya was a single party state.

 

Mwai Kibaki took over from Moi on 30th December 2002 to become Kenya's third President. Kibaki and his National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) won with a landslide in the December 27 2002 general elections, thus ending KANU's forty year stranglehold.

 

After the Presidential and Parliamentary elections held in December, 2008 that were highly disputed by Mr. Raila Odinga (main opposition challenger to President Mwai Kibaki), a negotiated agreement was reached in February, 2007 introducing the posts of Prime Minister and two Deputy Prime Ministers. A coalition Government was formed head by Mwai Kibaki as President and Raila Odinga as Prime Minister.

Kenya continues to play a leading role in the quest for peace and stability in the turbulent East African region, because of her stability and general neutrality.

National Anthem

Kiswahili /English

Ee Mungu nguvu yetu /O God of all creation

Ilete baraka kwetu/ Bless this our land and nation

Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi /Justice be our shield and defender

Natukae na undugu /May we dwell in unity

Amani na uhuru /Peace and liberty

Raha tupate na ustawi. /Plenty be found within our borders

 

Amkeni ndugu zetu/ Let one and all arise

Tufanye sote bidii /With hearts both strong and true

Nasi tujitoe kwa nguvu /Service be our earnest endeavour

Nchi yetu ya Kenya /And our homeland of Kenya

Tunayoipenda /Heritage of splendour

Tuwe tayari kuilinda /Firm may we stand to defend

 

Natujenge taifa letu/ Let all with one accord

Ee, ndio wajibu wetu/ In common bond united

Kenya istahili heshima/ Build this our nation together

Tuungane mikono /And the glory of Kenya

Pamoja kazini /The fruit of our labour

Kila siku tuwe na shukrani /Fill every heart with thanksgiving

  

Origins of the National Anthem

The tune of the Kenya National Anthem is an African Song which is heard in the Pokomo country of Kenya. It is a traditional tune sang by mothers to their children.

The National Anthem was prepared by a five-member commission headed by the then Kenya Music Adviser, Mr. Graham Hyslop, with Mr. G. W. Senoga-Zake, Mr. Thomas Kalume, Mr. Peter Kibukosya and Mr. Washington Omondi as members.

 

This method of preparing a national anthem was completely new in Africa. It was the first time a group of local musicians were given the task of preparing an anthem for consideration by the Government.

In presenting the anthem, the commission noted that it had to reflect the idioms of the traditional music of Kenya. As such, many tunes from various parts of the country were considered, and it was by no means easy to find those which would fulfil all the demands made in the context of their use as a National Anthem.

 

The tune had to be of the right length and quality, yet possesing the neccessary dignity. It had to be of such character as to make the writing of suitable words manageable and this was complicated since the Commission set out to provide words in Swahili and English. The tune also had to lend itself to appropriate harmonisation and orchestration for performance by a military band, without impairing the original tonality of the melody.

 

It was expected that the lyrics would express the deepest convictions and the highest aspirations of the people as a whole. Considering that words can either unite or divide, great care had to be taken to ensure that the Anthem was an indisputable unifying factor in the life of the nation.