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Kenya
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Kenya
KENYA
LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT
TOPOGRAPHY
CLIMATE
FLORA AND FAUNA
ENVIRONMENT
POPULATION
MIGRATION
ETHNIC GROUPS
LANGUAGES
RELIGIONS
TRANSPORTATION
HISTORY
GOVERNMENT
POLITICAL PARTIES
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
JUDICIAL SYSTEM
ARMED FORCES
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
ECONOMY
INCOME
LABOR
AGRICULTURE
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
FISHING
FORESTRY
MINING
ENERGY AND POWER
INDUSTRY
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DOMESTIC TRADE
FOREIGN TRADE
BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
BANKING AND SECURITIES
INSURANCE
PUBLIC FINANCE
TAXATION
CUSTOMS AND DUTIES
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
HEALTH
HOUSING
EDUCATION
LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS
MEDIA
ORGANIZATIONS
TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION
FAMOUS KENYANS
DEPENDENCIES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Republic of Kenya
Jamhuri ya Kenya
CAPITAL: Nairobi
FLAG: The flag is a horizontal tricolor of black, red, and green stripes separated by narrow white bars. At the center is a red shield with black and white markings superimposed on two crossed white spears.
ANTHEM: Wimbo Wa Taifa (National Anthem), beginning "Ee Mungu nguvu yetu, ilete baraka Kwetu" ("O God of all creation, bless this our land and nation").
MONETARY UNIT: The Kenya shilling (Sh) is a paper currency of 100 cents; the Kenya pound (k£) is a unit of account equivalent to 20 shillings. There are coins of 5, 10, and 50 cents, and 1 and 5 shillings; and notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 shillings. Sh1 = $0.01309 (or $1 = Sh76.38) as of 2005.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is used.
HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Labor Day, 1 May; Madaraka Day, 1 June; Kenyatta Day, 20 October; Uhuru (Independence) Day, 12 December; Christmas, 25 December; Boxing Day, 26 December. Movable holidays include Good Friday, Easter Monday, 'Id al-Fitr, and 'Id al-'Adha'.
TIME: 3 pm = noon GMT.
Situated on the eastern coast of Africa, Kenya lies astride the equator. Its total area, including 11,230 sq km (4,336 sq mi) of water, is 582,650 sq km (224,962 sq mi), with a maximum length of 1,131 km (703 mi) sse–nnw and a maximum width of 1,025 km (637 mi) ene–wsw. Comparatively, the area occupied by Kenya is slightly more than twice the size of the state of Nevada. Kenya is bounded on the n by Sudan and Ethiopia, on the e by Somalia, on the se by the Indian Ocean, on the s by Tanzania, and on the w by Lake Victoria and Uganda, with a total land boundary length of 3,477 km (2,161 mi) and a coastline of 536 km (333 mi).
Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, is located in the south-central part of the country.
Kenya is notable for its topographical variety. The low-lying, fertile coastal region, fringed with coral reefs and islands, is backed by a gradually rising coastal plain, a dry region covered with savanna and thornbush. At an altitude of over 1,500 m (5,000 ft) and about 480 km (300 mi) inland, the plain gives way in the southwest to a high plateau, rising in parts to more than 3,050 m (10,000 ft), on which most of the population and the majority of economic activities are concentrated. The northern section of Kenya, forming three-fifths of the whole territory, is arid and of semidesert character, as is the bulk of the southeastern quarter.
In the high plateau area, known as the Kenya Highlands, lie Mt. Kenya (5,199 m/17,057 ft), Mt. Elgon (4,310 m/14,140 ft), and the Aberdare Range (rising above 3,962 m/13,000 ft). The plateau is bisected from north to south by the Great Rift Valley, part of the geological fracture that can be traced from Syria through the Red Sea and East Africa to Mozambique. In the north of Kenya the valley is broad and shallow, embracing Lake Rudolf (Lake Turkana), which is about 207 km (155 mi) long; farther south the valley narrows and deepens and is walled by escarpments 600–900 m (2,000–3,000 ft) high. West of the Great Rift Valley, the plateau descends to the plains that border Lake Victoria. The principal rivers are the Tana and the Athi, both flowing southeastward to the Indian Ocean, and the Ewaso Ngiro, which flows in a northeasterly direction to the swamps of the Lorian Plain.
The climate of Kenya is as varied as its topography. Climatic conditions range from the tropical humidity of the coast through the dry heat of the hinterland and northern plains to the coolness of the plateau and mountains; despite Kenya's equatorial position, Mt. Kenya is perpetually snowcapped. The coastal temperature averages 27°c (81°f), and the temperature decreases by slightly less than 2°c (3°f) with each 300 m (1,000 ft) increase in altitude. The capital, Nairobi, at 1,661 m (5,449 ft), has a mean annual temperature of 19°c (66°f); at 2,740 m (9,000 ft) the average is 13°c (55°f). The arid northern plains range from 21°–27°c (70–81°f).
Seasonal variations are distinguished by duration of rainfall rather than by changes of temperature. Most regions of the country have two rainy seasons, the long rains falling between April and June and the short rains between October and December. Average annual rainfall varies from 13 cm (5 in) a year in the most arid regions of the northern plains to 193 cm (76 in) near Lake Victoria. The coast and highland areas receive an annual average of 102 cm (40 in).
The vegetation and animal life of Kenya reflect the variety of its topography and climate. In the coastal region coconut trees flourish, with occasional mangrove swamps and rain forest. The vast plains
of the hinterland and the northern regions are covered with grass, low bush, and scrub, giving way in the high-lying plains to typical savanna country of open grass dotted with thorn trees, and in the more arid regions to bare earth and stunted scrub. The highland areas are in parts densely forested with bamboo and valuable timber, the predominant trees being African camphor, African olive, podo, and pencil cedar.
Wildlife of great variety is to be found in Kenya, both in the sparsely populated areas and in the national parks and reserves that have been created for its protection. Elephant, rhinoceros, lion, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, hippopotamus, wildebeest, and many kinds of buck are among the large mammals that abound on the plains and along the rivers. Kenya's diverse bird species include cranes, flamingos, ostriches, and vultures.
As of 2002, there were at least 359 species of mammals, 344 species of birds, and over 6,500 species of plants throughout the country.
Deforestation and soil erosion are attributed to growing population pressure, which creates increased demands for food production and firewood. Drought and desertification (to which 83% of Kenya's land area is vulnerable) threaten potential productive agricultural lands. By the mid 1980s, Kenya had lost 70% of its original mangrove areas, with the remainder covering an estimated 53,000–62,000 hectares. Also of concern is the drop in water level at Lake Victoria. Some reports estimate that in the period of 1995–2005, the water level dropped by one meter. Around Lake Nakuru, there has been a great loss of vegetation and deforestation, which, like the situation of Lake Victoria, has likely been caused by drought and desertification.
Water pollution from urban and industrial wastes poses another environmental problem. Kenya has 20 cu km of renewable water resources with 76% used in farming activity and 4% used for industrial purposes. Only about 46% of the residents in rural areas and 89% of city dwellers have pure drinking water.
In an effort to preserve wildlife, the government has set aside more than 3.5 million hectacres as national parks and game preserves. In 2003, 8% of Kenya's total land area was protected, including Mount Kenya National Park, which is listed as a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kenya has five Ramsar wetland sites. Game hunting and trade in ivory and skins have been banned, but poaching threatens leopards, cheetahs, lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, and other species. It is illegal to kill an animal even if it attacks. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the number of threatened species included 33 types of mammals, 28 species of birds, 5 types of reptiles, 4 species of amphibians, 29 species of fish, 16 types of mollusks, 11 species of other invertebrates, and 103 species of plants. Endangered species included the Sokoke scops owl, Taita blue-banded papilio, Tana River mangabey, Tana River red colobus, the green sea turtle, and the hawksbill turtle. There are 45 extinct species including the Kenyan rocky river frog and the Kenya oribi.
The population of Kenya in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 33,830,000, which placed it at number 34 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 2% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 43% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 100 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–2010 was expected to be 2.2%, a rate the government viewed as too high. The projected population for the year 2025 was 49,357,000. The population density was 58 per sq km (151 per sq mi), but density varies significantly by region. About 75% of the population lives on only 10% of the land.
Kenya's population increased with remarkable rapidity in recent decades. According to UN estimates, the national total rose by 28% from 6,416,000 in 1950 to 8,189,000 in 1960; by 37% to 11,253,000 in 1970; by 46% to 16,466,000 in 1980; by 36% to 22,400,000 in 1987; by 24% to an estimated 27,885,000 in 1995; and by 21% to an estimated 33,830,000 in 2005.
The UN estimated that 36% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 3.67%. The capital city, Nairobi, had a population of 2,575,000 in that year. Mombasa, the chief seaport, had an estimated 900,000. Other large cities and their estimated populations were Nakuru, 333,800; Kisumu, 322,724; Eldoret, 246,900; Nyeri, 218,600; Machakos, 144,109; and Meru, 78,100.
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has had a significant impact on the population of Kenya. The UN estimated that 15% of adults between the ages of 15–49 were living with HIV/AIDS in 2001. The AIDS epidemic causes higher death and infant mortality rates, and lowers life expectancy.
Throughout Kenya there is a slow but steady movement of the rural population to the cities in search of employment. Some Kenyans have emigrated to Uganda, and ethnic Somalis are present in significant numbers in Kenya's Northeastern Province.
Far-reaching migratory changes took place in the years immediately preceding and following independence. By 1961, the post-1945 trend of net European immigration was reversed, and in the three years that followed, approximately 29,000 Europeans left Kenya. Permanent emigration in 1964 reached 9,860, while permanent immigration totaled 5,406. In the first year of independence, some 6,000 Britons renounced their citizenship and applied for Kenyan citizenship; during the same period, approximately 70,000 persons living in Kenya—the majority of them Asians—were granted British passports. After the United Kingdom limited immigration by Asians in 1967, a crisis situation developed in Kenya. Work permits, without which Asians could not stay in the country beyond a limited period, were not issued, and the United Kingdom denied entry to Asians from Kenya who wanted to work in the United Kingdom. In 1973, the Kenya government served 1,500 notices of termination to Asian employees (there were 300 in 1972) and announced that by the end of 1974 it aimed to completely Kenyanize the country's retail and wholesale trade. In 1975, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry ordered the closing of 436 businesses, most of which belonged to Asians. Some 80,000 Asians were still living in Kenya at the time of the 1979 census, down from an estimated 180,000 in 1968.
In 2005, the net migration rate was -0.08 migrants per 1,000 population. The government views the immigration level as too high.
Kenya's refugee population includes Somalis, Sudanese, Ethiopians, Ugandans, and a smaller group comprised of various other nationalities. The total number of refugees was reduced from 420,000 in 1992 to 187,000 in June 1998. The decrease is mainly attributable to the repatriation of more than 155,000 refugees to Somalia and 70,000 to Ethiopia.
In 2004, Kenya was host to 249,310 refugees and asylum seekers. Of these, some 239,906 were refugees, 153,620 were from Somalia, over 64,000 from Sudan, and the remainder from Ethiopia. In that same year there were also 9,404 asylum seekers from Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda. Also in 2004, over 9,000 Kenyans sought asylum in South Africa, and more than another 1,000 in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. According to Migration News, in December 2005 some 700,000 Sudanese refugees living in northwestern Kenya began to return. Since an agreement to end the fighting between southern Christians and Muslims who control the government in Sudan was signed in January 2005, already 250,000 refugees have returned.
African peoples indigenous to Kenya, who now form 98% of the population, fall into three major cultural and linguistic groups: Bantu, Nilotic, and Cushitic. Although most of the land area is occupied by Cushitic and Nilotic peoples, over 70% of the population is Bantu. The Luo, a Nilotic people, live in an area adjacent to Lake Victoria. Other Nilotes—Turkana, Maasai, Pokot, Nandi, Kipsigis, and Tugen—occupy a broad area in the west from Lake Rudolf to the Tanzania border. Cushites such as the Galla and Somali live in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country. The Bantu reside mainly in the coastal areas and the southwestern uplands; the most significant Bantu peoples are the Kikuyu, Kamba, and Luhya. The Kikuyu, who constitute the largest single ethnic group in Kenya, live for the most part north of Nairobi and have played a major role in the nation's political and social development. The estimated proportions of the major groups are Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, and Meru 6%. Other Africans constitute 15% of the total population. These smaller groups include the Bajuni, Kijikenda, Digo, and Nubians.
Non-Africans (Arabs, Asians, and Europeans) account for no more than 1% of the population. The Arab community is centered on the Indian Ocean coast. The Swahili, a group of mixed Arab-Africans with a cultural affinity to the Arabs, also live in the coastal region. Most Asians in Kenya have origins traceable to the Indian subcontinent; living primarily in urban centers, they consist of at least 31 culturally separate groups but make up less than 0.4% of the nation's population. The European community, which has rebounded since the 1960s, is primarily of British origin. About 12% of the Europeans hold Kenyan citizenship. A 1984 law provides that people born in Kenya of non-Kenyan parents can no longer claim Kenyan citizenship.
Although there are linguistic groupings of very similar dialects, nearly all the African ethnic groups have their own distinct languages. Swahili, however, increasingly has become an East African lingua franca, and in 1974 it became Kenya's official language, along with English. English remains in wide use in business and government, and parliamentary bills must be drafted and presented in that language. Both Gujarati and Punjabi are widely used among the Asian community.
An estimated 66% of the population are Christians with about 28% belonging to the Roman Catholic church and 38% belonging to Protestant churches. About 7% are Muslim, with many living in the Northeastern Province, the Coast Province, and the northern region of the Eastern Province. About 1% are Hindu and the remainder practice traditional religions or local branches of Christianity. As in other African states with complex religious histories and some renewal of cultural self-consciousness, it is likely that a majority of ethnic Kenyans also hold some traditional African beliefs. Foreign missionary groups include the African Inland Mission (Evangelical Protestant), the Pentecostal Assembly of Kenya, the Southern Baptist Church, and the Missionary Society of Britain (Anglican).
The current constitution provides for freedom of religion and this right is generally respected in practice. The Constitution of Kenya Review Commission submitted a draft for a new constitution in March 2004 that would specifically recognize a separation between state and religion. Christians and Muslims were debating the possibility that the new constitution would grant special recognition to the Islamic court system. Religious organizations must register with the government Registrar of Societies; some small splinter groups have had their applications denied. Certain Muslim and Christian Holidays are celebrated as national holidays.
Kenya's railway system in 2004, operated by the Kenya Railways Corp., consisted of 2,778 km (1,726 mi) of narrow gauge railway, of which over half was made up by the main line between the Ugandan border and Mombasa, the chief port.
A modern installation, the port at Mombasa serves Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, the DROC, and the Sudan as well as Kenya. A national shipping line, 70% state owned, was created in 1987. There is steamer service on Lake Victoria. In 2005, the merchant marine had three ships (1,000 GRT or over), totaling 6,049 GRT.
As of 2002, the road system comprised an estimated 63,942 km (39,771 mi), of which about 7,737 km (4,812 mi) were paved. The major road from Nairobi to Mombasa is well paved, and the government has undertaken a campaign to widen and resurface secondary roads. All-weather roads linking Kenya with the Sudan and Ethiopia have been completed. Over 80% of Kenya's total passenger and freight traffic use road transport. In 2003, there were 261,920 private passenger automobiles and 110,540 commercial vehicles.
In 2004, there were an estimated 221 airports in Kenya, only 15 of which had paved runways as of 2005. There are major international
airports at Nairobi (Jomo Kenyatta) and Mombasa (Moi International). The Nairobi air terminal, opened in 1958 and expanded in 1972 to receive jumbo jets, is a continental terminus for international services from Europe, Asia, and other parts of Africa. Air travel and air freight also are accommodated at Malindi, Kisumu, and numerous smaller airstrips. Kenya Airways flies to other nations of East Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. In 2003, about 1.678 million passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international airline flights.
Fossil remains show that humanlike creatures lived in the area of Lake Rudolf perhaps two million years ago. As early as the third millennium bc, cattle were being herded in what is now northern Kenya. Sometime in the first millennium bc, food-producing Cushitic-speaking peoples, possibly from the Ethiopian highlands, appeared in Kenya. During the Iron Age (c.ad 1000), the first Bantu speakers arrived, probably from points south and west, resulting in the retreat of Cushitic speakers. The Nilotic speakers entered at the end of the 16th century from the north or north-west, from southern Sudan, and perhaps from the western Ethiopian borderland.
After their arrival, most groups settled into a pattern of slow and gradual movement highlighted by spurts of expansionist activity. For example, the Eastern Bantu (Kikuyu, Meru, Kamba, Pokomo, Teita, and Bajuni), possibly after settling in the area between Lamu and the Juba River, dispersed throughout southern and coastal Kenya. By 1400, the Kikuyu had reached the area near Mt. Kenya; they were joined there by the Meru in the 1750s. The Western Bantu (Luhya and Gusii) developed from an influx of Kalenjin (1598–1625) and Bantu (1598–1733) migrants. Other peoples, including the Luo, developed a strong ethnic identity and protected themselves from intruders. But as their population increased between 1750 and 1800, conflict arose, clans broke down, and another wave of migration ensued.
The Cushitic and Nilotic peoples (represented by Kalenjin ancestors of the Pokot, Nandi, Kipsigis, Kony, and Tugen) and others (such as the Turkana, Teso, and Galla) participated in independent movements beginning in the 16th century and lasting into the 18th. By 1800, the Kamba, acting as the chief carriers and gobetweens, dominated an extensive intergroup long-distance trade network that linked the interior to the East African coast. The last migrants into the country were the Somali, who did not enter northeastern Kenya in great numbers until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Meanwhile, another set of migrants settled on the Indian Ocean coast. As in the interior, the newcomers replaced the original hunter-gatherer inhabitants. In the period prior to the birth of Christ, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Persians, and possibly even Indonesians visited the coast. By the 10th century the Bantu had settled the coastal region in what the Arabs called the Land of the Zenj (blacks). As the area flourished, a mixed population of Arabs and Africans combined in creating the Swahili culture, a culture marked by its own language, a devotion to Islam, and the development of numerous coastal trade centers. Swahili cities such as Kilwa, Mombasa, and Pate remained independent of one another and of foreign control and, although they had little contact with the interior, grew wealthy from their mercantile contacts with India and Arabia.
Throughout the 16th century, following Vasco da Gama's landing at Malindi in 1498, the coastal cities struggled to remain independent of the external threats posed first by the Portuguese and then by the Omani Arabs. Although the Portuguese established posts and gained a monopoly of the trade along the Kenya coast, the Arabs eventually succeeded in driving out the Portuguese and reestablishing Arab authority in 1740. Independent Arab settlements persisted for a century until, during the rule (1806–56) of Sayyid Sa'id, a kind of unity was established. Arab control even in the 19th century continued to be confined to the coastal belt, however. In 1840, Sayyid Sa'id moved the capital of his sultanate to Zanzibar.
Europeans began to assert their influence in East Africa. After jostling with the Germans and the Italians for Zanzibari favors, the British emerged with a concession for the Kenya coast in 1887. European penetration of the interior had begun decades earlier with the explorations of two German missionaries, Johannes Rebmann and Johann Ludwig Krapf, in 1847–49, and by the English explorer John Hanning Speke at Lake Victoria in 1858. In 1886, the United Kingdom and Germany reached agreement on their respective spheres of influence in East Africa, and the Imperial British East African Company, a private concern, began establishing its authority in the interior two years later. In 1890, a definitive Anglo-German agreement was signed, and arrangements were made with the sultan of Zanzibar for protection to be extended to his mainland holdings. When the company failed in 1895, the United Kingdom assumed direct control over the "East African Protectorate". In December 1901, the railway linking Mombasa with Lake Victoria was completed, and in the following year the boundary between Kenya and Uganda was shifted some 320 km (200 mi) westward to its present position. European and Asian settlement followed the building of the railway, and by World War I the modern development of Kenya was clearly evident. In 1920 the protectorate, with the exception of the coastal strip (later ceded by Zanzibar), was declared a crown colony.
In the interwar years, the major challenge to European political power came from Asians who wanted equality with Europeans in governmental representative institutions. This challenge was successfully resisted, but in the postwar period a more dynamic threat came from African nationalism.
The Struggle for Independence
Africans made use of both legal and nonlegal methods in their struggle for power with the Europeans. The first efforts ended in the eruption of the Mau Mau movement, and a state of emergency was declared in October 1952. Supported primarily by the Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru tribes of Central Province, Mau Mau was a secretive insurrectionary movement that rejected the European domination over Kenya. The emergency lasted until late 1959, and cost over uk£55 million. At one time, more than 79,000 Africans were detained, and about 13,000 civilians (almost all African) were killed.
During the initial period of the emergency in 1954, the "Lyttelton" multiracial constitution was imposed on Kenyan political groups unable to agree among themselves. It provided both for African and Asian participation in a council of ministers with Europeans,
and a system of communal representation for each racial group, with a formula of equality of representation in legislative and executive institutions between Europeans and non-Europeans. The introduction of direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council in 1957 was their first outstanding political gain. With the 1960 "Macleod" constitution came an African-elected majority in the Legislative Council; this represented a decisive shift in the direction of an African-controlled state of Kenya. Rapid
advancement toward self-government and independence under African leadership was delayed, however, because of conflicts between the two major African political parties over the future constitutional structure of the country. A constitutional conference in London in early 1962 produced a "framework" constitution, which included formation of a national government representing both political parties. Following new national elections under this constitution in May 1963, Kenya became self-governing on 1 June. On 12 December 1963, Kenya became independent. Exactly one year later it became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Jomo Kenyatta as the country's first president. His political party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU), dominated the government, and leaders of a rival party, banned in 1969, were detained. On the other hand, some electoral choice was permitted: although all parliamentary candidates in 1969, 1974, and 1979 were KANU members, more than half the incumbents were unseated in the balloting.
An East African Community united Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda in a common market and customs union until it was dissolved in 1977. Kenya has maintained remarkable political stability, despite territorial disputes with the Somali Democratic Republic, which resulted in sporadic fighting (1963–1968); and with Uganda (1970s). Tanzania closed its borders with Kenya between 1978 and 1983 because Kenya allegedly harbored Idi Amin's supporters after his fall.
Kenyatta died on 22 August 1978 and was succeeded by his vice president, Daniel Arap Moi, who was elected president without opposition a month later. In June 1982, the National Assembly voted unanimously to make Kenya formally a one-party state. On 1 August 1982, a group of junior air force officers, supported by university students and urban workers, attempted a military coup. Looting in Nairobi, particularly of Asian-owned stores, continued for days. This resulted in more than 500 people reported killed, dissolution of the entire 2,100-member air force, closing of Nairobi University, jailing of almost 1,000 persons, conviction and sentencing to death of 12 conspirators in the following months, and their reported execution in 1985. President Moi ran unopposed in the elections of September 1983; in the National Assembly voting during the same month, five cabinet ministers and 40% of all incumbents went down to defeat.
In 1986, Moi declared that KANU was above government, the parliament and the judiciary. Critics of Moi, even within KANU, were expelled from the party and government repression widened. Many opposition leaders were detained in July 1990 and in 1991 (including former vice president, Oginga Odinga), and clashes between pro-democracy demonstrators and police left five dead.
The Advent of Multiparty Democracy
As pressures mounted for political reform, the United States and 11 other donor nations pressed Moi to reduce government corruption, to improve its poor human rights record, and to institute economic reforms. In 1991, these donors withheld more than $350 million in aid. In December 1991, Moi and his party legalized multiparty politics, but opposition to Moi and civil unrest continued. Ethnic violence from 1991 to 1994 in the Rift Valley left over 3,000 Kikuyu and Luo dead, allegedly the work of "trained warriors" from Moi's ethnic group. In 1993, Africa Watch, a US-based human rights group, reported that as many as 1,500 Kenyans have been killed and over 300,000 displaced as a result of ethnic violence instigated by Moi's regime in the Rift Valley. In the lead-up to the 1997 general elections, ethnic fighting flared up in Mombassa, claiming over 42 lives. The death toll of these clashes pales in comparison to the Hutu-Tutsi genocide, but the social friction they have caused provided Moi with what he termed "proof" that the country is too fractured along tribal lines to allow true multiparty democracy.
In Nairobi in January 1992, more than 100,000 attended the first legal antigovernment rally in 22 years. Through the years, the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) had emerged as the main opposition. But a conflict between Kenneth Matiba and Odinga signaled ethnic divisions in the run-up to elections required by 21 March 1993. Moi, exploiting those weaknesses, delayed the elections until December. The opposition, divided into eight parties, saw its initial support fade away. Although the late December elections were generally peaceful, Matiba, Odinga, and Mwai Kibaki, of the Democratic Party of Kenya, refused to accept the results. Moi was reelected with 37% of the vote; Matiba had 26%, Kibaki 19%, and Odinga 17%. For the National Assembly, KANU won 100 of the 188 seats; FORD-Kenya, 31; FORD-Asili, 31; and DP, 23. However, many of Moi's cabinet ministers were defeated in their parliamentary contests.
Moi continued to demonstrate his authoritarianism in 1994 and 1995, as opposition groups struggled among themselves to present a united front. Moi's overtly heavy security apparatus stepped up internal oppression, leading the Kenyan Human Rights Commission to report that in the first nine months of 1995, security forces murdered 74 Kenyans in detention, 12 of whom were killed by torture. Violence conducted by unofficial Moi-supported gangs continued as well.
Despite this, opposition forces became vocal as the 1997 elections neared, demanding constitutional reform. Primary among the demands was a constitutional convention and at the very least parliamentary action limiting the powers of the president, and an electoral reform providing for a runoff election if no presidential candidate received more than 50% of the vote—a virtual certainty. Moi, elected with only 36% of the vote in 1992, publicly acknowledged the need for such reforms, but repeatedly postponed any action. This further inflamed opposition parties, and as protests grew more violent, Moi's repression followed suit. By 9 September 1997, over 70 people had been killed in demonstrations, including 7 protestors killed by police in July in a massive Nairobi demonstration that saw police beating religious leaders inside the Kenya Presbyterian Church at midday. Images of bloodied clerics fleeing armed mobs in the international media outlets led to harsher criticism, further marginalization, escalating civil unrest, and violence. Moi refused to concede to opposition demands, insisting that democratic reforms would lead to the splintering of the country.
On 29 and 30 December 1997, Kenyans went to the polls without constitutional or electoral reform. Again, early hopes of a united opposition victory were dashed as divisions reemerged. Over nine parties split the opposition vote. Moi was reelected with 40% of the vote; Mwai Kibaki of the Democratic Party (DP) had 31%; National Democratic Party's (RDP) Raila Odinga had 11%; FORD-Kenya's M.K. Wamalwa had 8%; and Charity Kaluki Ngilu of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) had about 8%. Of the 210
seats of the National Assembly, KANU won 108; DP, 39; NDP, 21; FORD-Kenya, 17; SDP, 15; Safina and three other parties shared 7 seats.
Following the 1997 elections, civil unrest continued, crime and corruption increased, while the AIDS pandemic claimed at least 600 lives per day. In February 2000 the British Foreign Office minister in charge of Africa, Peter Hain, referred to corruption in Kenya as "the economic equivalent of AIDS". Still, Moi managed to survive a vote of no confidence moved by opposition MPs in October 1998. After 30 months of snubbing the IMF, the Kenyan government finally resumed formal relations with the IMF and in mid-January 2000, the IMF Board voted to resume aid to Kenya. The reestablishment of the East African Common Market was expected to increase trade among the three sister countries.
The opposition and civil society coalesced over the issue of constitutional reform. Bowing to mounting pressure and civil unrest, Moi finally consented to a Constitutional Review Commission Amendment Act, which became effective on 29 January 1999. However, squabbling over who should lead the review process delayed action into 2003.
Following much speculation, Moi went on record saying he would retire at the end of his term in 2002. Although it appeared in April 2002 that elections would be postponed for a year to allow for the drafting of the constitution, the polls were held on 27 December 2002. Mwai Kibaki's landslide victory with 62.2% of the vote over Moi's hand-picked candidate Uhuru Kenyatta with 31.3% ended 24 years of KANU rule under Moi. In the parliamentary vote, Kibaki's National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) won 125 directly elected and seven appointed seats for a total of 132 seats, compared to 64 directly elected and 4 appointed seats for KANU in a parliament of 224 seats. Overall the polls were judged peaceful, free, and fair. The next elections were scheduled to be held in 2007.
President Kibaki campaigned on a policy of generating economic growth, improving education, combating corruption, and implementing a new constitution. With international aid flowing back into Kenya, there have been some major achievements with reference to economic growth and improvements in the educational system. However, the constitutional process proceeded much slower due to disagreements between the partners in the current coalition government. The Democratic Party (DP) led by Kibaki and National Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK) faction allied with Kibaki, favored a strong centralized presidential system, while the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faction—with fewer parliamentary seats in the coalition than the other two parties—prefered a federal parliamentary system with a strong prime minister while weakening the role of the president.
Raila Odinga, the leader of LDP, had hopes to become prime minister but the proposed new constitution was modified by the government during the Moi regime. The amendments retain a strong president, who controls a weaker prime minister. This resulted in a split between NAK and LDP, with the former campaigning for a "Yes" vote in the referendum on the constitution and the latter a "No". Uhuru Kenyatta's KANU party, which ruled Kenya for most of the postindependence era until its ouster in the 2002 elections was also vigorously campaigning for a "No" vote to the modified constitution. It was thought by some that the political wrangling and alignment over the referendum for the new constitution would imply a wider realignment before the 2007 elections. In addition to these disagreements, there was also a lack of progress in tackling the problem of corruption and the donor nations, particularly the British, strongly criticized the Kibaki government for lack of progress on this front.
According to the constitution of 1963, as subsequently amended, the government of Kenya is led by a president who is chief of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected to serve a five-year term; he may, however, dissolve the National Assembly during his term, or the National Assembly may dissolve itself by a vote of no confidence, in which case a new presidential election must also be held. The president appoints the members of the cabinet (the vice president and the heads of the various ministries) from among members of the Assembly. The Assembly is barred by edict of the speaker from debating the conduct of the president. The cabinet is carefully balanced to maintain a multiethnic image, and the allocation of assistant ministerships is part of the communally arranged patronage system.
The unicameral National Assembly—established when the Senate and House of Representatives were merged by constitutional amendment in 1967—consisted in October 2005 of 210 members elected for a maximum term of five years, plus 12 national members nominated by the president and selected by parties in proportion to their parliamentary vote totals. In addition, the speaker of the Assembly and the attorney general are ex-officio members. Technically, MPs are allowed to introduce legislation, but in fact it is the attorney general who does so. Suffrage is universal at age 18.
The constitution recognizes the principle of maximum allocation of governmental powers to local authorities, and provision is made for the establishment of provincial assemblies with local administrative powers. The central government may abridge or extend the powers of local government in the national interest. The next elections were scheduled to take place in 2007.
Following a constitutional conference at Lancaster House in London in February 1960, two national African parties were formed, the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU). The fundamental difference between the two parties resided in the fact that KANU tended to represent those persons and tribes that were most closely associated with an urban-oriented nationalism and sought a highly centralized political system for Kenya, while KADU represented the more rural and pastoral tribes, who feared a concentration of power by any central government. The political conflicts between these two parties tended to become identified with tribalism, since each party had a core group of tribes committed to it. In the national elections of May 1963, KANU won a majority of seats in both houses of parliament, and its leader, Jomo Kenyatta, assumed power. KADU dissolved itself voluntarily in 1964 and joined KANU.
Since 1964, KANU has dominated Kenyan politics. In March 1966, 30 KANU members of the House announced that they had formed an opposition party, later named the Kenya People's Union (KPU), led by Oginga Odinga, a Luo, who had resigned his post as
vice president. By-elections for the 30 seats, held in June 1966, resulted in the KPU's retention of only 9. In July 1969, Tom Mboya, the minister of economic planning, was assassinated. His death touched off old animosities between his tribe, the Luo, and the politically dominant Kikuyu, to which Kenyatta belonged. The government used the pretext of the assassination to ban the KPU and jail Odinga and other opposition leaders. In the 1969 elections, Kenyatta—who ran unopposed—and the KANU slate were returned to power. All parliamentary candidates also were KANU members in 1974 and 1979; however, there were many more candidates than constituencies, and in all three elections a majority of incumbents were unseated.
Following reports that Odinga, who had been freed in 1971, was planning to form a new, Socialist-oriented party, the National Assembly on 9 June 1982 declared Kenya a one-party state. In the wake of the attempted coup that August, Odinga was again detained, and treason charges were brought against his son, Raila Odinga, dean of the engineering school of the University of Nairobi. The treason charges were later dropped, but Oginga Odinga remained under house arrest from November 1982 to October 1983. By that time, presidential and parliamentary elections had been held, with some 900 KANU members vying for the 158 elective seats.
A clandestine dissident group known as Mwakenya was founded in 1981. In 1986, 44 persons were being held in connection with this group, 37 of whom were convicted of sedition. Other underground opposition groups emerged in the 1980s and in 1987 many joined to form the United Movement for Democracy (UMOJA, Swahili for unity).
In December 1991, the Moi government decided to end KANU's monopoly on legal political activity. A grand coalition known as the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) was formed, but, before the December 1992 election, it fragmented into two factions—FORD-Kenya, headed by Oginga Odinga and FORD-Asili, led by Kenneth Matiba. The Democratic Party of Kenya (DP) was headed by Mwai Kibaki and the Kenya National Congress (KNC) by Chilube wa Tsuma. Three other parties were active, even in the face of persecution by Moi's police. In particular, government prevented opposition MPs, domestic and international human rights figures, and journalists from entering the security zones of the Rift Valley, where the government conducted a policy of ethnic cleansing against the area's non-Kalenjin population. In 1993 alone, the KANU-led government arrested 36 of the 85 opposition MPs.
In the run-up to the scheduled 1997 elections, opposition parties made a brief attempt at unity with the formation in 1995 of the united National Democratic Alliance. Factional bickering, however, rendered it stillborn. Also in 1995, the Safina Party was founded by Richard Leakey, the world-renowned paleoanthropologist and former head of the Kenya Wildlife Service, a post for which he was handpicked by President Moi. Leakey intended to organize an umbrella opposition party, but Moi promptly banned Safina. By 1996, however, several opposition parties had tentatively acknowledged their support of Safina. By March 1997 there were 26 registered political parties, but only 10 won parliamentary seats in the 1997 elections judged as fairly credible.
In the run-up to the 27 December 2002 elections, the opposition led by Mwai Kibaki organized a grand electoral alliance of four parties, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). The four parties in this coalition were Democratic Party led by Mwai Kibaki, Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya, Liberal Democratic Party, and National Party of Kenya. This coalition was victorious in the December 2002 elections, which saw Mwai Kibaki being elected president of Kenya, defeating Uhuru Kenyatta. The seats won by party were as follows: NARC 125, KANU 64, FORD-P 14, and other 7; ex-officio 2; seats appointed by the president: NARC 7, KANU 4, and FORD-P 1.
Kenya is divided into seven provinces: Coast, Northeastern, Eastern, Central, Rift Valley, Nyanza, and Western. (The Nairobi area is separate and has special status.) These are subdivided into 63 districts, each headed by a presidentially appointed commissioner; provincial administration is closely supervised by the central government. There are two types of upper local authorities (municipalities and county councils) and four types of lower authorities (urban councils, township authorities, area councils, and local councils). The Nairobi area, administered by a city council, is the direct responsibility of the central government. Many of the councils raise their own revenues by taxes, construct and maintain roads, carry out public health schemes, construct and improve housing, support education, and provide agricultural and social welfare services.
The legal system is based on the 1963 constitution, the Judicature Act of 1967, and common law court precedent. Kenya accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations. Customary law, to the extent it does not conflict with statutory law, is used as a guide in civil matters concerning persons of the same ethnic group.
The judicial system consists of the Court of Appeal, which has final appellate jurisdiction, and subordinate courts. The High Court, sitting continuously at Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, and Kisumu, and periodically at Eldoret, Kakamega, Nyeri, Kitale, Kisii, and Meru, consists of a chief justice and 24 associate judges, who are appointed by the president of the republic. The High Court has both civil and criminal jurisdiction, serving as an appellate tribunal in some cases and as a court of first instance in others. Lower courts are presided over by resident magistrates and district magistrates. Questions of Islamic law are determined by qadis' courts. Military courts handle court-martials of military personnel.
Although the constitution provides for an independent judiciary, the president has considerable influence over the judiciary. The president appoints the High Court Judges with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. The president also has authority to dismiss judges, the attorney general, and other officials upon recommendation of a tribunal appointed by the president.
Until 1963, Kenya's defense was the responsibility of the United Kingdom. On 10 December 1963, the withdrawal of British armed forces from Kenya was completed.
In 2005, Kenyan armed forces had 24,120 active personnel. The Army of 20,000 was equipped with 78 main battle tanks. The Navy had 1,620 personnel, including 120 Marines, and was equipped
with four patrol/coastal vessels. The Air Force had 2,500 personnel, 29 combat capable aircraft, including 9 fighters, and 11 attack helicopters. The 5,000-member national police had general service, air, and naval paramilitary units. Kenya contributed personnel to nine international peacekeeping missions, mainly in other African nations. In 2005, the defense budget totaled $288 million.
On 16 December 1963, Kenya became a member of the United Nations; the nation participates in ECA and several nonregional specialized agencies, such as UNESCO UNHCR, IAEA, FAO, IRC, IMO, the World Bank, and WHO. Kenya is also a member of the African Development Bank, the ACP Group, the Commonwealth of Nations, COMESA, G-15, G-77, the WTO, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and the African Union. President Daniel Arap Moi was OAU chairman during 1981–82 and 1982–83. Nairobi has become increasingly important as a headquarters for international agencies (including the secretariat of the UN Environment Program) and as a convention center for world organizations.
On 26 June 1980, Kenya signed an agreement with the United States allowing the latter access to air and naval facilities at Mombasa. Since the US embassy bombings in August 1998, the World Trade Center attacks on 11 September 2001, and the November 2002 hotel bombing in Mombasa, the two nations have solidified their common front against international terrorism. The administration of US president George W. Bush designated Kenya a strategic regional pillar in the American national security strategy, and renewed airbase, port access, and overflight agreements with the Kenyan government. In December 2002, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld traveled to the region. Kenya receives 75% ($15 million of $20 million) of the funding authorized by the US Congress for counterterrorism in Africa.
The Kenyan government has played a key role in peace negotiations regarding the civil war in Sudan. On 9 January 2005, a Sudan North-South Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed in Nairobi. Likewise, the government has participated in negotiations to reinstate a central government authority in Somalia.
In environmental cooperation, Kenya is part of the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, the London Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, MARPOL, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea, Climate Change and Desertification.
Kenya's is an agricultural economy supported by a manufacturing sector, much of which dates from the pre-independence period, and a tourism sector, which is an important foreign exchange earner. Kenya has few mineral resources. Although Kenya is one of the most industrialized countries in East Africa, industry only accounts for around 13% of GDP. Kenya has a drought-prone agricultural sector in which maize is a principal staple crop, along with tubers—cassava, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. There is a shortage of arable land—only 12% is first-quality farm land—and little irrigation. Nonetheless, the country exports tea, coffee, cut flowers, and vegetables. Tea exports provide the largest share of foreign exchange earnings, followed by tourism. Horticultural produce and tea are Kenya's two single most valuable exports, accounting for 25% and 23% respectively of domestic exports in 2004. Coffee exports were the third-largest source of foreign exchange earnings in 2002, due to a decline in world coffee prices and a decline in production, which was caused in part by mismanagement. However, coffee has declined in importance owing to the slump in world prices, and accounted for just 4.4% of domestic exports in 2004.
Kenya had one of Africa's strongest economies in the 1980s, posting growth rates of 5% annually. Kenya's economic performance was below potential in the 1990s owing to a variety of problems, including intermittent drought, poor economic management, rampant corruption, a lack of investment, a deteriorating infrastructure, and on-off donor relations. GDP per capita fell and poverty climbed. In the early 1990s, political turmoil and poor harvests slowed growth. Disagreements over the direction of future investments led to a suspension of foreign aid in 1992 resulting in low growth and high inflation. Under a structural adjustment program supported by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1993, Kenya strengthened its free market by abolishing price controls, removing import licensing requirements, and floating the currency. The end of most financial controls occurred in 1995. These reforms, together with a strong harvest, helped the economy to expand by 3% in 1994, 5% in 1995, and 4% in 1996.
In 1997 a drought caused continuing power interruptions, slowed business and manufacturing, and cast doubts on the country's ability to sustain growth. Flooding during 1998 caused industry slowdowns. At the same time, government corruption was threatening $200 million in direct aid from the IMF and World Bank. The donor agencies' concern with official corruption was heightened in early 1996 when they learned that the government's request for a $50-million low interest loan coincided with its purchase of a $50-million private jet for the president. The purchase of the jet was a nonbudgeted expenditure hidden from the World Bank auditors. In August 1997, the IMF and World Bank, tired of Kenya's failure to clamp down on graft, ended talks on resuming aid, a move that resulted in cuts in bilateral aid programs. The government initiated its own Economic Recovery Strategy in September 1999 to improve public sector management.
Another drought in 1999–2000 caused water and energy to be rationed and reduced agricultural output. The IMF again provided loans to guide Kenya through the drought, but suspended them in 2001 when the government failed to implement anticorruption measures. Although ample rains returned in 2001, corruption—compounded with low investment and weak commodity prices—prevented any increase in economic growth. The new government installed after the elections of December 2002 committed itself to providing adequate education, a zero tolerance for corruption, and an economic environment conducive to domestic and foreign investment. However, the Kenyan economy continued to stagnate in 2002, real GDP growing by just 1.1%, compared with 1.2% in 2001. The sluggish performance was blamed on a number of factors, including election uncertainties, the continued suspension of donor assistance, low investor confidence, and the continuing deterioration in Kenya's infrastructure, which inflates business costs. The rise in oil prices in the second half of 2002 also did not help.
Despite hopes of an economic revival under the reform-minded Kibaki regime, economic growth continued to be sluggish in
2003, partly because of delays in securing a new agreement with the IMF. Real GDP growth increased to 2.8% in 2003, compared with 0.4% in 2002. In 2004 official data indicated that real GDP growth had increased to 4.3%. However, the average GDP growth for 2000–04 still remains modest, at 2.5% annually. The main contributors to real GDP growth of 4.3% in 2004 were transport and communications, wholesale and retail trade, and restaurants and hotels, all of which grew considerably faster than in 2003. The recovery continued to gain ground in 2005 with a 5.2% growth in GDP. This reflected a solid rise in international trade, the rapid roll-out of mobile phones, and a strong recovery in tourism.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 Kenya's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $39.5 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $1,200. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 12%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 16.3% of GDP, industry 18.8%, and services 65.1%.
According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $494 million or about $15 per capita and accounted for approximately 3.4% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $483 million or about $15 per capita and accounted for approximately 3.4% of the gross national income (GNI).
The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Kenya totaled $10.60 billion or about $332 per capita based on a GDP of $14.4 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990–2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 2.1%. In 2001 it was estimated that approximately 31% of household consumption was spent on food, 21% on fuel, 2% on health care, and 8% on education. It was estimated that in 2000 about 50% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.
In 2005, Kenya's labor force numbered an estimated 11.85 million. In 2003, agriculture accounted for an estimated 75% of the workforce in this impoverished country. As of 2001 (the latest year for which data was available), the unemployment rate was estimated at 40%.
The trade union movement is strong in Kenya and continues to pressure the government for better wages and improved living standards. However, union activity can result in dismissal or discrimination for employees. Complex rules severely limit the right to strike. The principal labor federation is the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU). Except for the 150,000–200,000 teachers believed to be members of Kenya National Union of Teachers and three other smaller unions, all unions are affiliated with the COTU. COTU, however, does little to pursue workers' rights. There were some 41 unions in Kenya with approximately 600,000 workers in 2001, or about 33% of the country's industrialized workforce.
The minimum legal working age is 16, however this does not apply to the agricultural segment which accounts for 80% of the labor force. The number of child laborers was estimated at five million in 2002. The minimum wage ranged between $25 and $42 per month in 2002, depending on location, age, and skill level.
Agriculture remains the most important economic activity in Kenya, although less than 8% of the land is used for crop and feed production. Less than 20% of the land is suitable for cultivation, of which only 12% is classified as high potential (adequate rainfall) agricultural land and about 8% is medium potential land. The rest of the land is arid or semiarid. About 80% of the work force engages in agriculture or food processing. Farming in Kenya is typically carried out by small producers who usually cultivate no more than two hectares (about five acres) using limited technology. These small farms, operated by about three million farming families, account for 75% of total production. Although there are still important European-owned coffee, tea, and sisal plantations, an increasing number of peasant farmers grow cash crops.
From independence in 1963 to the oil crisis in 1973, the agricultural sector expanded by undergoing two basic changes: first, widespread acceptance of private ownership (replacing tribal ownership) and cash crop farming; second, the success of intensive nationwide efforts to expand and upgrade the production of African smallholders. Before World War II (1939–45) ended, agricultural development occurred almost exclusively in the "White Highlands," an area of some 31,000 sq km (12,000 sq mi) allocated to immigrant white settlers and plantation companies. Since independence, as part of a land consolidation and resettlement policy, the Kenya government, with financial aid from the United Kingdom, has gradually transferred large areas to African ownership. European-owned agriculture remains generally large-scale and almost entirely commercial.
After the 1973 oil crisis, agricultural growth slowed as less untapped land became available. Government involvement in marketing coupled with inefficient trade and exchange rate policies discouraged production during the 1970s. Coffee production booms in the late 1970s and in 1986 have in the past temporarily helped the economy in its struggle away from deficit spending and monetary expansion. Although the expansion of agricultural export crops has been the most important factor in stimulating economic development, much agricultural activity is also directed toward providing food for domestic consumption. Kenya's agriculture is sufficiently diversified to produce nearly all of the nation's basic foodstuffs. To some extent, Kenya also helps feed neighboring countries.
Kenya is Africa's leading tea producer, and was fourth in the world in 2004, behind China, India, and Sri Lanka. Black tea is Kenya's leading agricultural foreign exchange earner. Production in 2004 reached 295,000 tons. Tea exports were valued at $463.7 million in 2004, or over 17% of total exports. The tea industry is divided between small farms and large estates. The small-scale sector, with more than 260,000 farmers, is controlled by the parastatal Kenya Tea Development Authority. The estates, consisting of 60–75 private companies, operate on their own.
Coffee is Kenya's third leading foreign exchange earner, after tourism and tea. In 2004, coffee earnings totaled $89.1 million.
Production in 2005/06 amounted to an estimated 60,120 tons. Similar to the tea sector, coffee is produced on many small farms and a few large estates. All coffee is marketed through the parastatal Coffee Board of Kenya. The suspension of the economic provisions of the International Coffee Agreement in July 1989 disrupted markets temporarily, driving coffee prices to historical lows.
Kenyan horticulture has become prominent in recent years, and is now the third leading agricultural export, following tea and coffee. Fresh produce accounted for about 30% of horticultural exports, and included green beans, onions, cabbages, snow peas, avocados, mangoes, and passion fruit. Flowers exported include roses, carnations, statice, astromeria, and lilies.
Kenya is the world's largest producer and exporter of pyrethrum, a flower that contains a substance used in pesticides. The pyrethrum extract, known as pyrethrin, is derived from the flower's petals. A drop in production during the mid-1990s was due to increasing production costs, disease damage, and slow payment by the parastatal Pyrethrum Board of Kenya. The growing demand for "organic" and "natural" pesticides has increased international demand for pyrethrin, despite the existence of synthetic chemical substitutes. Kenya also produces sisal, tobacco, and bixa annatto (a natural food coloring agent) for export. In 2004, Kenya's pyrethrum production was 8,000 tons, 60% of the world total.
Other important crops in 2004 were sugarcane, 4,661,000 tons; corn, 2,138,000 tons; wheat, 300,000 tons; rice, 50,000 tons; and cotton, 5,000 tons. Smallholders grow most of the corn and also produce significant quantities of potatoes, beans, peas, sorghum, sweet potatoes, cassava, bananas, and oilseeds.
In 2005 there were an estimated 12 million head of cattle, 10 million sheep, and 12 million goats. The number of chickens was estimated at 26 million. Kenya is self-sufficient in red meat production. Most of the beef comes from culling the dairy cattle, and from zebu breeds used by pastoralists moving their herds around Kenya's vast arid and semiarid areas. Total meat production in 2005 was 495,000 tons, with beef accounting for 65%.
Milk production is adequate for domestic needs; in 2005, fresh whole cow milk production amounted to 2,964,700 tons. Milk production is concentrated in the Rift Valley and Central Provinces. Together, these two provinces contain about 80% of Kenya's dairy cattle population. Dairy production accounts for about 12% of the total value of agricultural output. About 300,000 small dairy farmers produce 80% of the milk.
Commercial fishing takes place on the coast of the Indian Ocean and on the shores of lakes Baringo, Naivasha, Rudolf, and Victoria. In the Victoria region, commercial companies process and package filleted and frozen lake fish, which are sold throughout East Africa. Fish farms have been established in various parts of Kenya. Sportsmen who fish in the highland lakes and streams provide a small amount of government revenue in the form of licenses and fees. The total fish catch for 2003 was 120,799 tons. Freshwater fish, particularly from Lake Victoria, predominated; the inland catch was 113,704 tons. Exports of fish products were valued at $57.3 million in 2003.
Both hardwoods and softwoods are produced in Kenya. The chief hardwoods are musheragi, muiri, mukeo, camphor, and musaise. The chief softwoods are podo, cedar, and cypress. The supply of softwoods is adequate for local needs, both for building and other purposes. Wattle, grown mainly on small African plantations, provides the base of an important industry. Kenya maintains some 2,320,000 hectares (5,733,000 acres) in indigenous forests, mangroves, and forest plantations, about 4% of the total land area. Total forest and woodland coverage is about 30%. The timber cut in 2004 was 22.2 billion cu m (784 billion cu ft) of roundwood, of which 92% went for fuel. Production that year included 147,000 tons of paper and paperboard and 98,000 tons of wood pulp. In 1975, production of the first Kenya-made paper began at the Pan-African Paper Mills in Webuye.
Kenya is chiefly known for its production of fluorspar, limestone, gemstones, salt, soapstone, and soda ash. Cement was a leading industry and export commodity in 2003. National output of crude salt was estimated at 19,000 metric tons in 2003. Fluorspar (acid-grade) production was reported at 95,278 metric tons in the same year. Also in 2003, an estimated 750,000 tons of limestone were produced for cement. Kenya also produced secondary aluminum, anhydrite, barite, natural carbon dioxide gas, hydraulic cement, diatomite, feldspar, precious and semiprecious gemstones (amethyst, aquamarine, Iolite cordierite, green garnet, ruby, sapphire, and tourmaline), gold, gypsum, kaolin, refined secondary lead, lime, petroleum refinery products, crude steel, coral, granite, marble, industrial sand (glass), shale, sulfuric acid, and vermiculite. There are several gold deposits in the country.
Kenya has no known reserves of oil, natural gas, or coal. As a result, the country must rely upon imports to meet its fossil fuel needs.
In 2002, Kenya's imports of petroleum products, including crude oil, averaged 56,830 barrels per day, of which crude oil accounted for 29,860 barrels per day. Domestic production of refined petroleum products averaged 33,390 barrels per day. Domestic demand averaged 51,170 barrels per day. Petroleum products are refined at Mombasa both for export and for domestic use. Oil prospecting continues along the Indian Ocean coast and offshore, but prospects of a commercially viable strike seem remote after roughly 40 years of exploration.
There were no imports of natural gas in 2002. Imports and the consumption of coal (all hard coal), each came to 109,000 short tons in 2002.
The majority of Kenya's electric power generating capacity is based upon hydropower. In 2002, the country's generating capacity came to 1.129 million kW, of which hydropower accounted for 0.675 million kW, and conventional thermal for 0.409 million kW. Geothermal/other capacity came to 0.045 million kW. Kenya's geothermal resources along the Great Rift Valley have been tapped by a plant near Lake Naivasha. National generation of electricity
in 2002 totaled 4.417 billion kWh, of which 21.7% was from fossil fuels, about 70% from hydropower, and the remainder from other renewable sources. Consumption of electricity in 2000 was 4.4 billion kWh. In 2002, demand declined slightly to 4.346 billion kWh.
Industry accounted for 13% of GDP in 2000, which in 2005 had declined to 10%. The reason for the decline or slow growth in manufacturing was an increasingly high-cost environment, owing to the deterioration in the transport infrastructure, expensive electricity, and poor governance (including overregulation and corruption). In order to bolster manufacturing, the government of Mwai Kibaki introduced favorable tax measures in the 2003/04 budget (including the removal of duty on capital equipment and other raw materials).
Although Kenya's manufacturing industries are small, they are the most sophisticated in East Africa. The manufacturing sector has been growing since the late 1990s and into the new century. The manufactures Kenya produces are relatively diverse. The transformation of agricultural raw materials, particularly of coffee and tea, remains the principal industrial activity. Meat and fruit canning, wheat flour and cornmeal milling, and sugar refining are also important. Electronics production, vehicle assembly, publishing, and soda ash processing are all significant parts of the sector. Assembly of computer components began in 1987. Kenya also manufactures chemicals, textiles, ceramics, shoes, beer and soft drinks, cigarettes, soap, machinery, metal products, batteries, plastics, cement, aluminum, steel, glass, rubber, wood, cork, furniture, and leather goods. It also produces a small number of trucks and automobiles. One quarter of Kenya's industrial sector is owned by UK investors; American investors are the next largest group.
Kenya has no known oil or natural gas reserves, although the government had spent $1.6 million on oil exploration by 2000. The oil refinery in Mombasa, built in 1959 and half-owned by the government, and major oil companies, typically operates at around 65% of its total capacity (averaging 95,000 barrels per day) and is supposed to serve Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the DROC, Rwanda, Burundi, and offshore islands. Kenya deregulated its oil industry in 1994. Refinery products include gasoline, jet/turbo fuel, light diesel oil and fuel oil. The refinery's future is an important domestic issue in Kenya, and management is considering upgrading the facility rather than allowing the refinery to close.
Notable scientific institutions in Kenya include the UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology for Africa, in Nairobi; coffee and tea research foundations; grasslands and plant-breeding research stations; and numerous centers for medical, agricultural, and veterinary research. Medical research focuses on the study of leprosy and tuberculosis. The National Council for Science and Technology advises the government on scientific matters, and the Kenya National Academy of Sciences promotes advancement of learning and research; both organizations were founded in Nairobi in 1977. The University of Nairobi, founded in 1956, has colleges of agriculture and veterinary sciences, health sciences, architecture and engineering, and biological and physical sciences. Kenyatta University, founded in 1939 at Nairobi, has faculties of science and environmental education. Moi University, founded in 1984 in Eldoret, has faculties of forest resources and wildlife administration, science, technology, information sciences, environmental studies, health sciences, and agriculture. Edgerton University, founded in 1939 at Njoro, has faculties of agriculture and science. Other higher-education institutions include Jomo Kenyatta University College of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Medical Training College, and Kenya Polytechnic, all in Nairobi, and five other institutes of science and technology elsewhere in the country.
In 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 19% of college and university enrollments. In 2002, high technology exports totaled $35 million, or 10% of manufactured exports.
Mombasa and Nairobi, the two principal distribution centers for imported goods, are linked by rail or highway to the towns in their immediate areas. The head offices of all the leading import and export firms, mining companies, and banks, not only for Kenya but also for East Africa as a whole, are in one or the other of these two cities. Warehousing facilities are extensive in both cities. Retail outlets are generally small and are often owned and operated by a wholesaler.
Office and shop hours are generally from 8 am to 5 pm, Monday–Friday, with lunchtime closing from 1 to 2 pm. Normal banking hours are 9 am to 3pm, Monday–Friday. The languages of business correspondence are English, Gujarati, and Swahili.
There are a number of advertising firms. Newspapers and trade magazines are the principal advertising media, but radio and cinema advertising are increasingly used. The annual, six-day Nairobi International Trade Fair is sponsored by the Agricultural Society of Kenya for the exhibition and promotion of products from all aspects of the agricultural, food processing, and construction industries.
Kenya has a relatively diverse export profile, led by tea (28%) and horticultural products. Tea alone accounts for 17% of the world's
| Country |
Exports |
Imports |
Balance |
| World |
2,551.1 |
3,475.1 |
-924.0 |
| Uganda |
401.2 |
… |
401.2 |
| United Kingdom |
313.1 |
241.3 |
71.8 |
| Tanzania |
199.6 |
… |
199.6 |
| Netherlands |
189.3 |
81.4 |
107.9 |
| Areas nes |
185.5 |
… |
185.5 |
| Pakistan |
130.9 |
57.3 |
73.6 |
| Rwanda |
79.9 |
… |
79.9 |
| Egypt |
78.0 |
59.3 |
18.7 |
| Germany |
77.6 |
134.6 |
-57.0 |
| Afghanistan |
69.8 |
… |
69.8 |
| (…) data not available or not significant. |
|
|
|
tea export market. Coffee follows closely (10%). Other key exports include garments, coffee, iron and steel, soda ash, fish, petroleum products, and plastics. Tourism is also an important source of revenues from foreigners.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reported that in 2001 the purchasing power parity of Kenya's exports was $1.8 billion while imports totaled $3.1 billion resulting in a trade deficit of $1.3 billion. In 2004, exports climbed by 11.4%, but imports rose faster, by 21.9%, pushing the trade deficit from $1.11 billion in 2003 to $1.65 billion in 2004. According to published data, covering the 12 months to April 2005, the trade deficit widened further, to just over $2 billion as imports grew faster than exports.
Kenya acquired its first separate currency on 14 September 1966, when the initial par value for the Kenya shilling was announced by the IMF. The new coin replaced, at par value, the East African shilling, previously issued for Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda by the East African Currency Board, whose assets were divided by those nations following a June 1965 agreement.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) was established in May 1966, taking over the administration of exchange control. Because the Kenya shilling soon became the strongest currency in East Africa, a black market for it developed. A complete ban on the export or import, or destruction of hard Kenyan currency was imposed in 1971 to discourage speculation.
The powers of the CBK were greatly reduced in the early 1990s with the liberalization of the financial sector. The commercial banks are free to set their own interest and exchange rates. The shilling has effectively been a convertible currency since the government signed Article VIII of the IMF Articles of Agreement in June 1994, and thereby pledged not to permit any restrictions on current international transactions. Foreign exchange is bought and sold in the interbank market in which the CBK is merely one player, although it intervened frequently with several large transaction in late 1994 and again in mid-1995, first to halt the appreciation of the shilling and then to stem its fall. The CBK retains responsibility for issuing treasury bills and bonds to cover the government deficit.
Of the 29 commercial banks operating in Kenya in 1985, several folded during a banking crisis in 1986. In 1992, there were 15 commercial banks operating in Kenya, and in 2002, there were 48 domestic and foreign commercial banks, 6 building societies, 37 insurance companies, 7 development finance companies, over 1,500 credit unions, and the Post Office Savings Bank. The financial sector is dominated by two multinational banks—the Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank of Kenya; and the parastatal banks—Kenya Commercial Bank and National Bank of Kenya. They have branches in Nairobi and Mombasa and at least 25 other locales throughout the country. Other commercial banks include Citibank N.A., Euro Bank, and First American Bank.
Although they depend largely on the commercial sector for credit outlay, banks have started to turn to agriculture as an outlet. Land and agricultural banks provide financial assistance to farmers in the form of long-term loans for the discharge of onerous
| Current Account |
|
|
67.7 |
| Balance on goods |
|
-1,142.6 |
|
| Imports |
-3,554.8 |
|
|
| Exports |
2,412.2 |
|
|
| Balance on services |
|
482.3 |
|
| Balance on income |
|
-88.2 |
|
| Current transfers |
|
816.3 |
|
| Capital Account |
|
|
163.0 |
| Financial Account |
|
|
406.3 |
| Direct investment abroad |
|
-2.1 |
|
| Direct investment in Kenya |
|
81.7 |
|
| Portfolio investment assets |
|
-38.6 |
|
| Portfolio investment liabilities |
|
0.9 |
|
| Financial derivatives |
|
… |
|
| Other investment assets |
|
-67.4 |
|
| Other investment liabilities |
|
431.7 |
|
| Net Errors and Omissions |
|
|
-211.9 |
| Reserves and Related Items |
|
|
-425.2 |
| (…) data not available or not significant. |
|
|
|
mortgages and the purchase of livestock, implements, fertilizer, and so forth. Short-term loans are granted for seasonal expenses.
The reputation of the banking sector has suffered from a series of scandals. The largest financial scandal in Kenyan history broke in 1993 when the CBK closed down Exchange Bank and a related company, Goldenberg International, a gold and jewelry firm. Exchange Bank was accused of failing to honor foreign exchange contracts and Goldenberg of securing privileged access to the now-scrapped export compensation scheme. The auditor-general has questioned billions of shillings of payments to Goldenberg under the scheme for gold exports that have not been proven.
In 1997, the total assets of Kenya's four largest banks was $2.8 billion, representing half of the total assets of all commercial banks. Banking sector fragility in 1999 resulted from poor management, and worsening economic conditions. In 1998, several major Kenyan banks collapsed, including Trust Bank, Reliance Bank, Prudential Bank, Bullion Bank; and the giant National Bank almost folded. In 1999, Richard Leaky was named director of the Central Bank of Kenya under pressure from the World Bank in order to stem corruption in the banking system.
The International Monetary Fund reports that in 2001, currency and demand deposits—an aggregate commonly known as M1—were equal to $1.6 billion. In that same year, M2—an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds—was $4.5 billion. The discount rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends to financial institutions in the short term, was 16.81%.
The Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) was founded in 1965 with six members. It was one of the largest stock markets in the sub-Saharan Africa (with South Africa, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe), with market capitalization of $1.05 billion and 57 listed companies in 2001. The market received a small boost from the decision of the government to allow direct foreign investment in January 1995, but the limit on foreign ownership was 40%. The NSE index fell
from 1,913.4 in 2000 to 1,355.1 at the end of 2001. As of 2004, a total of 47 companies were listed on the NSE, which had a market capitalization that year of $3.891 billion. In 2004, the NSE rose 7.6% from the previous year to 2,945.6.
Insurance companies must be registered and licensed. Categories of compulsory insurance include motor third-party liability for bodily injuries and cargo insurance for imports. The insurance regulatory body is the Ministry of Finance and Planning. There were 37 insurance companies operating in Kenya in 1999. As of 2003, the value of all direct premiums written totaled $411 million, of which nonlife premiums accounted for $304 million. Kenya's top nonlife insurer in 2001 (the latest year for which data was available) was Kenindia, with gross written nonlife premiums of $28.5 million. In that same year, the country's leading life insurer was ICEA, with gross written life premiums of $22.4 million.
The fiscal year extends from 1 July to 30 June. Due to mismanagement of public funds, government expenditures are closely watched. Nevertheless, government spending has remained around 30% of GDP since 1995. While in the past Kenya has had some problems meeting loan obligations with the IMF and the World Bank, the country was set to receive over $300 million in aid from those organizations in 2000. However, problems with internal reform forced the IMF and the World Bank to suspend those programs, and as of mid-2002 they have not been reinstated.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Kenya's central government took in revenues of approximately $3.7 billion and had expenditures of $3.8 billion. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately -$165 million. Public debt in 2005 amounted to 67.4% of GDP. Total external debt was $7.349 billion.
| Revenue and Grants |
218,443 |
100.0% |
| Tax revenue |
181,924 |
83.3% |
| Social contributions |
451 |
0.2% |
| Grants |
24,080 |
11.0% |
| Other revenue |
11,989 |
5.5% |
| Expenditures |
198,019 |
100.0% |
| General public services |
67,406 |
34.0% |
| Defense |
16,847 |
8.5% |
| Public order and safety |
13,615 |
6.9% |
| Economic affairs |
35,734 |
18.0% |
| Environmental protection |
1,302 |
0.7% |
| Housing and community amenities |
6,039 |
3.0% |
| Health |
10,744 |
5.4% |
| Recreational, culture, and religion |
1,136 |
0.6% |
| Education |
51,616 |
26.1% |
| Social protection |
12,548 |
6.3% |
| (…) data not available or not significant. |
|
|
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that in 2000, the most recent year for which it had data, budgetary central government revenues were Sh218,443 million and expenditures were Sh198,019 million. The value of revenues in US dollars was us$2,868 million and expenditures us$2,831 million, based on a principal exchange rate for 2000 of us$1 = Sh 76.176 as reported by the IMF. Government outlays by function were as follows: general public services, 34.0%; defense, 8.5%; public order and safety, 6.9%; economic affairs, 18.0%; environmental protection, 0.7%; housing and community amenities, 3.0%; health, 5.4%; recreation, culture, and religion, 0.6%; education, 26.1%; and social protection, 6.3%.
The resident corporate income tax rate tax in 2005 was 30%, with the rate for branches of foreign companies at 37.5%. The withholding tax on dividends payable to residents was 5%. Dividend and interest income (except on bearer instruments) paid to nonresidents, the withholding tax rates were 10% and 15%, respectively. These rates may be reduced or eliminated by the terms double tax treaties, which Kenya has with the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Canada, India and Zambia. In 2002 the capital gains tax had been suspended but
