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KENYA
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History
Paleontologists
believe people may first have inhabited Kenya about 2 million years ago.
In the 700s Arab seafarers established settlements along the coast, and
the Portuguese took control of the area in the early 1500s. More
than 40 ethnic groups reside in Kenya. Its largest group, the Kikuyu,
migrated to the region at the beginning of the 18th century.
The land
became a British protectorate in 1890 and a crown colony in 1920, when
it went by the name British East Africa. Nationalist stirrings began
in 1940s, and in1952 the Mau Mau movement, made up of Kikuyu militants,
rebelled against the government. The fighting lasted until 1956.
On Dec.
12, 1963, Kenya became fully independent. Jomo Kenyatta, a nationalist
leader during the independence struggle who had been jailed by the British,
became its first president. From 1964 to1992 the country was ruled as aone-party
state by the Kenya African National Union (KANU), first under Kenyatta
and then under Daniel arap Moi. Demonstrations and riots pressured
Moi to allow for multiparty elections in 1992.
The economy
has not flourished under Daniel arap Moi's rule. In the 1990s Kenya's
infrastructure began disintegrating and official graft was rampant, contributing
to the withdrawal of much foreign aid. In early 1995 President Moi
moved against the opposition, and ordered the arrest of anyone who insulted
him. In June the renowned paleontologist Richard Leakey registered
a new political party in protest of the government's policies.
A series
of disasters plagued Kenya in 1997 and 1998: severe flooding destroyed
roads, bridges, and crops; epidemics of malaria and cholera overwhelmed
the ineffectual health care
system;
and ethnic clashes erupted between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin ethnic groups
in the Rift Valley.
In a surprising
decision, President Moi appointed his critic and political opponent Richard
Leakey as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service. This third-generation
white Kenyan, son of paleontologists Louis and Mary Leakey, was highly
effective as head of the Kenya Wildlife Service, and is expected to introduce
a greater amount of efficiency and fairness into the Kenyan government.
In July 2000 the World Bank resumed loans to Kenya following a three-year
suspension. The bank praised Kenya's progress in privatizing state-owned
companies and in battling corruption. In August 2000 U.N. aid workers
estimated 3.3 million Kenyans were at risk of starvation due to the devastating
East African drought.
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Sources:
The
Library of Congress Country Studies |
