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Kenya - History
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Photo: Geoff Sayer/Oxfam |
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The Rift Valley which runs through the centre of Kenya is sometimes
called "The Cradle of Humanity", because archeological
finds suggest that the human race started there. Over the centuries,
the area was settled by people of a number of ethnic groups. Eventually
towns developed along the coast for trade with the Arab world. In
1505, Portuguese fleets invaded and the Portuguese began to take
control of the East African coast. They finally left in 1670. Arab
nations, especially the Omanis, then began to control the coastal
region again. In the 1880s, East Africa was divided between Britain
and Germany, and in 1895 Kenya became a British protectorate.
By 1930, more than half of Kenya’s agricultural land was reserved
for little more than 2,000 white settlers’ farms, creating
dissatisfaction among the Kenyan people. The Kenya African Union
(KAU), demanding land ownership and a greater political and economic
voice for Kenyan people, was formed in 1944. In 1947, Jomo Kenyatta
was made its president. At about the same time, a secret movement
called the Mau-Mau was set up and, in the early 1950s, started a
guerrilla campaign against white settlers in the Central Highlands.
The British government responded by banning all nationalist political
activity and imprisoned thousands of people, including Jomo Kenyatta.
In 1957, however, the first Africans were elected to the Legislative
Council. Political freedom gradually increased until, in 1963, Kenyatta
led the renamed Kenya African National Union (KANU) to victory in
the elections of May 1963. In December that year, Kenya finally
gained independence. Kenyatta became president of the new republic
in 1964 and remained in post until his death in 1978. During that
time, he increased the power of his own tribe and family, creating
a one-party state, and limiting free political debate.
He was succeeded by Daniel arap Moi. Moi’s government
became increasingly authoritarian, which led Western governments
to withdraw aid to Kenya in 1991. In December that year, the government
cancelled its one-party system. Opposition parties were badly organised
and divided, however, so Moi was able to win the first multi-party
general election in 1992. Moi won further elections in 1997 but
finally stood down in 2002. He chose Kenyatta's son as the presidential
candidate of the ruling party KANU which had been continuously in
power since Independence in 1964. However this time the opposition
had united behind Mwai Kibaki; he duly won the election in December
2002 and has become Kenya's third Head of State.
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