Kenyaofficially Republic of Kenya, Swahili Jamhuri ya Kenya, strategically located country of East Africa. Bisected horizontally by the equator and vertically by the 38th meridian (east), it is bordered on the north by Ethiopia and The Sudan, on the west by Uganda and Lake Victoria, on the south by Tanzania, and on the east by the Indian Ocean and Somalia. Kenya has an area of 224,961 square miles (582,646 square kilometres). The capital is Nairobi.

Kenya’s present boundaries, the product of rivalries between colonial European powers, contain a number of ethnically diverse peoples who are independent and proud of their cultural heritage. Yet Kenyans are also acutely aware of the need to forge a strong national identity, of which cooperation is a basic ingredient. Since independence in 1963, the government has rallied the people under a national motto of “Harambee,” or “Pulling together.” Postcolonial development has been a mixture of pragmatic economic policy and of communal effort based on the principle of self-help. In this way the republic has tried to strengthen its traditional agricultural base as a foundation for industrialization. In addition, it continues to promote tourism, for the beauty and variety of Kenya’s landscape, the pleasant and sunny climate, and the impressive dances and music of the Kenyan people are among the sure foundations that attract a growing stream of tourists to the country.

The land country in East Africa famed for its scenic landscapes and vast wildlife preserves. Its Indian Ocean coast provided historically important ports by which goods from Arabian and Asian traders have entered the continent for many centuries. Along that coast, which holds some of the finest beaches in Africa, are predominantly Muslim Swahili cities such as Mombasa, a historic centre that has contributed much to the musical and culinary heritage of the country. Inland are populous highlands famed for both their tea plantations, an economic staple during the British colonial era, and their variety of animal species, including lions, elephants, cheetahs, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses. Kenya’s western provinces, marked by lakes and rivers, are forested, while a small portion of the north is desert and semidesert. The country’s diverse wildlife and panoramic geography draw large numbers of European and North American visitors, and tourism is an important contributor to Kenya’s economy.

The capital of Kenya is Nairobi, a sprawling city that, like many other African metropolises, is a study in contrasts, with modern skyscrapers looking out over vast shantytowns in the distance, many harbouring refugees fleeing civil wars in neighbouring countries. Older neighbourhoods, some of them prosperous, tend to be ethnically mixed and well served by utilities and other amenities, while the tents and hastily assembled shacks that ring the city tend to be organized tribally and even locally, inasmuch as in some instances whole rural villages have removed themselves to the more promising city.

With a long history of musical and artistic expression, Kenya enjoys a rich tradition of oral and written literature, including many fables that speak to the virtues of determination and perseverance, important and widely shared values, given the country’s experience during the struggle for independence. Kikuyu writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o, one of the country’s best-known authors internationally, addresses these concerns in his remarks on one folkloric figure:

Hare being small, weak, but full of innovative wit, was our hero. We identified with him as he struggled against the brutes of prey like lion, leopard, and hyena. His victories were our victories and we learnt that the apparently weak can outwit the strong.

Kenya’s many peoples are well known to outsiders, largely because of the British colonial administration’s openness to study. Anthropologists and other social scientists have documented for generations the lives of the Maasai, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, and Kikuyu peoples, to name only some of the groups. Adding to the country’s ethnic diversity are European and Asian immigrants from many nations. Kenyans proudly embrace their individual cultures and traditions, yet they are also cognizant of the importance of national solidarity; a motto of “Harambee” (Swahili: “Pulling together”) has been stressed by Kenya’s government since independence.


Bisected horizontally by the Equator and vertically by longitude 38° E, Kenya is bordered to the north by The Sudan and Ethiopia, to the east by Somalia and the Indian Ocean, to the south by Tanzania, and to the west by Lake Victoria and Uganda.


The 38th meridian divides Kenya into two halves of striking diversitycontrast. While the eastern half slopes gently to the coral-backed seashore, the western portion rises more abruptly through a series of hills and plateaus to the Eastern Rift Valley, known in Kenya as the Central Rift. West of the Rift is a westward-sloping plateau, the lowest part of which is occupied by Lake Victoria. Within this basic divisionframework, Kenya is divided into the following geographic regions: the Lake Victoria basin, the Rift Valley and associated highlands, the eastern plateau forelands, the semiarid and arid areas of the north and south, and the coast.

The Lake Victoria basin is part of a plateau rising eastward from the lakeshore to the Central Rift highlands. The lower part, forming the lake basin proper, is itself a plateau area lying between 3,000 and 4,000 feet (900 and 1,200 metres) above sea level. The rolling grassland of this plateau is cut almost in half by the Kano Rift ValleyPlain, into which an arm of the lake known as Winam , or Kavirondo, Bay Gulf (Kavirondo Gulf) extends eastward for 50 miles (80 kilometreskm). The floor of the Kano Rift Valley, called the Kano Plain , merges north and south into highlands characterized by a number of extinct volcanoes. These include Mount Elgon, rising to 14,178 feet (4,321 metres) at the Ugandan border on the extreme north of the basin.

The Central Rift Valley splits the highlands highland region into two sections: the Mau Escarpment to the west and the Aberdare Range to the east. The valley itself is from 30 to 80 miles (50 to 130 km) wide, and its floor rises from about 1,500 feet (450 metres) in the north around Lake Rudolf Turkana (in Kenya called Lake TurkanaRudolf) to over 7,000 feet (2,100 metres) at Lake Naivasha but then drops to 2,000 feet (600 metres) at the Tanzanian border in the south. The floor of the rift Rift is occupied by a chain of shallow lakes separated by extinct volcanoes. Lake Naivasha is the largest of these, ; the others including lakes include Lakes Magadi, Nakuru, Bogoria, and Baringo. West of the valley , the diverse highland area runs from the thick lava block of the Mau Escarpment–Mount Tinderet complex northward to the Uasin Gishu Plateau. East of the Rift , the Aberdare Range rises to nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). The eastern highlands extend from the Ngong Hills and the uplands bordering Tanzania northward to the Laikipia PlateauEscarpment. Farther east they are linked by the Nyeri saddle to Mount Kenya, the country’s highest peak, at 17,058 feet (5,199 metres). The relief of both highlands is complex and includes plains, deep valleys, and mountains. Important in the history historic and economic development of Kenya, the region was the focus of European settlement.

The eastern plateau forelands, located just east of the Rift highlands, are constitute a vast plateau of ancient rocks gently sloping gently to the coastal plain. They are a region of scattered hills and striking elevated formations, the most prominent being the hills of Taita, Kasigau, Machakos, and Kitui hills. These hills form islands , containing the area of more favourable climatic regimes and climate, are surrounded by regions of greater aridity that make up the traditional famine areashistorically prone to famine.

The semiarid and arid areas in the north and northeast are part of a vast arid region extending from the Ugandan border to include through Lake Rudolf and much of to the plateau area between the Ethiopian and Kenyan highlands. (The area from Lake Magadi southward, though not as arid, shares has the same characteristics.) There is scanty Although tree and grass cover hereis scanty there, but the areas of true desert are limited to the Chalbi Desert east of Lake Rudolf. The movement of people and livestock is strictly limited by the availability of water.

The coastal plain proper, which runs for about 250 miles (400 km) along the Indian Ocean, is a narrow strip only about 10 miles (16 km) wide in the south, but in the Tana River lowlands to the north it broadens to about 100 miles (160 km). Farther northeast , it merges into the lowlands of Somalia. The coast has excellent natural harbours include that of Mombasa, of which Mombasa is one of the best in East Africa.


The major features of the drainage pattern of Kenya were created by the ancient crustal deformation of a great oval dome that Kenya’s drainage pattern originated when a large oval dome of rock arose in the west-central part of the country and created the Central Rift. This dome produced a primeval watershed from which rivers once drained eastward to the Indian Ocean and westward to the Congo River system and the Atlantic Ocean. Still following this ancient pattern are the Tana and Galana rivers, which arise rise in the eastern highlands and flow roughly southeast to the Indian Ocean. West of the Central Rift, however, the major streams now drain into Lake Victoria. These include the Nzoia, Yala, Mara, and Nyando rivers. Between the eastern and western systems, the rifting of the dome’s crust has created a complex pattern of internal streams that feed the major lakes.

Apart There are no major groundwater basins, and, apart from the Tana River, most of the rivers of in Kenya are short or ephemeral, disappearing in dry seasons. There are no major groundwater basins. Lake Victoria, extending over and often disappear during the dry season. Lake Victoria, with a surface area of 26,828 square miles (69,484 square km), is the largest lake in Africa and , the second largest freshwater body in the world, and a major reservoir of the Nile River. Lake Rudolf, some 150 miles (240 km) long and 20 miles (30 km) wide, is the largest of the country’s Rift Valley lakes. Other lakes are rather small, and suffer large fluctuations in surface areatheir surface areas fluctuate considerably.


In the Lake Victoria basin, lava deposits have produced fertile loam and sandy loam soils in the plateaus north and south of Winam Bay, while the volcanic pile of Mount Elgon is responsible for very produces highly fertile volcanic soils well - known for coffee and tea production. The Central Rift Valley and associated highlands compose a distinct region are composed of fertile , dark brown loams developed on younger volcanic deposits.

The most widespread soils in Kenya, however, are the sandy soils of the semiarid regions between the coast and the Rift highlands. To the north of the Rift are vast areas covered by red desert soils, mainly sandy loams. Because Kenya is very poorly forested, much of the soil is naturally exposed to widespread erosion. Erosion is stimulated as well by Kenya’s soils are subject to widespread erosion largely because of the lack of forest cover; overgrazing and cultivation, especially in the arid and semiarid regions, and by encroachment of the limited forest areasalso contribute to soil loss.


Seasonal climatic changes are controlled by the large-scale pressure systems of the western Indian Ocean and adjacent landmasses. From December to March, northeast winds predominate north of the equator and Equator, while south to southeast winds dominate south of the equatorit. These months are fairly dry, although rain may occur locally. The rainy season extends from late March to May, with air flowing from the east in both hemispheres. From June to August there is a season of little rainfall in which southeast winds gradually prevail in the south little precipitation, and southwest winds blow prevail north of the equator. October marks the beginning of a transition period ending with a return of the northeast and southeast windsEquator as southeast winds prevail in the south.

In the Lake Victoria basin, mean annual rainfall precipitation varies from 40 inches (1,000 millimetresmm) around the lakeshore to well over more than 70 inches (1,800 mm) in the more elevated higher elevations in the eastern areas. The lakeshore has excellent agricultural potential because it can expect 20 to 35 inches in 19 years out of 20(500 to 900 mm) in most years. Daily maximum temperatures range from about 80° F (27° C80 °F (27 °C) in July to 90° F (32° C90 °F (32 °C) in October and February.

In the Central Rift Valley, mean annual average temperatures decrease from about 84° F (29° C84 °F (29 °C) in the north to just over 61° F (16° C61 °F (16 °C) around Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha in the south. The bordering adjacent highlands are generally moderate, with mean annual average temperatures ranging between 56° 56 and 65° F 65 °F (13° 13 and 18° C18 °C). In general, the The floor of the Rift Valley is generally dry, while the highland areas receive more than 30 inches (760 mm) of rain per year. In the Mau Escarpment, reliable rainfall The reliable precipitation and fertile soils of the Mau Escarpment form the basis of for a thriving modern agricultureagricultural sector.

In most parts of the eastern plateau forelandsregion, annual rainfall precipitation in most areas averages 20 to 30 inches , and (500 to 760 mm), although agriculture is hampered by extremely uncertain rainfallvariable precipitation. The semiarid and arid regions of northern, northeastern, and southern Kenya have very high temperatures and also suffer extremely erratic rainfallbut very erratic precipitation. Most places experience mean annual average temperatures of 85° F (29° C85 °F (29 °C) or more. Mean , while annual rainfall precipitation is only about 10 inches (250 mm) in the north and is less than 20 inches (500 mm) in the south.

Most In most parts of the coast experience mean annual temperatures in excess of 80° F (27° C) and high relative humidity , average temperatures exceed 80 °F (27 °C) and relative humidity is high year-round. From the humid coast, where mean annual rainfall precipitation is between 30 and 50 inches (760 and 1,270 mm), precipitation decreases westward to about 20 inches (500 mm) per year. Only in on the southern coast is rainfall precipitation reliable enough for prosperous agriculture.

Plant and animal life

In the highland area highlands between elevations of 7,000 and 9,000 feet (2,100 and 2,700 metres), the characteristic landscape consists of patches of evergreen forest separated by wide expanses of short grass. Where the forest has survived human encroachment, it includes economically valuable trees such as cedar (Juniperus procera) and podo wood (Podocarpus milanjianus and P. gracilior). varieties of podo. Above the forest, a zone of bamboo extends to about 10,000 feet (3,000 metres), beyond which there is mountain moorland bearing tree heaths, tree groundsel (a foundation timber of the genus Senecio), and giant lobelia (a widely distributed herbaceous plant). East and west of the highlands, forests give way to low trees scattered through an even cover of short grass.

Semidesert regions below 3,000 feet (900 metres) give rise to baobab trees. In still drier areas of the north, desert scrub occurs, exposing the bare ground. The vegetation of the coastal region is basically savanna with patches of residual forests. While the northern coast still bears remnants of forests, years centuries of human occupation in the south have virtually destroyed them in the south. In an effort to slow the processes of deforestation and desertification, the Green Belt Movement, an organization founded in 1977 by environmentalist Wangari Maathai (winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize), had planted some 30 million trees by the early 21st century.

Almost one-third of Kenya, particularly the western regions and the coastal belt, is infested with tsetse flies and mosquitoes. These insects , which are responsible for the prevalence spread of, respectively, sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) and malaria in both the lake basin and the coastal region..

Kenya’s abundant wildlife population lives mostly outside the country’s numerous national parks and game reserves. Baboons and zebras can be found, for instance, along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, close to human settlements and urban centres. This has created conflict between people and animals that sometimes has been resolved by relocating animals to areas where the human population is less dense. In an effort to ameliorate the problem, a “parks beyond parks” program was introduced in the mid-1990s by the Kenya Wildlife Service. The plan has attempted to draw local communities into the management and distribution of the income derived from wild animals in the vicinity, thus making people more tolerant of the animals’ presence. The program has been somewhat successful, and, with community involvement, incidents of poaching in the national parks and game reserves have declined.

There is a close link between a region’s the vegetation of each region and the differentiation and distribution of its wildlife. The highland rain forests rainforests support a variety of large wildlife mammals, dominated by elephant elephants and rhinocerosrhinoceroses, although these large animals both species have been much reduced by significantly because of poaching and deforestation. Bushbuck, colobus monkeys, and occasional bushbabies , occasionally, galagos (bush babies) are also found. In the The bamboo zone are found contains varieties of the duiker . Predatory highland animals and some species of birds. Highland predators include lions, leopards, and wildcats. Birdlife is scanty.

The most-prolific wildlife is animal populations are found in the extensive grasslands between the forest zone and lower areas. The principal occupants here are , principally varieties of ungulates, such as the hartebeest, wildebeest (gnu), zebra, and gazelle. Other members Others include waterbucksthe waterbuck, impalasimpala, elandseland, warthogswarthog, and buffalo. Predators living on this grazing wildlife include the lion, spotted hyena, leopard, cheetahThese are preyed on by lions, spotted hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, and wild dogdogs. Without the interference of the forest, birdlife is much richer herethere, and lakes and rivers are occasionally inhabited by hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and numerous fishes.The coastal waters contain a wide variety of abundant fish life, including butterfly fish, angelfish, rock cods, barracuda, and spiny lobsters, while the coastal forest harbours suni antelopes, buffalo, and elephantsswarms of fish and occasionally by hippopotamuses and crocodiles.

In the thornbushes and thickets of the arid regions are elephants and , rhinoceroses, lions and , leopards, and giraffes, gerenuksgerenuk, kudu, impalas, dik-diks, and lesser kudu. In the large rivers, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and fishes may be found.

Settlement patterns

Most of Kenya’s population lives in scattered settlements, the location and concentration of which depend largely on climatic and soil conditions. Before colonization, virtually no villages or towns existed except along the coast, where pre-European urbanization was confined to fishing villages, Arab trading ports, and towns visited by dhows from the Arabian Peninsula and Asia. Mombasa, Lamu, and Malindi are among the few that expanded into modern towns. Other modern towns were established by Europeans at the coast and in the interior as administrative centres, mission stations, and markets.

Since independence, as urban areas have seen greater economic development, the migration from rural to urban areas has accelerated. In 1969 some 10 percent of the national population lived in urban areas of 1,000 or more people; by 1979 the urban population had grown to just under 15 percent. Along the coast, most of the urban population is found in the Mombasa complex, and in the interior the majority lives in the capital city of Nairobi.

The people
Ethnicity, language, and religion

various kinds of kudu; suni antelope, buffalo, and elephants are found in the coastal forest. Hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and many varieties of fish are found in the large rivers, while the coastal waters contain abundant marine life, including butterfly fish, angelfish, rock cod, barracuda, and spiny lobsters.

Ethnic groups and languages

The African peoples of Kenya, who account for about 98 percent of the total comprise virtually the entire population, are divided into three main language groups. The largest of these is the Bantu group, which forms about two-thirds of the population and is largely : Bantu, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic. Bantu is by far the largest, and its speakers are mainly concentrated in the southern third of the country. Bantu peoples occupying The Kikuyu, Kamba, Meru, and Nyika people occupy the fertile Central Rift highlands include the Kikuyu, Embu, Mbere, Kamba, and Tharaka. In , while the Luhya and Gusii inhabit the Lake Victoria basin they include the Luhya and Gusii.The remainder of Kenyan Africans belong to the Nilotic and Cushitic language groups. The Nilotes, represented by the Luo, Kalenjin, Masai, and related peoples, make up about one-quarter of the total population.

Nilo-Saharan—represented by the languages of Kalenjin, Luo, Maasai, Samburu, and Turkana—is the next largest group. The rural Luo inhabit the lower parts of the western plateau draining into Lake Victoria, while and the Kalenjin-speaking people occupy the higher parts of the plateauit. The Masai Maasai are pastoral nomads in the southern region bordering Tanzania, and the related Samburu and Turkana pursue the same occupation in the arid northwest.

The CushiticAfro-speaking Asiatic peoples, who inhabit the arid and semiarid regions of the north and northeast, constitute only between 3 and 4 percent a tiny fraction of Kenya’s population. They are divided between the Somali, bordering Somalia, and the Oromo, bordering Ethiopia. The Cushitic peoples ; both groups pursue a pastoral livelihood in areas that are subject to famine, drought, and desertification. Apart from the Another Afro-Asiatic people is the Burji, some of whom are descended from workers brought from Ethiopia in the 1930s to build roads in northern Kenya.

In addition to the African population, Kenya is home to various ethnic groups that who immigrated there during British colonial rule. People from India and Pakistan . Referred to in Kenya as Asians, they are divided on the basis of religious affiliation into Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. Although began arriving in the 19th century, although many left after independence, a . A substantial number remain in urban areas such as Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nairobi, and Kisumuwhere they engage in various business activities. European Kenyans, mostly British in origin, are the remnant of the farming and colonial population. At the time of independence, most Europeans emigrated to southern Their numbers were once much larger, but most emigrated at independence to Southern Africa, Europe, and elsewhere. Most of those remaining are to be Those who remain are found in the large urban centres of Mombasa and Nairobi and Mombasa.

Arabs The Swahili (mostly the products of marriages between Arabs and Africans) live along the coast. Although all observe Islām, they are divided between the “old” Arabs, descended from Arabs who arrived before the 16th century, and the “true” Arabs, originating with the establishment of Arab hegemony in Zanzibar in the 19th centuryArabs introduced Islam into Kenya when they entered the area from the Arabian Peninsula about the 8th century AD. Although a wide variety of languages are spoken in Kenya, the lingua franca is Swahili. This multipurpose language, which evolved along the coast from elements of local Bantu languages, Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, Hindi, and English, is the language of local trade and is also used (along with English) as an official language in the Kenyan legislative body, the National Assembly, and the courts. In 1974 it became the official language, replacing English.

