Kenya

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the country. For other uses, see Kenya (disambiguation).
Republic of Kenya
Jamhuri ya Kenya (Swahili)
Flag of Kenya
Flag
Coat of arms of Kenya
Coat of arms
Motto: "Harambee"
(English: "Let us all pull together")
Anthem: "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"
(English: "O God of all creation")
Duration: 1 minute and 53 seconds.1:53

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Capital
and largest city
Nairobi
1°16′S 36°48′E
Official languages
SwahiliEnglish[1]
National language Swahili[1]
Ethnic groups (2019 census)[2]
17.13% Kikuyu
14.35% Luhya
13.37% Kalenjin
10.65% Luo
9.81% Kamba
5.85% Somali
5.68% Kisii
5.23% Mijikenda
4.15% Meru
13.78% others
Religion (2019 census)[2]
85.5% Christianity
—60.8% Protestantism
—20.6% Catholicism
—4.1% other Christian
10.9% Islam
1.6% no religion
0.7% traditional faiths
1.3% others
Demonym(s) Kenyan
Government Unitary presidential republic
• President
William Ruto
• Deputy President
Rigathi Gachagua
• Senate Speaker
Amason Kingi
• Assembly Speaker
Moses Wetangula
• Chief Justice
Martha Koome
Legislature Parliament
• Upper house
Senate
• Lower house
National Assembly
Independence from the United Kingdom
• Dominion
12 December 1963
• Republic
12 December 1964
• Current Constitution
27 August 2010
Area
• Total
580,367 km2 (224,081 sq mi)[3][4] (48th)
• Water (%)
2.3
Population
• 2023 estimate
51,526,000[5] (28th)
• 2019 census
47,564,296[6]
• Density
82/km2 (212.4/sq mi) (124th)
GDP (PPP) 2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $338.964 billion[7] (66th)
• Per capita
Increase $6,576[7] (140th)
GDP (nominal) 2023 estimate
• Total
Decrease $112.749 billion[7] (66th)
• Per capita
Decrease $2,187[7] (147th)
Gini (2021) Positive decrease 38.7[8]
medium
HDI (2021) Decrease 0.575[9]
medium · 152nd
Currency Kenyan shilling (KES)
Time zone UTC+3 (East Africa Time)
Date format dd/mm/yy (AD)
Driving side left
Calling code +254
ISO 3166 code KE
Internet TLD .ke
According to the CIA, estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of mortality because of AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy,
higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and
changes in the distribution of population by age and sex, than would otherwise be
expected.[10]
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Kenya), is a country
in East Africa. A member of the Commonwealth with a population of more than 47.6
million in the 2019 census,[11] Kenya is the 28th most populous country in the
world[6] and 7th most populous in Africa. Kenya's capital and largest city is
Nairobi, while its oldest and second largest city, which until 1907 was also
Kenya's first capital city, is the coastal city of Mombasa which includes Mombasa
Island in the Indian Ocean and the surrounding mainland. Kisumu is the third-
largest city and also an inland port in the Winam Gulf which, along with its
numerous bays and human settlements, is one of the important maritime transport,
fishing, farming, commercial, history and tourism hubs on Lake Victoria. As of
2020, Kenya is the third-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and
South Africa and hosts the United Nations, UNEP and UN-HABITAT headquarters in
Africa.[12] Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the
north, Somalia to the east, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the
Indian Ocean to the southeast and is host to two of the world's largest Refugee
camps at Dadaab and Kakuma. Kenya's geography, climate and population vary widely,
ranging from cold snow-capped mountaintops (Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana on
Mount Kenya) with vast surrounding forests, wildlife and fertile agricultural
regions to temperate climates in western and rift valley counties and further on to
dry less fertile arid and semi-arid areas and absolute deserts (Chalbi Desert and
Nyiri Desert).

Kenya, in World War II, sent soldiers to fight in the British Army when the British
Empire declared war on Nazi Germany in 1939 and remained an important asset for the
Allies until the end of the war in 1945. Kenya got its independence in 1963 and
signed an agreement with Britain in 1964 which established BATUK - a permanent
British Army Training Unit in Nanyuki which has two support units in Nairobi.

Kenya's earliest inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, like the present-day Hadza

people.[13][14] According to archaeological dating of associated artifacts and
skeletal material, Cushitic speakers first settled in Kenya's lowlands between
3,200 and 1,300 BC, a phase known as the Lowland Savanna Pastoral Neolithic.
Nilotic-speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya's Nilotic speakers) began
migrating from present-day South Sudan into Kenya around 500 BC.[15] Bantu people
settled at the coast and the interior between 250 BC and 500 AD.[16]

European contact began in 1500 AD with the Portuguese Empire, and effective
colonisation of Kenya began in the 19th century during the European exploration of
the interior. Modern-day Kenya emerged from a protectorate established by the
British Empire in 1895 and the subsequent Kenya Colony, which began in 1920.
Numerous disputes between the UK and the colony led to the Mau Mau revolution,
which began in 1952, and the declaration of independence in 1963. After
independence, Kenya remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The current
constitution was adopted in 2010 and replaced the 1963 independence constitution.

Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic, in which elected

officials represent the people and the president is the head of state and
government.[17] Kenya is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations,
World Bank, International Monetary Fund, COMESA, International Criminal Court, as
well as other international organisations. With a GNI of 1,840,[18] Kenya is a
lower-middle-income economy. Kenya's economy is the largest in eastern and central
Africa,[19][20] with Nairobi serving as a major regional commercial hub.[20]
Agriculture is the largest sector: tea and coffee are traditional cash crops, while
fresh flowers are a fast-growing export. The service industry is also a major
economic driver, particularly tourism. Kenya is a member of the East African
Community trade bloc, though some international trade organisations categorise it
as part of the Greater Horn of Africa.[21] Africa is Kenya's largest export market,
followed by the European Union.[22]

Etymology
The Republic of Kenya is named after Mount Kenya. The earliest recorded version of
the modern name was written by German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf in the 19th
century. While travelling with a Kamba caravan led by the long-distance trader
Chief Kivoi, Krapf spotted the mountain peak and asked what it was called. Kivoi
told him "Kĩ-Nyaa" or "Kĩĩma- Kĩĩnyaa", probably because the pattern of black rock
and white snow on its peaks reminded him of the feathers of the male ostrich.[23]
In archaic Kikuyu the word 'nyaga' or more commonly 'manyaganyaga' is used to
describe an extremely bright object. The Agikuyu, who inhabit the slopes of Mt.
Kenya, call it Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga (literally 'the mountain with brightness') in
Kikuyu, while the Embu call it "Kirenyaa". All three names have the same meaning.
[24]

Ludwig Krapf recorded the name as both Kenia and Kegnia.[25][26][27] Some have said
that this was a precise notation of the African pronunciation /ˈkɛnjə/.[28] An 1882
map drawn by Joseph Thompsons, a Scottish geologist and naturalist, indicated Mt.
Kenya as Mt. Kenia.[23] The mountain's name was accepted, pars pro toto, as the
name of the country. It did not come into widespread official use during the early
colonial period, when the country was referred to as the East African Protectorate.
The official name was changed to the Colony of Kenya in 1920.

History
Main article: History of Kenya
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Kenya.
Human prehistory

The Turkana boy, a 1.6-million-year-old hominid fossil belonging to Homo erectus

Hominids such as Homo habilis (1.8 to 2.5 million years ago) and Homo erectus (1.9
million to 350,000 years ago) are possible direct ancestors of modern Homo sapiens,
and lived in Kenya in the Pleistocene epoch.[29] During excavations at Lake Turkana
in 1984, paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey, assisted by Kamoya Kimeu, discovered
the Turkana Boy, a 1.6-million-year-old Homo erectus fossil. East Africa, including
Kenya, is one of the earliest regions where modern humans (Homo sapiens) are
believed to have lived. Evidence was found in 2018, dating to about 320,000 years
ago, of the early emergence of modern behaviours, including long-distance trade
networks (involving goods such as obsidian), the use of pigments, and the possible
making of projectile points. The authors of three 2018 studies on the site suggest
that complex and modern behaviours had already begun in Africa around the time of
the emergence of Homo sapiens.[30][31][32]

Neolithic
The first inhabitants of present-day Kenya were hunter-gatherer groups, akin to the
modern Khoisan speakers.[33] These people were later largely replaced by
agropastoralist Cushitic (ancestral to Kenya's Cushitic speakers) from the Horn of
Africa.[34] During the early Holocene, the regional climate shifted from dry to
wetter conditions, providing an opportunity for the development of cultural
traditions such as agriculture and herding, in a more favourable environment.[33]

Around 500 BC, Nilotic-speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya's Nilotic

speakers) started migrating from present-day southern Sudan into Kenya.[15][35][36]
Nilotic groups in Kenya include the Kalenjin, Samburu, Luo, Turkana, and Maasai.
[37]

By the first millennium AD, Bantu-speaking farmers had moved into the region,
initially along the coast.[38] The Bantus originated in West Africa along the Benue
River in what is now eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon.[39] The Bantu migration
brought new developments in agriculture and ironworking to the region.[39] Bantu
groups in Kenya include the Kikuyu, Luhya, Kamba, Kisii, Meru, Kuria, Aembu,
Ambeere, Wadawida-Watuweta, Wapokomo, and Mijikenda, among others.
Notable prehistoric sites in the interior of Kenya include the (possibly
archaeoastronomical) site Namoratunga on the west side of Lake Turkana and the
walled settlement of Thimlich Ohinga in Migori County.

Swahili trade period

Further information: Swahili culture and Sultanate of Zanzibar

A traditional Swahili carved wooden door in Lamu

The Kenyan coast had served as host to communities of ironworkers and Bantu
subsistence farmers, hunters, and fishers who supported the economy with
agriculture, fishing, metal production, and trade with foreign countries. These
communities formed the earliest city-states in the region, which were collectively
known as Azania.[40]

By the 1st century CE, many of the city-states such as Mombasa, Malindi, and
Zanzibar began to establish trading relations with Arabs. This led to the increased
economic growth of the Swahili states, the introduction of Islam, Arabic influences
on the Swahili Bantu language, cultural diffusion, as well as the Swahili city-
states becoming members of a larger trade network.[41][42] Many historians had long
believed that the city-states were established by Arab or Persian traders, but
archaeological evidence has led scholars to recognise the city-states as an
indigenous development which, though subjected to foreign influence due to trade,
retained a Bantu cultural core.[43]

The Kilwa Sultanate was a medieval sultanate centred at Kilwa, in modern-day

Tanzania. At its height, its authority stretched over the entire length of the
Swahili Coast, including Kenya. It was said to be founded in the 10th century by
Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi,[44] a Persian Sultan from Shiraz in southern Iran.[45]
However, scholars have suggested that claims of Arab or Persian origin of city-
states were attempts by the Swahili to legitimise themselves both locally and
internationally.[46][47] Since the 10th century, rulers of Kilwa would go on to
build elaborate coral mosques and introduce copper coinage.[48]

Swahili, a Bantu language with Arabic, Persian, and other Middle-Eastern and South
Asian loanwords, later developed as a lingua franca for trade between the different
peoples.[40] Since the turn of the 20th century, Swahili has adopted numerous
loanwords and calques from English, many of them originating during English
colonial rule.[49]

Early Portuguese colonization

Portuguese presence in Kenya lasted from 1498 until 1730. Mombasa was under
Portuguese rule from 1593 to 1698 and again from 1728 to 1729.
The Swahili built Mombasa into a major port city and established trade links with
other nearby city-states, as well as commercial centres in Persia, Arabia, and even
India.[50] By the 15th-century, Portuguese voyager Duarte Barbosa claimed that
"Mombasa is a place of great traffic and has a good harbour in which there are
always moored small craft of many kinds and also great ships, both of which are
bound from Sofala and others which come from Cambay and Melinde and others which
sail to the island of Zanzibar."[51]

In the 17th century, the Swahili coast was conquered and came under the direct rule
of the Omani Arabs, who expanded the slave trade to meet the demands of plantations
in Oman and Zanzibar.[52] Initially, these traders came mainly from Oman, but later
many came from Zanzibar (such as Tippu Tip).[53] In addition, the Portuguese
started buying slaves from the Omani and Zanzibari traders in response to the
interruption of the transatlantic slave trade by British abolitionists.

Throughout the centuries, the Kenyan coast has played host to many merchants and
explorers. Among the cities that line the Kenyan coast is Malindi. It has remained
an important Swahili settlement since the 14th century and once rivalled Mombasa
for dominance in the African Great Lakes region. Malindi has traditionally been a
friendly port city for foreign powers. In 1414, the Chinese trader and explorer
Zheng He, representing the Ming Dynasty, visited the East African coast on one of
his last 'treasure voyages'.[54] Malindi authorities also welcomed the Portuguese
explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498.

18th and 19th centuries

During the 18th and 19th century C.E, the Masai people moved into what is now
modern-day central Kenya, from a region north of Lake Rudolf (now Lake Turkana).
Although there were not many, they managed to conquer a great amount of Bantu-
speaking peoples, who did not put up much resistance. The Nandi peoples managed to
oppose the Masai, while the Taveta peoples fled to the forests on the eastern edge
of Mount Kilimanjaro, along with the Kikuyu peoples, although they later were
forced to leave the land due to the threat of smallpox. An outbreak of either
rinderpest or pleuropneumonia greatly affected the Masai's cattle, while an
epidemic of smallpox affected the Masai themselves. After the death of the Masai
Mbatian, the chief laibon (medicine man), the Masai split into warring factions.
There was much strife between the Nilotic (Masai) and Bantu peoples; however,
cooperation between such groups as the Luo people, Luhya people, and Gusii people
is evinced by shared vocabulary for modern implements and similar economic regimes.
[55] Although Arab traders remained in the area, trade routes were disrupted by the
hostile Masai, though there was trade in ivory between these factions.[56] The
first foreigners to successfully get past the Masai were Johann Ludwig Krapf and
Johannes Rebmann, two German missionaries who established a mission in Rabai, not
too far from Mombasa. The pair were the first Europeans to sight Mount Kenya.[57]

German Protectorate (1885–1890)

The colonial history of Kenya dates from the establishment of a German Empire
protectorate over the Sultan of Zanzibar's coastal possessions in 1885, followed by
the arrival of the Imperial British East Africa Company in 1888. Imperial rivalry
was prevented by the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty, Germany handed its East African
coastal holdings to Britain in 1890.

British Kenya (1888–1962)

Main article: Kenya Colony

British East Africa in 1909

The transfer by Germany to Britain was followed by the building of the Uganda
Railway passing through the country.[58]

The building of the railway was resisted by some ethnic groups—notably the Nandi,
led by Orkoiyot Koitalel Arap Samoei from 1890 to 1900—but the British eventually
built it. The Nandi were the first ethnic group to be put in a native reserve to
stop them from disrupting the building of the railway.[58]

During the railway construction era, there was a significant influx of Indian
workers, who provided the bulk of the skilled manpower required for construction.
[59] They and most of their descendants later remained in Kenya and formed the core
of several distinct Indian communities, such as the Ismaili Muslim and Sikh
communities. While building the railway through Tsavo, a number of the Indian
railway workers and local African labourers were attacked by two lions known as the
Tsavo maneaters.[60]

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the governors of British East Africa
(as the protectorate was generally known) and German East Africa initially agreed
on a truce in an attempt to keep the young colonies out of direct hostilities. But
Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, the German military commander,
determined to tie down as many British resources as possible. Completely cut off
from Germany, Lettow-Vorbeck conducted an effective guerrilla warfare campaign,
living off the land, capturing British supplies, and remaining undefeated. He
eventually surrendered in Northern Rhodesia (today Zambia) 14 days after the
Armistice was signed in 1918.[59]

The Kenya–Uganda Railway near Mombasa, about 1899

To chase von Lettow, the British deployed the British Indian Army troops from India
but needed large numbers of porters to overcome the formidable logistics of
transporting supplies far into the interior on foot. The Carrier Corps was formed
and ultimately mobilised over 400,000 Africans, contributing to their long-term
politicisation.[59]

In 1920, the East Africa Protectorate was turned into a colony and renamed Kenya
after its highest mountain.[58]

During the early part of the 20th century, the interior central highlands were
settled by British and other European farmers, who became wealthy farming coffee
and tea.[61] One depiction of this period of change from a colonist's perspective
is found in the memoir Out of Africa by Danish author Baroness Karen von Blixen-
Finecke, published in 1937. By the 1930s, approximately 30,000 white settlers lived
in the area and gained a political voice because of their contribution to the
market economy.[59]

The central highlands were already home to over a million members of the Kikuyu
people, most of whom had no land claims in European terms and lived as itinerant
farmers. To protect their interests, the settlers banned the growing of coffee and
introduced a hut tax, and the landless were granted less and less land in exchange
for their labour. A massive exodus to the cities ensued as their ability to make a
living from the land dwindled.[59] By the 1950s, there were 80,000 white settlers
living in Kenya.[62]

Throughout World War II, Kenya was an important source of manpower and agriculture
for the United Kingdom. Kenya itself was the site of fighting between Allied forces
and Italian troops in 1940–41, when Italian forces invaded. Wajir and Malindi were
bombed as well.

Mau Mau Uprising

Further information: Mau Mau Uprising

A statue of Dedan Kimathi, a Kenyan rebel leader with the Mau Mau who fought
against the British colonial system in the 1950s
From October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was in a state of emergency arising from
the Mau Mau rebellion against British rule. The Mau Mau, also known as the Kenya
Land and Freedom Army, were primarily Kikuyu people. During the colonial
administration's crackdown, over 11,000 rebel fighters had been killed, along with
100 British troops and 2,000 Kenyan loyalist soldiers. The governor requested and
obtained British and African troops, including the King's African Rifles. The
British began counter-insurgency operations. In May 1953, General Sir George
Erskine took charge as commander-in-chief of the colony's armed forces, with the
personal backing of Winston Churchill.[63]

The capture of Waruhiu Itote (nom de guerre "General China") on 15 January 1954 and
the subsequent interrogation led to a better understanding of the Mau Mau command
structure for the British. Operation Anvil opened on 24 April 1954, after weeks of
planning by the army with the approval of the War Council. The operation
effectively placed Nairobi under military siege. Nairobi's occupants were screened
and suspected Mau Mau supporters moved to detention camps. More than 80,000 Kikuyu
were held in detention camps without trial, often subject to brutal treatment.[64]
The Home Guard formed the core of the government's strategy as it was composed of
loyalist Africans, not foreign forces such as the British Army and King's African
Rifles.[65]

The capture of Dedan Kimathi on 21 October 1956 in Nyeri signified the ultimate
defeat of the Mau Mau and essentially ended the military offensive.[63] During this
period, substantial governmental changes to land tenure occurred. The most
important of these was the Swynnerton Plan, which was used to both reward loyalists
and punish Mau Mau. This left roughly 1/3rd of Kikuyu bereft of any tenancy land
arrangement and thus propertyless at the time of independence.[66]

Somalis of Kenya referendum, 1962

Further information: Somalis in Kenya
Before Kenya got its independence, Somali ethnic people in present-day Kenya in the
areas of Northern Frontier Districts petitioned Her Majesty's Government not to be
included in Kenya. The colonial government decided to hold Kenya's first referendum
in 1962 to check the willingness of Somalis in Kenya to join Somalia.[67]

The result of the referendum showed that 86% of Somalis in Kenya wanted to join
Somalia, but the British colonial administration rejected the result and the
Somalis remained in Kenya.[68][69]

Independence

The first president and founding father of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta

The first direct elections for native Kenyans to the Legislative Council took place
in 1957.

Despite British hopes of handing power to "moderate" local rivals, it was the Kenya
African National Union (KANU) of Jomo Kenyatta that formed a government. The Colony
of Kenya and the Protectorate of Kenya each came to an end on 12 December 1963,
with independence conferred on all of Kenya. The U.K. ceded sovereignty over the
Colony of Kenya. The Sultan of Zanzibar agreed that simultaneous with independence
for the colony, he would cease to have sovereignty over the Protectorate of Kenya
so that all of Kenya would become one sovereign state.[70][71] In this way, Kenya
became an independent country under the Kenya Independence Act 1963 of the United
Kingdom. On 12 December 1964, Kenya became a republic under the name "Republic of
Kenya".[70]

Concurrently, the Kenyan army fought the Shifta War against ethnic Somali rebels
inhabiting the Northern Frontier District who wanted to join their kin in the
Somali Republic to the north.[72] A ceasefire was eventually reached with the
signing of the Arusha Memorandum in October 1967, but relative insecurity prevailed
through 1969.[73][74] To discourage further invasions, Kenya signed a defence pact
with Ethiopia in 1969, which is still in effect.[75][76]

First presidency
Further information: Presidency of Jomo Kenyatta and Jomo Kenyatta
On 12 December 1964, the Republic of Kenya was proclaimed, and Jomo Kenyatta became
Kenya's first president.[77] Under Kenyatta, corruption became widespread
throughout the government, civil service, and business community. Kenyatta and his
family were tied up with this corruption as they enriched themselves through the
mass purchase of property after 1963. Their acquisitions in the Central, Rift
Valley, and Coast Provinces aroused great anger among landless Kenyans. His family
used his presidential position to circumvent legal or administrative obstacles to
acquiring property. The Kenyatta family also heavily invested in the coastal hotel
business, with Kenyatta personally owning the Leonard Beach Hotel.[78]
Kenyatta's mixed legacy was highlighted at the 10-year anniversary of Kenya's
independence. A December 1973 article in The New York Times praised Kenyatta's
leadership and Kenya for emerging as a model of pragmatism and conservatism.
Kenya's GDP had increased at an annual rate of 6.6%, higher than the population
growth rate of more than 3%.[79] But Amnesty International responded to the article
by stating the cost of the stability in terms of human rights abuses. The
opposition party started by Oginga Odinga—Kenya People's Union (KPU)—was banned in
1969 after the Kisumu Massacre and KPU leaders were still in detention without
trial in gross violation of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.[80][81] The Kenya
Students Union, Jehovah Witnesses and all opposition parties were outlawed.[80]
Kenyatta ruled until his death on 22 August 1978.[82]

Moi era

Daniel arap Moi, Kenya's second President, and George W. Bush, 2001
Further information: Daniel arap Moi, Presidency of Daniel Moi, 1978 Kenyan
presidential election, 1988 Kenyan general election, and 1992 Kenyan general
election
After Kenyatta died, Daniel arap Moi became president. He retained the presidency,
running unopposed in elections held in 1979, 1983 (snap elections), and 1988, all
of which were held under the single-party constitution. The 1983 elections were
held a year early, and were a direct result of a failed military coup on 2 August
1982.

The 1982 coup was masterminded by a low-ranking Air Force serviceman, Senior
Private Hezekiah Ochuka, and was staged mainly by enlisted men of the Air Force. It
was quickly suppressed by forces commanded by Chief of General Staff Mahamoud
Mohamed, a veteran Somali military official.[83] They included the General Service
Unit (GSU)—a paramilitary wing of the police—and later the regular police.

On the heels of the Garissa Massacre of 1980, Kenyan troops committed the Wagalla
massacre in 1984 against thousands of civilians in Wajir County. An official probe
into the atrocities was later ordered in 2011.[84][clarification needed]

The election held in 1988 saw the advent of the mlolongo (queuing) system, where
voters were supposed to line up behind their favoured candidates instead of casting
a secret ballot.[85] This was seen as the climax of a very undemocratic regime and
led to widespread agitation for constitutional reform. Several contentious clauses,
including the one that allowed for only one political party, were changed in the
following years.[86]

Transition to multiparty democracy

In 1991, Kenya transitioned to a multiparty political system after 26 years of
single-party rule. On 28 October 1992, Moi dissolved parliament, five months before
the end of his term. As a result, preparations began for all elective seats in
parliament as well as the president. The election was scheduled to take place on 7
December 1992, but delays led to its postponement to 29 December. Apart from KANU,
the ruling party, other parties represented in the elections included FORD Kenya
and FORD Asili. This election was marked by large-scale intimidation of opponents
and harassment of election officials. It resulted in an economic crisis propagated
by ethnic violence as the president was accused of rigging electoral results to
retain power.[87][88][89] This election was a turning point for Kenya as it
signified the beginning of the end of Moi's leadership and the rule of KANU. Moi
retained the presidency and George Saitoti became vice president. Although it held
on to power, KANU won 100 seats and lost 88 seats to the six opposition parties.
[87][89]

The 1992 elections marked the beginning of multiparty politics after more than 25
years of KANU rule.[87] Following skirmishes in the aftermath of the elections,
5,000 people were killed and another 75,000 displaced from their homes.[90] In the
next five years, many political alliances were formed in preparation for the next
elections. In 1994, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga died and several coalitions joined his
FORD Kenya party to form a new party, United National Democratic Alliance. This
party was plagued with disagreements. In 1995, Richard Leakey formed the Safina
party, but it was denied registration until November 1997.[91]

In 1996, KANU revised the constitution to allow Moi to remain president for another
term. Subsequently, Moi stood for reelection and won a 5th term in 1997.[92] His
win was strongly criticised by his major opponents, Kibaki and Odinga, as
fraudulent.[91][93] Following this win, Moi was constitutionally barred from
another presidential term. Beginning in 1998, he attempted to influence the
country's succession politics to have Uhuru Kenyatta elected in the 2002 elections.
[94]

President Kibaki and the road to a new constitution

Further information: Mwai Kibaki, Presidency of Mwai Kibaki, 2002 Kenyan general
election, and 2007 Kenyan general election
Moi's plan to be replaced by Uhuru Kenyatta failed, and Mwai Kibaki, running for
the opposition coalition "National Rainbow Coalition" (NARC), was elected
president. David Anderson (2003) reports the elections were judged free and fair by
local and international observers, and seemed to mark a turning point in Kenya's
democratic evolution.[93]

In 2005, Kenyans rejected a plan to replace the 1963 independence constitution with
a new one.[95] As a result, the elections of 2007 took place following the
procedure set by the old constitution. Kibaki was reelected in highly contested
elections marred by political and ethnic violence. The main opposition leader,
Raila Odinga, claimed the election was rigged and that he was the rightfully
elected president. In the ensuing violence, 1,500 people were killed and another
600,000 internally displaced, making it the worst post-election violence in Kenya.
To stop the death and displacement of people, Kibaki and Odinga agreed to work
together, with the latter taking the position of a prime minister.[96] This made
Odinga the second prime minister of Kenya.

In July 2010, Kenya partnered with other East African countries to form the new
East African Common Market within the East African Community.[97] In 2011, Kenya
began sending troops to Somalia to fight the terror group Al-Shabaab.[98] In mid-
2011, two consecutive missed rainy seasons precipitated the worst drought in East
Africa in 60 years. The northwestern Turkana region was especially affected,[99]
with local schools shut down as a result.[100] The crisis was reportedly over by
early 2012 because of coordinated relief efforts. Aid agencies subsequently shifted
their emphasis to recovery initiatives, including digging irrigation canals and
distributing plant seeds.[101]

In August 2010, Kenyans held a referendum and passed a new constitution, which
limited presidential powers and devolved the central government.[91] Following the
passage of the new constitution, Kenya became a presidential representative
democratic republic, whereby the President of Kenya is both head of state and head
of government, and of a multi-party system. The new constitution also states that
executive powers are exercised by the executive branch of government, headed by the
president, who chairs a cabinet composed of people chosen from outside parliament.
Legislative power is vested exclusively in Parliament. The judiciary is independent
of the executive and the legislature.

Kenyatta presidency
Main articles: Uhuru Kenyatta and Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
Uhuru Kenyatta in 2014
Uhuru Kenyatta in 2014
After Kibaki's tenure ended in 2013, Kenya held its first general elections after
the 2010 constitution had been passed. Uhuru Kenyatta won in a disputed election
result, leading to a petition by the opposition leader, Raila Odinga. The supreme
court upheld the election results and Kenyatta began his term with William Ruto as
deputy president. Despite this ruling, the Supreme Court and the head of the
Supreme Court were seen as powerful institutions that could check the powers of the
president.[102]

In 2017, Kenyatta won a second term in office in another disputed election. Odinga
again petitioned the results in the Supreme Court, accusing the Independent
Electoral and Boundaries Commission of mismanagement of the elections and Kenyatta
and his party of rigging. The Supreme Court overturned the election results in what
became a landmark ruling in Africa and one of the very few in the world in which
the results of a presidential elections were annulled.[103] This ruling solidified
the position of the Supreme Court as an independent body.[104] Consequently, Kenya
had a second round of elections for the presidential position, in which Kenyatta
emerged the winner after Odinga refused to participate, citing irregularities.[105]
[106]

In March 2018, a historic handshake between Kenyatta and his longtime opponent
Odinga signaled a period of reconciliation followed by economic growth and
increased stability.[107][108] Between 2019 and 2021, