Kenya

Kenya An east African country which came under British influence in 1888, and was declared a Protectorate in 1895. The construction of a railway to Lake Victoria, which connected Nairobi to the coast, heralded the penetration of British influence into the country's interior. In 1920 it became a British Crown Colony. The good farmland was steadily taken up by White farmers and reserved for their exclusive use (albeit with African labour), while reserves on poorer soil were created for African peasants. This treatment of the various Kenyan peoples, the most populous of which were the Kikuyus, sparked off increasing resistance and led to the establishment of the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA) in 1924, under the leadership of Kenyatta. It demanded restoration of, or compensation for, expropriated land, the expansion of education, and the removal of commercial restrictions on Africans in Kenya.

After the KCA was banned in 1940, the more broadly based Kenya African Union (KAU) was formed in 1944. In addition, a militant guerrilla movement began to emerge. Impatient with the KAU's moderation, its attacks on European settlers led to the violent Mau Mau rebellion, 1952–9. As Kenya became all but ungovernable, the British were ready to discuss independence. This climate led in 1960 to the formation of the centralist KANU (Kenyan African National Union), whose support came from the largest peoples (Kikuyu, Luo, and Kamba), and KADU (Kenyan African Democratic Union) under arap Moi, which represented the smaller ethnic groups in demanding a decentralized state with strong regional autonomy.

The elections of 1961 were won by KANU, led by Kenyatta after his release from prison. He negotiated the country's independence on 12 December 1963. The political stability of the country was furthered by the dissolution of KADU, many of whose members joined KANU, which developed into the country's single party. As a consequence, dissent was internalized, which allowed Kenyatta to maintain his regime with minimal repression. He established a market-oriented economy, but carried out land reforms and led a programme of ‘Africanization’, whereby important foreign-owned businesses were nationalized. The country became largely self-sufficient for food, while its industries remained relatively developed. Kenyatta was succeeded by the former KADU leader, arap Moi, who claimed to continue Kenyatta's policies, while at the same time introducing a wide campaign to eliminate the alleged corruption of the Kenyatta years.

As the economy began to decline, owing to falling prices for its exports (e.g. coffee and tea) in 1982, his rule became increasingly authoritarian, in order to overcome growing popular unrest. In 1991, international aid was suspended in order to persuade arap Moi to introduce badly needed economic austerity measures, and to establish a multi-party democracy. As a result, the currency was devalued by 25 per cent and public expenditure reduced. A general election was held in 1992, which was won by arap Moi, while his KANU party gained 112 out of 200 seats. However, ethnic tensions continued, and led to over 2,000 deaths and 250,000 refugees in 1992–5. Amnesty International concluded in 1995 that, despite the country's apparent democratization, oppositional leaders faced more harassment or persecution than ever before. Popular discontent rose after a three-year drought dramatically increased widespread poverty. Foreign attention was directed towards Kenya in 1998, when terrorists directed by Bin Laden attacked the US embassy. Arap Moi's half-hearted attempts to respond to international pressure led by the IMF and the World Bank to introduce anti-corruption measures produced few results. A different response to the domestic and international pressure was attempted in 2001, when four members of the opposition (National Development Party) joined the government.