Kenya has no state religion. However, the majority of the Africans are members of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other Protestant churches. These religious affiliations are the outcome of early missionary activities, which assisted in the administrative pacification of the country during colonial times.

Population growthIn the late 20th century an accelerating population growth emerged as a serious constraint on social and economic development in KenyaReligion

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution. More than two-thirds of the people are Christian, primarily attending Protestant or Roman Catholic churches. Christianity first came to Kenya in the 15th century through the Portuguese, but this contact ended in the 17th century. Christianity was revived at the end of the 19th century and expanded rapidly. African traditional religions have a concept of a supreme being who is known by various names. Many syncretic faiths have arisen in which the adherents borrow from Christian traditions and African religious practices. Independent churches are numerous; one such church, the Maria Legio of Africa, is dominated by the Luo people. Muslims constitute a sizable minority and include both Sunni and Shīʿites. There are also small populations of Jews, Jains, Sikhs, and Bahaʾis. In remote areas, Christian mission stations offer educational and medical facilities as well as religious ones.

Settlement patterns

Most of Kenya’s population is rural and lives in scattered settlements, the location and concentration of which depend largely on climatic and soil conditions. Before European colonization, virtually no villages or towns existed except along the coast, while urbanization was confined to fishing villages, Arab trading ports, and towns visited by dhows from the Arabian Peninsula and Asia. The modern cities of Mombasa, Lamu, and Malindi were among the preexisting urban areas that were expanded during the colonial period. Nairobi, originally a Maasai watering hole, became important because of its connection to the railroad, which came through the area at the beginning of the 20th century. Other towns, such as Eldoret, Embu, Kisumu, and Nakuru, were established by Europeans as administrative centres, mission stations, and markets.

The migration from rural to urban areas has accelerated since independence, spurred by greater economic development in urban areas. In the late 1960s about one-tenth of the national population lived in urban areas of 1,000 or more people; by the turn of the 21st century the figure had more than doubled. The largest coastal city is Mombasa, while the majority of Kenyans in the interior live in the capital city, Nairobi. The influx of people has placed a major burden on the provision of such services as education, health and sanitation, water, and electricity.

Demographic trends

Kenya’s accelerating population growth from the early 1960s to the early 1980s seriously constrained the country’s social and economic development. During the first quarter of the 20th century, the total population was less fewer than four million, and it was growing at a rate that would have doubled the population in 50 yearslargely because of famines, wars, and disease. By the time of the 1948 census, the population had surpassed five million and was doubling every 30 years. By independence in 1963, the population had exceeded eight million and was doubling every 23 years, and by 1984 it had exceeded 19 million and the doubling time had been reduced to 18 years. late 1940s the population had risen to more than five million, and at independence in 1963 it was more than eight million and growing rapidly. The population exceeded 20 million by the mid-1980s, after which the growth rate began slowing dramatically. Nonetheless, in the early 21st century the rate of natural increase was still above the world average. The pressure of such a population explosion has been felt in produced limited employment opportunities, in the rising cost of ; rising costs for education, health services, and food imports, ; and in the country’s an inability to generate the resources to build housing in both urban and rural areas.

The most important cause causes of this the country’s explosive growth has been in population were a sharp fall in mortality rates—especially infant mortality—and a the traditional preference for large families. The

economyAt the time of independence, Kenya’s economy was characterized by a large traditional sector based on subsistence agriculture and the barter of goods, by a heavy dependence on foreign exchange for agricultural exports such as coffee and tea, and by a strong bond with the international economic system. Since 1963 the government has pursued a policy dedicated to a mixed economy of

slower population growth of the late 20th and early 21st centuries occurred in part because fertility and birth rates were lower but also because the number of deaths from AIDS was increasing. In the early 21st century, life expectancy in Kenya was below the world average.


Since independence was achieved in 1963, Kenya’s economy has contained both privately owned and state-run enterprises. Most of Kenya’s the country’s business is in private hands (with a great deal large amount of foreign investment by foreign firms), but the government also shapes the country’s economic development through various regulatory powers and “parastatals,” or enterprises that it partly or wholly owns. The aim of this mixed economic policy has been is to achieve economic growth and stability, to generate employment, and to maximize foreign earnings by maintaining the important achieving high levels of agricultural exports while substituting domestically produced goods for goods those that are traditionally have been imported. For a decade after independence , the this policy showed great promise as rising wages, employment, and government revenue provided the means for expanding health services, education, and transportation, and communication. But owing to setbacks, beginning problems that arose with the rise of global oil prices in 1973 and have been aggravated since then by periodic drought and accelerating population growth, and Kenya’s economy has proved been unable to maintain a favourable balance of trade while addressing the problems of chronic poverty and growing unemployment.

AgricultureAlthough agriculture continues to dominate Kenya’s economy, its share of the

The country’s ability to industrialize has been hampered by, among other factors, limited domestic purchasing power, shrinking government budgets, increased external and internal debt, poor infrastructure, and massive governmental corruption and mismanagement.

In an effort to decrease its dependence on volatile agricultural markets, Kenya attempted to diversify its exports in the last decade of the 20th century, adding horticultural products, clothing, cement, soda ash, and fluorspar. The country also made the export of manufactured goods such as paper and vehicles a priority. Domestic restrictions on imports have been removed slowly, however, and this policy has been only partially successful. Kenya’s economy, which did not grow at a constant rate during the last two decades of the 20th century, continued to be dominated by the external market; tourism and agricultural exports were still the major source of foreign exchange for the country in the early 21st century.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

Agriculture plays an important role in Kenya’s economy. Although its share of gross domestic product (GDP) declined from 42 percent has declined—from more than two-fifths in 1964 to 30 percent by 1987. Agriculture feeds the less than one-fifth in the early 21st century—agriculture supplies the manufacturing sector with raw materials and supplies generates tax revenue and foreign exchange to that support the rest of the economy.

Coffee and tea have continued to be the key foreign exchange earners. Other products that support external trade are pyrethrum, cotton, sisal, fruits, wattle bark, cashew nuts, and horticultural produce. For domestic consumption, the major farm products are corn (maize), potatoes, sugar, livestock, and poultry. Most of the country’s livestock is raised in the arid regions by nomadic pastoral peoples who tend to keep them as a form of wealth rather than sell them for slaughter. Commercial stock raising is confined to small farms and large ranches, which raise animals for meat, hides, skins, and wool.

Moreover, it employs the majority of the population.

In the first years after independence, the government sought to redistribute the land on which most of the agricultural exports were produced. Although there are now thousands of large farms, ranches, and plantations, the majority of the farms are smaller than five acres (two hectares). Tea and fresh flowers are the key foreign-exchange earners. Sisal, cotton, and fruits and vegetables also are important cash crops. Coffee, historically an important foreign exchange earner, still contributes to the economy but began declining in importance and earnings in the 1990s, owing in part to market instability and deregulation. Kenya supplies the majority of the pyrethrum (a flower used to create the nonsynthetic pesticide pyrethrin) to the world market; demand for this product fluctuates depending upon the level of interest in the United States, which is the largest consumer of this commodity. National boards that controlled key export crops such as coffee, tea, and cotton were deregulated beginning in the early 1990s.

The major crops for domestic consumption are corn (maize) and wheat. Sugarcane was an export crop in the 1970s and ’80s, but by the ’90s domestic demand exceeded the supply, and it had to be imported. Livestock (including cattle and goats) is raised and dairy goods are produced primarily for domestic use, and the government maintains a reserve supply of such commodities as skim milk powder, cheese, and butter. Surplus animal and dairy products are exported.

Despite the importance of agriculture to the economic well-being of the country, there are serious constraints on further expansion—in particular, the scarcity the lack of water, infrastructure, and the high cost of technological inputs.


Although arable land (less than one-tenth of Kenya can be used for agriculture) seriously constrains further expansion. Although the government has made efforts to increase irrigation, it is estimated that only one-fifth to one-fourth of potentially irrigable area has been developed.

Forests occupy only a small portion of the land but are extremely important in the domestic economy, forestry is limited by the extent of forest land. Most of the total area of forest reserves is natural forest wooded bush, bamboo, and grass; the remainder consists of planted softwoods, which now support a domestic paper industry. Forests are important in the conservation of vital for conserving Kenya’s soil and water resources.


Fish and other , but they are increasingly threatened by a fast-growing population that constantly demands more fuel and settlement areas. As fuel, wood is used primarily for domestic cooking, but deforestation threatens the supply. A tree-planting program has been initiated to grow quick-maturing indigenous and exotic species in ecologically suitable areas.

Fish and marine products represent a small but locally important growing portion of Kenya’s natural resourceseconomy and are locally important. Freshwater fish from Lakes Victoria and Rudolf dominate fishery.


The mining industry is limited by the high cost of capital and by the limited market for Kenya’s few mineral resourcesconstitute the bulk of the catch. The encroaching water hyacinth on the surface of Lake Victoria threatened this fishery in the 1990s, although this nuisance was countered by several strategies, including the introduction of weevils into the environment. Most of the weed has been successfully eliminated, although the potential for a resurgence remains.

Resources and power

Soda ash (used in glassmaking) is Kenya’s most valuable mineral export and is quarried at Lake Magadi in the Rift Valley. Limestone deposits at the coast and in the interior are exploited for cement manufacture and agriculture. For the export trade, fluorite (Vermiculite, gold, rubies, topazes, and salt are also important, as is fluorite (also known as fluorspar and used in metallurgy), which is mined along the Kerio River in the north, and soda ash (used in glassmaking) is quarried at Lake Magadi.


Manufacturing activity in Kenya is based on the processing of agricultural products, with agriculturally based industry accounting for about two-thirds of production. The country has a well-developed meat and meat-products industry and a thriving dairy industry. Production of sugar, textiles, paper, and leather has expanded greatly since independence. Exported agricultural products include processed fruits and extracts of pyrethrum (used in insecticides) and wattle bark (used in the tanning of leather).

Kenya’s limited coal production supports several small steel-rolling mills. Petroleum products such as diesel and jet fuel, manufactured from imported crude at government-owned refineries near Mombasa, are important in both domestic and export markets. Also, engineering industries assemble motor vehicles and machinery from imported parts, and components are made from imported raw materials.


Because vast areas of Kenya are home to some of the rarest species of wildlife in the world, tourism is a well-established foreign-exchange earner. The tourist industry revolves around a basic framework of national parks, national game reserves, and national game sanctuaries. The most important national parks are Tsavo East and Tsavo West, Amboseli, Aberdares, Mount Kenya, Meru, Sibiloi, Marsabit, Lake Nakuru, and Nairobi. Game reserves include Dodori and Boni, Tana River, and Shimba Hills along the coast and South Kitui, Masai Mara, North Kitui, Kora, Rahole, Samburu, Losai, Marsabit, and South Island in the interior. National sanctuaries include South, West Mau, and Maralal.


Kenya’s economic development depends largely on the development of energy. Deposits of titanium- and zirconium-bearing sands were found in multiple locations northeast of Mombasa and to the south of the city. Exploration for petroleum has so far met with limited success.

Kenya’s economic development has been tied to its ability to improve energy resources. The emphasis since independence has been on the production of producing hydroelectricity, but this has limitations as an energy source for rural Kenyansaccess to energy is limited in rural areas, since the bulk of electricity is consumed by the two major urban centres of Nairobi and Mombasa. The largest There are hydroelectric plants are located on the Tana River, though the considerable potential of the Turkwel River in the northwest is also under developmentand Turkwel rivers. Geothermal resources in the Central Rift Valley have also been tapped since the early 1980s to generate electricity and now have come to supply a significant amount of Nairobi’s total needs.

Wood fuel, primarily used for domestic cooking, is a vital part of the rural economy, but deforestation threatens the supply. A tree-planting program has been initiated to establish in ecologically suitable areas quick-maturing indigenous and exotic species for the supply of farm households.


The While the expansion of generating capacity continued through grants from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, a severe drought occurred in the northwest part of the country at the end of the 20th century. This led to blackouts that continued into the beginning of the 21st century.


Kenya is the most industrially developed country in East Africa, but it has not yet produced results to match its potential. Manufacturing is based largely on processing imported goods, although the government supports the development of export-oriented industries. Major industries include agricultural processing, publishing and printing, and the manufacture of textiles and clothing, cement, tires, batteries, paper, ceramics, and leather goods. Assembly plants, which utilize imported parts, produce various kinds of commercial and passenger vehicles and even export a small quantity to other African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.

Steel processing for reexport and for the construction industry is a growing sector, with about a dozen steel mills in operation. The petroleum industry, which was deregulated in 1994, produces diesel and jet fuel from imported crude oil at a refinery near Mombasa and provides a major source of foreign exchange.

Finance and trade

The state-run Central Bank of Kenya, established by legislation in 1966, regulates the money supply (the monetary unit is the Kenyan shilling), assists in the development of the monetary, credit, and banking system, acts as banker and financial adviser to the government, and grants short-term or seasonal loans. There are also more than 20 operating commercial banks, with hundreds of branches, sub-branches, agencies, and mobile units, which offer savings deposits and checking accounts.


Coffee and tea constitute about half of Kenya’s exports. Other agricultural products constitute another fourth, and petroleum products make up most of the remainder. Europe is the primary export destination, with the United Kingdom and Germany the leading recipient countries. Imports include machinery and transport equipment, crude petroleum, fertilizers, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and manufactured goods. The main suppliers are the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany, and the United States.


The development, both before and after independence, of its excellent transportation infrastructure has largely made possible the emergence of Kenya as a modern and viable state.

Kenya’s roads, the major form of transport linking the urban areas with their rural hinterlands, also are a large number of commercial, merchant, and foreign banks in Kenya. The Nairobi Stock Exchange, founded in 1954, is one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa.

Agricultural products such as tea, fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables, and coffee constitute the greatest proportion of Kenya’s exports. The remainder of the exports consists of petroleum products, cement, hides and skins, and soda ash. Imports include machinery and transport equipment, chemical products, petroleum and petroleum products, and food and beverages. The chief trading partners are Uganda, the countries of the European Union (notably the United Kingdom), the United Arab Emirates, and Tanzania. Kenya is a member of the East African Community Customs Union.


Kenya is home to some of the rarest and most interesting species of wildlife in the world. Because of this, tourism is one of the country’s major sources of foreign exchange, with visitors coming largely from countries of the European Union. Tourism revolves around a basic framework of national parks, game reserves, and game sanctuaries, where a wide variety of animals and cultural attractions can be enjoyed. The number of tourists began to vary annually in the early 1990s, however, following a period of political unrest and attacks on tourists, and again in the early 2000s, owing partially to the threat of terrorism.

Labour and taxation

Following agriculture, the next largest employment sectors are trade- and service-related industries. Women perform most of the agricultural work, but they participate largely in the informal sector of the economy. The Central Organization of Trade Unions was founded in 1965. Many professions are unionized, including metal workers, airline pilots, game hunting and safari workers, jockeys and betting workers, journalists, and textile workers. Government revenue is derived from taxes on income and profits and on goods and services, from excise duties, and from value-added taxes.

Transportation and telecommunications

The transportation infrastructure that developed both before and after independence allowed Kenya to emerge as a viable state. Roads became the major link between the urban areas and the rural hinterlands, although they were developed in colonial times as a subsidiary of to the railway line running from Mombasa to the western parts of the country. After independence the The heavily utilized trunk and primary roads were upgraded from dirt to bitumen and gravel . With the expansion of this network came a rapid increase in freight traffic carrying goods after independence. As this network was expanded, freight traffic within Kenya as well as to Tanzania, Uganda, The Sudan, and Ethiopia increased rapidly. This The heavy traffic has severely damaged Kenyan roads, necessitating heavy expenditure in requiring expensive repairs.

Railways, the second most important mode of transport after roads, are operated by Kenya Railways. The main line runs northwest from Mombasa through Nairobi, Nakuru, and Eldoret to the Ugandan border. Major branch lines branchlines run from Nakuru to Kisumu on Lake Victoria and from Nairobi to Nanyuki near Mount Kenya, and another goes into Tanzania. Passenger services constitute Privatization of Kenya Railways began early in the 21st century, and efforts were undertaken to make the railways more competitive in the freight market. Passenger service constitutes a very small share of railway business.

The strategic location of Kenya on the western shores of the Indian Ocean, with easy connections to different parts of Africa and , the worldMiddle East, and Asia, has greatly enhanced the role of Kenya’s two the international airports at Nairobi and Mombasa. The state-owned Kenya Airways, established in 1977, is the national carrierAnother international airport is located at Eldoret. There are medium-sized domestic airports at Kisumu and Malindi and many smaller airfields throughout the country. Kenya Airways, established in 1977, privatized its operations and financial control in 1996.

Mombasa, the country’s principal port of Kenya, handles the bulk of the import and export traffic not only of Kenya but of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and the northern mainland of Tanzaniaeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The ports of Lamu and Malindi serve mainly the coastal trade and fisheries.

Administration and social conditions

Kenya reached independence Telephone service has greatly expanded since the early 1980s, but, while the number of telephones more than doubled between 1984 and 1995, the great majority of the population still does not have access to local telephone lines. Cellular telephone service experienced rapid growth around the turn of the century, as did Internet access—by the mid-2000s, the country had one of the highest numbers of Internet users in sub-Saharan Africa. Like other industries in Kenya, telecommunications were being privatized at the start of the 21st century.

Government and society
Constitutional framework

Kenya became independent on Dec. 12, 1963, under a constitution that placed the prime minister at the head of a cabinet chosen by a bicameral National Assembly. A great deal of Significant power was granted to assemblies elected in each of the country’s regions, and multiparty contests were allowed. Since independence Beginning in the early 1960s, however, a series of amendments has abolished the regional assemblies in favour of provincial commissions appointed by the national government, made the National Assembly a unicameral body, proclaimed the Kenya African National Union (KANU) the only legal political party, and replaced the prime minister with an executive president who has the power to dismiss at will the attorney general and senior judges. The effect of these changes has been was to establish the central government—in particular, the presidency—as the principal locus of political power in the country. The Although the constitution guarantees a number of rights, such as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship, but it also allows the president to detain without trial persons who have been deemed a threat to public security. Membership in KANU is a requirement for anybody Constitutional reforms allowed multiparty politics once again in 1991 and granted greater freedom to political parties before the December 1997 elections.

Those seeking election or appointment to public office must be members of a political party; presidential appointments are the only exception. Several candidates from the party are often allowed to a party may contest a single office, but any candidate who receives more than 70 percent of the votes vote in a nominating election goes through enters the final election unopposed.

The executive branch consists of the president and the cabinet ministers, all of whom are selected by the president from the National Assembly. The president, who is elected by direct popular vote to a term of five years, must receive a minimum of one-fourth of the votes cast in five of the eight provinces and be a member of the National Assembly. The president is the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. (By custom he is also the head of KANU.) He is elected by direct popular vote to a term of five years. Through , appoints the vice president, and, through the cabinet, he controls the passage of legislation as well as the huge bureaucracies directing the economy and provincial affairs. Cabinet ministers frequently change portfolios, leaving the administration of the ministries to civil servants.The National Assembly consists of 188 members elected In the late 1980s the president was given the power to replace the auditor, attorney general, and Court of Appeal and High Court judges.

Most members of the National Assembly are elected to five-year terms by universal adult suffrage; however, 12 members are appointed by the president, and two there are 2 ex officio members: the members—the speaker and the attorney general, the latter having no voting privileges. Terms are five years. Through his appointed legislators, cabinet ministers, and scores of assistant ministers, the president is virtually assured a working majority.The judiciary is headed by the chief justice and of whom only the speaker has voting privileges.

Local government

Kenya contains eight provinces: Nyanza, Western, Rift Valley, Central, Eastern, North Eastern, Coast, and Nairobi. All provinces, except for Nairobi, are divided into districts. Local government consists of appointed provincial and district commissioners, elected county, municipal, and town councils, and elected township or municipal authorities. The provincial commissioners are responsible for education, transport, and health in their provinces, while the councils are concerned with services and public works funded by local taxes and grants from the central government.


