History
Kenya’s History
Kenya’s history is long, rich and complex, and only a brief summary can be given here. Greater depth can be obtained through the links listed at the end of this webpage.
Kenya has been the source of many of the most ancient hominid fossils, yielding information of the greatest importance to our understanding of human evolution. The first definitive evidence of human occupation dates from around 10,000 years ago. Most of Kenya’s indigenous peoples appear to have arrived and been settled in Kenya for around 2000 years or more.
Greek sailors and traders seem to have traveled along the Kenyan coast by the 4th century AD, and these were followed by Arab, Persian, Indian, Indonesian and Chinese merchants. The Arabs built large settlements at Mombasa and Malindi along the coast, and it was the merging of African and Arab peoples and cultures along the coast that gave rise to the Swahili language and culture. The slave trade and the ivory trade formed the major commerce with the world beyond eastern Africa. The Portuguese briefly sought to establish a foothold at Mombasa, but the Arabs drove them out, and subsequently took control over the interior slave trade from the Kamba people.
In the 19th century most of Africa came under the domination of the European colonial powers, and the British gained control of Kenya. Strong resistance from indigenous peoples in the interior was answered by British military campaigns in which thousands of Africans died. In the succeeding decades, the British government established a policy of white settlement in which great tracts of the Kenyan Highlands were ‘appropriated’ for white farmers. These seizures of land resulted in bitter land conflicts which continue to the present day.
In the early 20th century, further tensions between the colonial government and the Kenyan people arose regarding worker compensation and civil and political rights. Kenyans attempted to improve their lives through forming political organizations, but this peaceful form of resistance met with little response from the British government. The political organizations and the resentments continued to grow. In the 1950’s, widespread violence erupted as the Mau Mau movement tried to gain by force what had been denied through peaceful efforts. About 13,000 Kenyans died, either in fighting the British, or when Kenyan factions turned on each other.
In the end, British intransigence and military advantage proved futile. The political, social and economic tides were turning towards independence throughout the world, even within Britain itself. In 1963, after three years of transitional government, Kenya became an independent state. At its head was its newly elected president, Jomo Kenyatta, who had long been a dominant figure in Kenyan politics.
At first Kenya prospered, but then the situation deteriorated as the country became effectively a one-party state under Kenyatta. In 1978, Kenyatta died, and the leadership passed to his Vice President, Daniel Arap Moi. Under Moi, political and economic conditions deteriorated further, and Kenya suffered increasingly from the afflictions of widespread corruption, rapid population growth, increasing ethnic strife and gradual infrastructure collapse. Wars in neighboring Sudan and Somalia made matters worse. Moi’s government grew more repressive and corrupt, inspiring increased political resistance on the part of many Kenyans. Eventually, other political parties were permitted, but Moi still retained his grip on power amid many accusations of election fraud and other illegal actions. In 2002, to the astonishment of many, Moi stepped down, and multi-party elections returned Kenya to a state of true democracy for the first time in almost 40 years.
The new government, under President Mwai Kibaki, represents new hope for the Kenyan people. It also faces challenges greater than any Kenyan government that has gone before it. On top of the long-standing problems mentioned above, the AIDS epidemic is now taking an enormous human toll, and the years of governmental corruption and neglect have left most aspects of Kenya, including its educational system, in very poor condition. However, the new government is determined to tackle these challenges, and, for the first time in decades, Kenya has an opportunity to move freely forward.
Current Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
USEFUL LINKS
(these also served as sources for the text above)
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index.shtml An excellent overview of African history, including many facets of Kenyan history.
- http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/k-hist.html A sound and concise history of Kenya up to 1993.
- http://www.kenyaweb.com/history/ An extended and useful account of Kenyan history, written by Kenyans.
- http://crawfurd.dk/africa/kenya_timeline.htm A timeline of Kenyan history.
In addition, a detailed and informative account of what it was like to grow up and live in Kenya in the later 20th century can be found in Koigi wa Wamwere’s autobiography “I Refuse to Die”, Publ. 2002, Seven Stories Press, New York.
The following sources provide useful coverage of current events in Kenya and in Africa at large.
- http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/ Kenya’s, and east Africa’s leading daily newspaper. This is the most detailed, day-to-day online source.
- http://allafrica.com/ Access to reports and commentary from Kenya and elsewhere in Africa.
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm High quality coverage of major events in Kenya and in Africa.
- http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/africa/ Very fine coverage of major events, but a subscription is required.
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Very good coverage, and no subscription required. However, annoying advertisements must be endured.