The High Court, appointed by the president, consists of the chief justice and at least 11 puisne, or associate, justices of the . The High Court , which has full civil and criminal jurisdiction and rules on constitutional matters. The Kenya Court of Appeal, consisting of the chief justice and several at least two associates, is the highest appeals court in the landcountry. At lower levels are resident magistrates’ and district magistrates’ courts. Kenya’s judicial system acknowledges the validity of Islāmic Islamic law and indigenous African customs in many personal areas such as marriage, divorce, and matters affecting dependents.



A single national educational system consists of three educational levels. At the first are eight years of primary education. These are followed by four years of secondary education, and the third level is represented by four years of university education. When primary schooling is completed, entrance to the secondary level is contingent upon passing an examination.

Primary and secondary enrollment have expanded markedly with the growing population, severely straining the government’s ability to provide occupational training for the slower-growing job market. As accommodations in government-built secondary schools are limited, community-built harambee secondary schools, which now outnumber government secondary schools, have taken up much of the expansion. The harambee schools receive liberal government assistance in the provision of teachers and learning materials.

Public universities include Nairobi, Kenyatta, Moi (formerly Eldoret), and Egerton universities as well as Jomo Kenyatta College of Agriculture and Technology.


With support from the World Health Organization and other foreign donors, vaccination programs have wiped out or reduced the incidence of such infectious diseases as smallpox and measles. Together with improved housing, education, sanitation, and nutrition, health-care programs have drastically reduced death rates (especially the infant death rate) and raised life expectancy (which now stands at 57 years for males and 61 years for females).

The continued high incidence of malaria, gastroenteritis, dysentery, trachoma, and schistosomiasis illustrates the difficulty of eradicating mosquitoes and providing clean water, especially in the countryside.

Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi is the chief referral and teaching institution, and there are also provincial and district hospitals. In rural areas, health centres and dispensaries offer diagnostic services, obstetric care, and outpatient treatment. Rural health services suffer from lack of facilities, trained personnel, and medications.

Cultural life

Kenya, a country of diverse and rich cultural traditions, seeks to cultivate and develop those traditions to ensure that its valuable cultural assets are not irretrievably lost and that social cohesion is not undermined in the process of change to newer ways.

A National Archive Service has been established, and it is saving an increasing number of documents. A national library service board has also

To that end, the Muslim community uses judicial venues known as Kadhis’ courts to resolve issues concerning Islamic law.

Political process

The Kenya African National Union (KANU) has dominated Kenyan politics since its founding in 1960. Its principal opposition, the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), merged with KANU in 1964. Since Kenya’s transformation from single-party KANU rule back into a multiparty state in the early 1990s, many political parties have been created, often reflecting ethnic alliances. The major parties are the Democratic Party, the National Development Party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy–Kenya. In 1997 a woman, representing the SDP, ran for president—a first for Kenya—and received almost 8 percent of the vote. However, at the legislative level, women constituted less than 10 percent of the National Assembly in the early 21st century.


Kenya’s armed forces consist of air force, navy, and army contingents. Military service is voluntary. Kenyan troops have participated in several United Nations-sponsored peacekeeping missions.

Health and welfare

Together with improved housing, education, sanitation, and nutrition, health care programs have drastically reduced mortality rates from preindependence levels, especially for infants. High rates of malaria, gastroenteritis, diarrhea and dysentery, trachoma, amebiasis, and schistosomiasis continue, however, and illustrate how difficult it is to eradicate mosquitoes and provide clean water, especially in the countryside. By the beginning of the 21st century, AIDS had become the major disease in Kenya and threatened to reverse the declining death rate. Kenya, like other countries in Africa suffering under the AIDS pandemic, has utilized a number of strategies to combat the disease, including drug therapy. Some drug companies lowered their prices in Kenya by more than half in the early 21st century, but this was not enough to make the drugs available to all who needed them. Inadequate supply of drugs is also a problem.

Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi is the country’s chief referral and teaching institution, and there are also provincial and district hospitals. In rural areas, health centres and dispensaries offer diagnostic services, obstetric care, and outpatient treatment, although they often lack adequate facilities, trained personnel, and medications.


In rural areas, the average home consists of a two-room dwelling made with wood siding and a roof of sheet iron; for the very poor, simple grass-thatched huts are typical. In urban areas, the representative middle-class home has two bedrooms, indoor plumbing, a kitchen, and a living area.

Providing housing for the urban poor has been increasingly difficult since independence. Most of the urban population lives in informal housing areas not recognized by the government, which often razes slums without warning. In an effort to provide better-quality affordable housing, new building materials are being developed. One such product is brick made from a combination of water, soil, and a small amount of cement.


The national educational system consists of three levels: eight years of compulsory primary education (beginning at age six), four years at the secondary level, and four years of higher education. Entrance into secondary school is contingent upon obtaining the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education by passing a national exam.

Education for the indigenous population was not a priority of the British colonial government. After independence, however, primary and secondary school enrollment expanded markedly. Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president, promised free primary education to all citizens in 1963, a promise only partially fulfilled when fees for the first four years of primary school were abolished in 1974. The consequence of this educational expansion was that underemployment and unemployment increased as better-educated citizens entered the job market. The government responded by expanding the civil service beginning in the late 1970s, but by the early 1990s it could no longer absorb this population. The problem was compounded as the number of secondary schools grew. Because the government could not provide enough government-funded schools, community-built harambee secondary schools were developed. These schools were supposed to receive government assistance to provide for teachers and learning materials, but such support did not always materialize. The government simultaneously pursued a policy of “education for self-reliance,” whereby education was oriented toward preparing students for employment in agriculture as well as in business.

Education is still highly valued in Kenya, with many of the students pursuing strategies such as “shadow education” (after-school and weekend tutoring) and remaining in a grade more than one year in order to pass the Certificate of Primary Education exam. Because of the country’s continuing economic problems, however, many of these students have not been able to attend school beyond the primary level. Nevertheless, Kenya’s literacy rate, at more than four-fifths of the population, is high for sub-Saharan Africa.

Public universities include the University of Nairobi (1956) and Kenyatta University (1972) in Nairobi, Moi University (1984) in Eldoret, and Egerton University (1939) in Njoro, as well as the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (1981) in Nairobi. Specialized colleges include Kenya Conservatoire of Music (1944), Kenya Medical Training College (1924), and Kenya Polytechnic (1961) in Nairobi and Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology (1972) in Nakuru.

Cultural life
Daily life and social customs

As is true of many developing African countries, there is a marked contrast between urban and rural culture in Kenya. Attracting people from all over the country, Kenya’s cities are characterized by a more cosmopolitan population whose tastes reflect practices that combine the local with the global. Nairobi’s nightlife, for instance, caters to youth interested in music that varies from American rhythm and blues, hip-hop, and rock to Congolese rumba. The city contains movie theatres and numerous nightclubs where patrons can dance or shoot pool; for children there are water parks and family amusement centres.

For all the modernization and urbanization of Kenya, however, traditional practices remain important. Rituals and customs are very well documented, owing to the intense anthropological study of Kenya’s peoples during the period of British colonial rule; oral literature is safeguarded, and several publishing houses publish traditional folktales and ethnographies.

Kenyan cooking reflects British, Arab, and Indian influences. Foods common throughout Kenya include ugali, a mush made from corn (maize) and often served with such greens as spinach and kale. Chapati, a fried pitalike bread of Indian origin, is served with vegetables and stew; rice is also popular. Seafood and freshwater fish are eaten in most parts of the country and provide an important source of protein. Many vegetable stews are flavoured with coconut, spices, and chilies. Although meat traditionally is not eaten every day or is eaten only in small quantities, grilled meat and all-you-can-eat buffets specializing in game, or “bush meat,” are popular. Many people utilize shambas (vegetable gardens) to supplement purchased foods. In areas inhabited by the Kikuyu, irio, a stew of peas, corn, and potatoes, is common. The Maasai, known for their herds of livestock, avoid killing their cows and instead prefer to use products yielded by the animal while it is alive, including blood drained from nonlethal wounds. They generally drink milk, often mixed with cow’s blood, and eat the meat of sheep or goats rather than cows.

Urban life in Kenya is by no means uniform. For example, as a Muslim town, Mombasa stands in contrast to Nairobi. Although there are numerous restaurants, bars, and clubs in Mombasa, there are also many mosques, and women dressed in bui buis (loose-fitting garments that cover married Muslim women from head to toe) are common.

Rural life is oriented in two directions—toward the lifestyles of rural inhabitants, who still constitute the majority of Kenya’s population, and toward foreign tourists who come to visit the many national parks and reserves. Although agricultural duties occupy most of the time of rural dwellers, they still find occasion to visit markets and shopping centres, where some frequent beer halls. Mobile cinemas also provide entertainment for the rural population.

Kenya observes most Christian holidays, as well as the Muslim festival ʿId al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. Jamhuri, or Independence Day, is celebrated on December 12. Moi Day (recognizing Daniel arap Moi) and Kenyatta Day, both in October, honour two of the country’s presidents, while Madaraka (Swahili: Government) Day (June 1) celebrates Kenya’s attainment of self-governance in 1964.

The arts

The Kenya National Theatre, a part of the Kenya Cultural Centre, is the country’s premier venue for drama. The affiliated National Theatre School (founded 1968) provides professional training for Kenyan playwrights and performers of traditional music and dance. Independent art facilities, such as the GoDown Arts Centre in Nairobi, offer alternative spaces for artists to express themselves.

Kenya’s pop music is among the most varied in Africa, drawing on diverse sources, including African rumba, traditional Indian musical forms, and a wide range of European and American styles. Popular since the 1960s is an indigenous pop style that emerged in the area around Lake Victoria inhabited by the Luo; called benga, it is perhaps the most distinctly Kenyan form in the musical repertoire. Taarab, a popular music of the eastern coastal region heavily influenced by Arabic styles, is also played throughout the country.

Kenyan literature includes a large body of oral and written folklore, much of the latter collected by British anthropologists. During the colonial era, writers of European origin residing in Kenya, such as Elspeth Huxley (The Flame Trees of Thika, 1959) and Isak Dinesen (Out of Africa, 1937), introduced indigenous themes and settings to broad audiences. The Swahili literary tradition (see also Swahili literature), both oral and written, dates to the 18th century and is represented by authors such as Muyaka bin Haji al-Ghassaniy and Kupona Mwana. Contemporary novelists, including Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Grace Ogot, Meja Mwangi, Hilary Ngweno, Margaret Ogola, and R. Mugo Gatheru, address problems in colonial and postcolonial society. Many of these writers publish in English, although Thiong’o has insisted on publishing first in his native Kikuyu, saying:

Only by a return to the roots of our being in the languages and cultures and heroic histories of the Kenyan people can we rise up to the challenge of helping in the creation of a Kenyan patriotic national literature and culture that will be the envy of many foreigners and the pride of Kenyans.

Visual arts are largely confined to the mass production of wood sculpture and Maasai beadwork. Elimo Njau, Etale Sukuro, and Kivuthi Mbuno are noted Kenyan artists employing a variety of mediums. The country’s film industry is small but growing, though viewings of indigenous films are usually confined to theatres in the cities; in smaller towns and villages, film fare is likely to come from either Hollywood or India. Many foreign productions have been filmed in Kenya—such as Out of Africa (1985), To Walk with Lions (1999), Nowhere in Africa (2001), and The Constant Gardener (2005)—owing to its scenic, varied landscapes and generally clement weather.

Cultural institutions

Perhaps Kenya’s greatest cultural legacy is in its national parks and reserves. The annual wildebeest migration is best observed at the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which also includes a Maasai village. Amboseli National Park, a former home of the Maasai, lies at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. Marsabit National Park and Reserve in the north is noted for its populations of large mammals such as lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, zebras, and giraffes. Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks are noted for their abundant wildlife and diverse landscapes. Mzima Springs, found in Tsavo West, are clear pools of fresh water that provide ideal conditions for viewing hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and fish. Sibiloi National Park, in the far northern part of the country, contains sites where scientists from the University of Nairobi (including Richard Leakey) have excavated hominid remains since 1968. Mount Kenya National Park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. The Lake Turkana National Parks, comprising three national parks in Eastern province, were named UNESCO World Heritage sites beginning in 1997. Lamu Old Town, in Coast province, contains beautiful examples of Swahili architecture; it became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001.

The Kenya National Archives and Documentation Service in Nairobi, housed in a building that was originally the Bank of India, holds an increasing number of government and historical documents and also contains exhibits of arts and crafts and photographs. A national library service board has been established to equip, maintain, and develop libraries in Kenya, including a branch library service.

Kenya’s national museum contains collections of wildlife, archaeological remains,

The McMillan Memorial Library in Nairobi has holdings of books as well as newspapers and a parliamentary archive. The National Museum, also in Nairobi, contains archaeological remains and objects of traditional material culture.

Sports and recreation

Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Kenya, although the national team, the Harambee Stars, has had little international success. Basketball, volleyball, and netball are also popular sports. Social clubs often offer the opportunity for Kenyans to play football and volleyball. Netball is played exclusively by women. Internationally, Kenyan athletes are known for their dominance of distance running. Since the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, at which Kip Keino, Naftali Temu, and Amos Biwott all won gold medals, Kenyan distance runners have continually won Olympic medals and major races throughout the world. Catherine Ndereba, for example, repeatedly won marathons in Boston and Chicago.

Media and publishing


Kenya National Theatre is incorporated in the Kenya Cultural Centre. The National Theatre School was founded in 1968 to provide professional training in theatrical techniques, which include the writing of plays by Kenyan authors and the performance of traditional music and dance. Music and dance play an integral role in social and religious life. Rhythm, all-important, is largely provided by the drum, supplemented by wind and stringed instruments. Swahili literature, both oral and written, is traditional in form and content. Contemporary novelists, including Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Mugo Gatheru, deal with the social frictions between traditional and modern society. Visual arts are largely confined to the mass production of wood sculpture for the tourist trade. Elimo Njau and Ronal Rankin are popular Kenyan painters.
An up-to-date

media have flourished in Kenya as the economy has become more liberalized. Rigid state restrictions on radio and television broadcasting were gradually loosened in the 1990s, and commercial radio has become an integral part of Kenyan popular culture. The Daily Nation and the East African Standard are among the daily newspapers; daily papers are also published in African languages such as Luo and Kikuyu. Kenya has numerous weekly and monthly periodicals.


It is known that human history in Kenya dates back millions of years, because it is there that some of the earliest fossilized remains of hominids have been discovered. Among the best-known finds are those by anthropologist Richard Leakey and others in the Koobi Fora area along the shore of Lake Rudolf that have included portions of Australopithecus boisei and Homo habilis skeletons. The following discussion, however, covers the history of Kenya only from the 18th century. For coverage of earlier periods and for a treatment of the country in its regional context, see Eastern Africa.

The 18th and 19th centuries
Maasai and Kikuyu

The Maasai moved into what is now central Kenya from an area north of Lake Rudolf sometime in the mid-18th century. Their southward advance was checked about 1830 by the Hehe people from what is now Tanzania, but their raiding parties continued to range widely and even reached the coast south of Mombasa in 1859. The Maasai moran (“warrior”) prepared for war under the spiritual direction of the laibon (“medicine man”). Although not particularly numerous, the Maasai were able to dominate a considerable region because the Bantu-speaking inhabitants offered little effective resistance to their raids. The Nandi, who inhabited the escarpment to the west of the Maasai, were equally warlike and were relatively undisturbed by their predatory neighbours. Another group, the Taveta, took refuge in the forest on the eastern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, while the Taita, who were farther east, used the natural strongholds provided by their mountainous homeland to resist the Maasai raiders.

The Kikuyu, who were far more numerous than the Maasai, also looked to the mountains and forests for protection against Maasai war parties. The Kikuyu had expanded northward, westward, and southward from their territory in the Fort Hall area of present-day Central province, where they cleared the forests to provide themselves with agricultural land. Toward the end of the 19th century, however, they had reached the limits imposed by the presence of the Maasai to the north and south and by the upper slopes of the Aberdare Range to the west.

Famine and smallpox in the 1890s compelled the Kikuyu to vacate much of the land in what is now Kiambu district (in Central province) as they withdrew northward. The Maasai too were passing through a difficult period. An outbreak of disease, either pleuropneumonia or rinderpest, attacked their cattle in 1883; further infestations in 1889–90 continued to decimate their herds, while the Maasai themselves were overwhelmed by epidemics of smallpox. Simultaneously, the death of Mbatian, their great laibon, split the group into warring factions, and it was some time before his younger son, Lenana, was able to restore order. Maasai power was never revived, however, since their problems coincided with the arrival of European traders and administrators who eventually gained control of the region.

Control of the interior

Trading relations had existed for centuries between southern Arabia and the coastline of what is now Kenya; some of the Arab traders remained in the area and contributed to the language that came to be known as Swahili. During the 19th century Arab and Swahili caravans in search of ivory penetrated the interior. One route went from Mombasa to Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria and then toward Mount Elgon, but this route was not as popular as the caravan trails farther south, both because of the difficulty of crossing the desert country of the Taru Plain and because of the hostility of the Maasai. The first Europeans to penetrate the interior were two German agents of the Church Missionary Society, Johann Ludwig Krapf and Johannes Rebmann. They established a mission station at Rabai, a short distance inland from Mombasa. In 1848 Rebmann became the first European to see Kilimanjaro, and in 1849 Krapf ventured still farther inland and saw Mount Kenya. These were isolated journeys, however, and more than 30 years elapsed before any other Europeans attempted to explore the country dominated by the Maasai.

The British East Africa Company

As Germany, Britain, and France were carving up East Africa in the mid-1880s, they recognized the authority of the sultan of Zanzibar over a coastal strip 10 miles (16 km) wide between the Tana (in Kenya) and Ruvuma (in Tanzania) rivers. The hinterland, however, was divided between Britain and Germany: the British took the area north of a line running from the mouth of the Umba River, opposite Pemba Island, and skirting north of Kilimanjaro to a point where latitude 1° S cut the eastern shore of Lake Victoria; the German sphere, Tanganyika (present-day Tanzania), lay to the south of that line. In 1887 the sultan’s territory on the mainland was conceded to the British East Africa Association (later Company) for a 50-year period; this was later made a permanent grant. Because the British government was reluctant to become involved in the administration of East Africa, in 1888 it granted the company a royal charter that authorized it to accept existing and future grants and concessions relevant to the administration and development of the British sphere in that part of the world. The financial resources of the company, however, were inadequate for any large-scale development of the region. The company also administered territory in what is now Uganda; when it became involved with the kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro, it incurred a great debt and therefore was forced to limit its activities to regions nearer the coast. This financial problem was finally resolved in 1895 when the British government made Buganda a protectorate and paid the company £250,000 to surrender its charter to the area that is now Kenya. The East Africa Protectorate was then proclaimed, with Sir Arthur Hardinge as the first commissioner. Initially the British government did not attach much importance to the new protectorate because Hardinge continued to reside in Zanzibar, where he already functioned as the consul general.

The East Africa Protectorate
Resistance to European rule and early administration

During the early years the new administration largely focused on asserting authority over the territory. The Mazrui family (a Swahili family) along the coast actively resisted the usurpation of its authority by the British administrators, as did the Kikuyu and the Kamba. Farther west the Nandi did not accept their new overlords until 1905, after a series of British military columns had ranged through their territory. The Maasai were one of the few groups who offered no resistance to British authority, and they even served in the military during the British campaigns against the Kikuyu. Although this caused lasting enmity between the two groups, the Maasai behaved as they did largely because they had been so devastated by disease at the end of the 19th century.

The extension of British administration into the more remote areas of the protectorate was slowed by the lack of communication infrastructure and the limited financial resources available. When administration was introduced, though, it was direct rule because the British did not find the centralized African political system that had existed in other parts of Africa that they came to control.

The Uganda railway and European settlement

The East Africa Protectorate was valued by Europeans as a corridor to the fertile land around Lake Victoria, but the government’s offer to lease land to British settlers was initially not popular. Two factors, however, changed this negative attitude: a railway was constructed from the coast to Lake Victoria, and the western highlands were transferred from Uganda (where regulations made it impossible to lease land to Europeans) to the East Africa Protectorate in 1902. Work on the railway began at Mombasa in December 1895, and the first locomotive reached Kisumu on Lake Victoria in December 1901; the entire line was completed by 1903. The protectorate was responsible for making the railway profitable, and the export of cash crops seemed to provide the perfect solution for generating revenue. Sir Charles Eliot, who became commissioner of the protectorate in 1901, invited South Africans to settle in the protectorate when European settlers were less than enthusiastic about the proposal, but they too were uninterested. At first only small areas of land in Kiambu district, which had formerly been occupied by Africans and which the Kikuyu regarded as part of their legitimate area of expansion, were allocated to European settlers, but by 1906 more than 1,550 square miles (4,000 square km) had been leased or sold. Some Africans, such as the Maasai, were confined to reserves; by 1911 the Maasai reserve extended south of the railway to the present-day border with Tanzania.

As more Africans were separated from their land and as more European settlers entered the region, the Europeans became concerned with maintaining an adequate supply of African labour. Because few Africans voluntarily chose whether or not to work for Europeans, the settlers wanted the government to institute a system that would compel Africans to offer their services to European farmers. Successive commissioners and governors responded in varying degrees to the settlers’ demands, and it was not until immediately after World War I, and largely as a result of public outcry in Britain, that compulsory labour on either public or private projects was strictly forbidden.

Thousands of Indian labourers were brought into the protectorate to construct the railway. Although most of these labourers returned to India after their contracts were completed, some remained. The opening of the railway encouraged Indian traders who had been living nearer the coast to penetrate farther into the interior, even ahead of the administration. Other Indians hoped to obtain land, but European settlers consistently opposed the Indians’ claim to land and to political and economic equality.

Prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, European participation in political affairs was limited mainly to creating pressure groups. The most prominent of these was the Convention of Associations, which had developed in 1911 from earlier European settler organizations. An Executive Council was appointed in 1905, and the first Legislative Council convened in 1907. When the protectorate was transferred from the Foreign Office to the Colonial Office in April 1905 and the settlers did not gain the increased responsibility they had desired, they launched a campaign in 1913 to elect their own representatives to the Legislative Council. The outbreak of World War I temporarily limited the settlers’ legislative prospects, but the War Council, which was concerned with the effects of the war on the protectorate and included settlers, satisfied some of their desire to have elected representation in the legislature.

World War I and its aftermath

Germany had hoped that no battles with Britain would be fought on African soil during World War I, but Britain was concerned with its communications with India and with the safety of the Ugandan railway. Britain initiated hostilities, to which Germany responded, with Britain ultimately prevailing in East Africa. The conflict caused great hardships for the African population. Thousands of Africans were forced to serve as porters and soldiers, often with disastrous results, and a large number of Africans died, mostly from disease. The entire East African economic structure was affected, as food production became geared solely to supplying the troops. The burden of providing this food fell largely on African women, who did most of the farming anyway. Women were forced to use the same plots of land repeatedly, thereby depleting the soil, because most able-bodied men, who were responsible for clearing new land, had been conscripted. Droughts and famines recurred.

Most of the European settlers quickly joined the armed forces; they left their farms to be looked after by their wives, or else the farms were abandoned. An attempt was made immediately after the war to revive the settler sector by introducing a “soldier settler” scheme, but the hopes of prosperity encouraged by the postwar demand for agricultural produce received a severe setback in the early 1920s when a worldwide economic recession brought bankruptcy to many of those who had started out with inadequate capital or had relied on credit from the banks. Stability was further delayed by the replacement of the rupee currency with East African shillings. By the mid-1920s Kenya’s economy had wholly revived, although the Great Depression of the 1930s brought further economic difficulties to East Africa.

Rail communications had been improved when branch lines were opened to Thika and to the soda deposits at Lake Magadi in 1913; during the war a link was made between the main line and the German railway system to the south. The most important postwar project was the building of a new extension of the main line across the Uasin Gishu Plateau to tap the agricultural wealth of the highlands and then to Uganda in order to provide an outlet for the cotton crops of that protectorate. The line was eventually completed from Nakuru to Jinja in January 1928 and was carried on to Kampala, which it reached in January 1931.

Kenya colony
Political movements

In 1920 the East Africa Protectorate was turned into a colony and renamed Kenya, for its highest mountain. The colonial government began to concern itself with the plight of African peoples; in 1923 the colonial secretary issued a White Paper in which he indicated that African interests in the colony had to be paramount, although his declaration did not immediately result in any great improvement in conditions. One area that definitely needed improvement was education for Africans; up to that point nearly all African schooling had been provided by missionaries. Those Africans who did manage to receive a Western education, though, found no place in Kenya’s legislature, their interests being represented officially by the members of the appointed council and by a European unofficial member, usually a missionary.

As more Africans worked on European farms and in urban areas such as Nairobi, they began to imitate political techniques used by European settlers as they attempted to gain more direct representation in colonial politics. At the outset, political pressure groups developed along ethnic lines, the first one being the Young Kikuyu Association (later the East African Association), established in 1921, with Harry Thuku as its first president. The group, which received most of its support from young men and was not supported by most of the older chiefs, demanded African representation in the legislature and won support among the Kikuyu when it complained about low wages, the prohibition of coffee growing by Africans, and the condemnation by Christian missionaries of such traditional practices as female genital cutting. At a protest in March 1922 Thuku was arrested, and eventually he was exiled for more than eight years. Although its attempts to win the support of other ethnic groups failed because of their unwillingness to accept Kikuyu leadership, the association was an important beginning in the African search for greater participation in the political process.

Throughout the 1920s and ’30s European settlers continued to oppose Indian demands for greater representation on the Legislative Council. Another concern among European settlers was the proposal, first made toward the end of World War I, to introduce some form of closer union with Uganda and Tanganyika (which had become a British possession after World War I). At first the European settlers of Kenya opposed closer union with the other territories because they feared African domination, but, in light of the British government’s determination on this issue, they agreed by the late 1920s to a compromise that would protect their political status in Kenya. By the 1930s they actively supported union with Tanganyika as a protection against Germany’s claims to its former overseas dependencies.

World War II to independence

The outbreak of World War II forced the colony to focus on its borders; with the entry of Italy into the war, Kenya’s northern border with Ethiopia and Somaliland was briefly threatened. The colonial government then turned its attention to African political representation, and in 1944 Kenya became the first East African territory to include an African on its Legislative Council. The number was increased to two in 1946, four in 1948, and eight in 1951, although all were appointed by the governor from a list of names submitted by local governments. This, however, did not satisfy African demands for political equality. While the East African Association had been banned after Thuku’s arrest, a new organization, the Kikuyu Central Association, emerged with Jomo Kenyatta as its general secretary beginning in 1928. Kenyatta, who advocated a peaceful transition to African majority rule, traveled widely in Europe and returned in 1946 to become the president of the Kenya African Union (KAU; founded in 1944 as the Kenya African Study Union), which attempted to gain a mass African following. There were, however, Africans in the colony who felt that Kenyatta’s tactics were not producing enough concrete results. One such group, which advocated a violent approach, became known as the Mau Mau. The actions attributed to the Mau Mau caused the colonial government to proclaim a state of emergency from October 1952 until 1960 and also resulted in a massive relocation of Africans, particularly Kikuyu. Kenyatta and other Africans were charged with directing the Mau Mau movement and sentenced in 1953 to seven years’ imprisonment; Kenyatta was released from prison in 1959 but was then confined to his home.

Numerous economic and social changes resulted either directly or indirectly from the Mau Mau uprising. A land-consolidation program centralized the Kikuyu into large villages. This plan was also extended to the area near Lake Victoria in the Nyanza province, and many thousands of Africans in Nairobi were resettled in rural detention camps. At the same time, the Swynnerton Plan (a proposal to strengthen the development of African agriculture) provided Africans more opportunities to cultivate cash crops such as coffee. Throughout the 1950s, foreign investment in Kenya continued, and limited industrial development occurred along with agricultural expansion.

Although the leadership of the KAU had been arrested, the party was not immediately banned, because the government hoped that new party leadership might provide a more moderate approach. However, this was not forthcoming, and the party was banned by mid-1953; African political organizations were not allowed again until 1960. The Kenya African National Union (KANU), founded in May of that year and favouring a strong centralized government, was built around Kenyatta, who was still in detention. Nevertheless, in June two of KANU’s founding members, Ronald Ngala and Daniel arap Moi, created their own organization, the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU). KADU’s position was that ethnic interests could best be addressed through a decentralized government; it was also concerned about Kikuyu domination. KANU won more seats than KADU in elections held in February 1961, but both parties called for the release of Kenyatta, who was finally freed from house detention in August. A coalition government of the two parties was formed in 1962, and after elections in May 1963 Kenyatta became prime minister under a constitution that gave Kenya self-government. Following further discussions in London, Kenya became fully independent on Dec. 12, 1963. A year later, when Kenya became a republic (with Kenyatta as its first president and Oginga Odinga as vice president), most KADU members had transferred their allegiance to KANU, and KADU ceased to exist.

The Republic of Kenya
Kenyatta’s rule

In 1964 Kenyatta sought the help of British troops to suppress a mutiny by the army. The president then introduced better service conditions and promotion prospects to the army, although the proportion of Kenyatta’s own Kikuyu people in the officer corps steadily increased. At the same time, to forestall any new opposition, Kenyatta tried consistently to appoint members of different ethnic groups to official posts, with all the patronage such appointments conferred. Ideological differences led to disagreements with Vice President Odinga, whom Kenyatta had appointed to satisfy the powerful Luo. Odinga believed that, by adopting a pro-Western, essentially capitalist economic policy, the government was neglecting the interests of poorer people. He broke with KANU to form a new opposition party, the Kenya People’s Union (KPU), but his position was weakened by legislation that required elected officials who switched parties to resign their seats and run for reelection. By contrast, Kenyatta’s authority was strengthened because greater powers had been given to the office of president.

Kenyatta responded to Odinga’s claims about his neglect of the poor by redistributing hundreds of thousands of small landholdings to Africans; this was made possible by a satisfactory financial settlement with European farmers who were prepared to leave the country amicably. Not all the new landowners were successful, but living standards improved widely enough to ensure continued support for the government.

The assassination in July 1969 of Tom Mboya, a KANU founder who had been serving as minister of economic planning and development, widened still further the serious ethnic gap that had already emerged as a result of Odinga’s fall from grace. Mboya, like Odinga, was a Luo, though neither had pursued ethnic goals. Their supporters among the Luo, however, believed there was a Kikuyu plot, centred on Kenyatta, that threatened Luo interests. The division grew greater after October 1969, when Odinga and some of his leading party members were arrested and the KPU was banned. The arrested men were subsequently released, and Odinga himself was freed in 1971 when the president endeavoured to achieve a measure of reconciliation and national unity. The transfer of more than 1,500,000 acres (600,000 hectares) of government land to a group of wealthy Kenyans, many of whom were Kikuyu, proved to be less profitable than had been hoped, largely because the new owners were bad managers. This and similar actions only provided more fuel for those, like Odinga, who accused the government of self-interest and for those who believed there was an ethnic plot to benefit the Kikuyu at the expense of other ethnic groups.

Another coup attempt was defused in 1971, and in its wake Kenyatta once again responded by improving the pay and conditions of military service, but, at the same time, he made sure that the army remained small in size. Odinga and other former KPU leaders were prevented from running in the parliamentary elections of 1974 by new regulations that forbade the candidacy of anyone who had not been a member of KANU for the previous three years. The challenge to Kenyatta was then taken up in the National Assembly by Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, another former supporter of KANU. Kariuki was critical of growing corruption in the government, and he won considerable support when increasing oil prices and the consequent worldwide inflation caused hardship among the poorer members of the community. His murder in March 1975, which the government tried to cover up, aroused angry protests, particularly among younger members of the parliament, whose criticisms of the government came to have increasing significance.

The question of who should succeed the aging president exacerbated the disagreements already existing among the country’s leaders. Kenyatta himself encouraged no one to claim the inheritance, but leading Kikuyu who had benefited greatly under his leadership plotted to secure a complaisant successor. The attorney general, Charles Njonjo, though himself a Kikuyu, opposed such a plan, as did another Kikuyu, the minister of finance, Mwai Kibaki. Together the two ensured that, upon Kenyatta’s death in August 1978, he was succeeded by his deputy, Daniel arap Moi, a member of the minority Kalenjin people. Moi was elected president in October, while Kibaki became vice president.

Moi’s rule

Misgivings about what would happen with the departure of such a dominant figure as Kenyatta were soon dispelled. The transfer of power took place smoothly, owing mainly to the skillful leadership of Njonjo and Kibaki, but the transition was also helped by a boom in coffee prices that eased the country’s economic problems to a considerable extent. At first, Moi followed Kenyatta’s policy of distributing offices among as many different ethnic groups as possible, but over the years members of his own Kalenjin group acquired a disproportionate number of appointments. Odinga was still critical of the government, and university students supported him on idealistic grounds—and also because they saw little prospect in the near future of being able to supplant those holding the limited number of lucrative offices.

Moi felt most threatened by Njonjo. Exercising his almost unassailable presidential powers, Moi began a campaign to discredit the former kingmaker, who traded his appointment as attorney general for the more vulnerable office of a cabinet minister in the newly created Ministry of Constitutional Affairs. Njonjo’s responsibilities were cut, as were those of Kibaki, who was considered by Moi to have become too powerful because he commanded widespread Kikuyu support. Although Kenya had been a de facto one-party state since 1969 (when the KPU was banned), KANU’s power—as well as Moi’s—was reinforced in 1982 when the KANU-dominated National Assembly amended the constitution, officially designating KANU the only legal political party in the country. Moi’s position was further bolstered when the army loyally rallied to suppress an attempted coup later that same year by some of the lower-ranking officers in the air force. A number of the leaders of the rebellion were Luo, and many university students took part in the disturbances. Ethnic, idealistic, and economic motives were thus joined together in unsuccessful opposition to the government. Eager to prevent the students from becoming effective leaders of discontented groups of ethnic or impoverished minorities, Moi closed the universities temporarily when opposition was voiced. Njonjo, meanwhile, was rendered ineffective when he was found guilty of involvement in treason or subversion, although he was pardoned because of his earlier services to the country. Odinga continued to be subjected to periodic restrictions.

Generous financial support that had come from the Western powers since independence was an important factor in ensuring that Kenya’s precarious economy survived the traumas of inflation. Moi followed Kenyatta’s example by continuing to align his country with the West. The enormous increase in landownership among Africans in the postindependence period also helped to create a modestly prosperous class that was anxious to avoid revolutionary change, while the powers vested in the presidency made successful opposition an unlikely prospect.

Increasingly, however, Western financial aid came to be tied to demands for political and economic reforms. It was for this reason that in December 1991 Moi finally accepted a constitutional amendment that reinstated multiparty elections. When elections were held the following December, however, Moi was reelected, and, with the opposition divided, KANU won a strong majority in the National Assembly. One opposition party, Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD), had been founded in 1991 but by 1992 had split into two factions: FORD-Kenya, led by Odinga until his death in 1994, and FORD-Asili, headed by Kenneth Matiba.

Kibaki, who had left the government late in 1991, became the official leader of the opposition after elections in 1997. Many Kenyans had hoped that the various opposition parties would cooperate and field a single candidate who would oust Moi, but there were more than eight on the ballot. Moi, the incumbent, used the preexisting political network and won by a large margin. Kibaki challenged the results in court, but his case was dismissed. When appointing his cabinet, Moi selected KANU members and continued to ignore the opposition. However, in July 1999, in an apparent change of heart, Moi made Njonjo chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Services and Richard Leakey head of the civil service and permanent secretary to the cabinet. Leakey’s popularity was cited as the main reason Moi appointed him to this post; the appointment was also seen as Moi’s way of showing Kenya’s commitment to tackling the issues of corruption and gross mismanagement in the government.

Kenya in the 21st century

Moi announced in 2002 that he would not run again for the presidency, and Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Jomo Kenyatta, was chosen to be KANU’s presidential candidate. Kibaki, this time representing a coalition of opposition groups, soundly defeated Kenyatta in the 2002 presidential elections, thus ending KANU’s long period of uninterrupted rule.

Although Kibaki pledged to fight the corruption that had plagued Kenya under KANU’s rule, it continued to affect the country’s economic and political credibility in the 21st century. In 2005 his administration was embroiled in a corruption scandal, and later that year a draft of a new constitution championed by Kibaki was defeated in a national referendum; the defeat was largely perceived as protest against Kibaki.


A useful guide to the country is Joseph Bindloss, Tom Parkinson, and Matt Fletcher, Kenya (2003). A source of general information, Kenya: An Official Handbook (1988), was published by Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the 25th anniversary of independence. Guy Arnold, Modern Kenya (1981), gives a general survey of the country and its politics. Francis F. Ojany and Reuben B. Ogendo, Kenya: A Study in Physical and Human Geography, new ed. (


1988); D.C. Edwards and A.V. Bogdan, Important Grassland Plants of Kenya (1951); and Richard S. Odingo, The Kenya Highlands: Land Use and Agricultural Development (1971), analyze geographic and agricultural features.

Population studies include S.H. Ominde, Land and Population Movements in Kenya (1968), an early comprehensive study on the subject of migration

, and The Population of Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda (1975), the only comprehensive source on the population of what was formerly the East African Community

; S.H. Ominde, Roushdi A. Henin, and David F. Sly (eds.), Population and Development in Kenya (1984), a useful focus on development implications of population growth; and S.H. Ominde (ed.), Kenya’s Population Growth and Development to the Year 2000 (1988), an in-depth study.

Analysis of politics from a socioeconomic perspective is provided in Jennifer Widner, The Rise of the Party-State in Kenya: From “Harambee” to “Nyayo!” (1992); Michael G. Schatzberg (ed.), The Political Economy of Kenya (1987); and Barbara P. Thomas, Politics, Participation, and Poverty: Development Through Self-Help in Kenya (1985). Geoff Sayer, Kenya: Promised Land? (1998), is an account of how individuals deal with the economic, social, and political challenges of everyday life. A contemporary analysis of politics and the process of democratization is provided in Godwin R. Murunga and Shadrack Wanjala Nasong’o, Kenya: The Struggle for Democracy (2007).


B.A. Ogot (ed.), Building on the Indigenous: Selected Essays, 1981–1998 (1999), is a collection of essays that provides a good overview of the local struggles to ascertain Kenya’s intellectual culture, and his Kenya Before 1900 (1976) contains essays on aspects of the history of various African peoples from about AD 500. George Bennett, Kenya, a Political History: The Colonial Period (1963), is a brief but scholarly account. Robert L. Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya (1976), recounts the impact of colonial rule on African individuals and societies from 1900 to 1939. G.H. Mungeam, British Rule in Kenya, 1895–1912: The Establishment of Administration in the East Africa Protectorate (1966), is detailed and carefully researched. Marjorie Ruth Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony, 2nd ed. (1966), explains the development of a British administrative philosophy to the mid-1930s. Guy Arnold, Kenyatta and the Politics of Kenya (1974), analyzes the role of Kenyatta in the political development of Kenya from 1922.

Carl G. Rosberg, Jr., and John Nottingham, The Myth of “Mau Mau”: Nationalism in Kenya (1966, reissued 1985), examines the origins and character of the rebellion. David Throup, Economic & Social Origins of Mau Mau 1945–53 (1987), is a thoughtful analysis of the conditions that led to the Mau Mau rebellion. Both Frank Furedi, The Mau Mau War in Perspective (1989); and Robert B. Edgerton, Mau Mau: An African Crucible (1989), address the question of political history as it relates to the Mau Mau and its impact on the formation of the current nation-state in Kenya.

Norman Miller and Rodger Yaeger, Kenya: The Quest for Prosperity, 2nd ed. (1994), studies the politics, economics, and diplomacy of Kenya since independence. Donald Rothchild, Racial Bargaining in Independent Kenya: A Study of Minorities and Decolonization (1973), analyzes the conflict between ethnicity and national identity. Histories of political struggles and their economic implications in both colonial and independent Kenya include Paul Collier and Deepak Lal, Labour and Poverty in Kenya, 1900–1980 (1986); and Marshall S. Clough, Fighting Two Sides: Kenyan Chiefs and Politicians, 1918–1940 (1990).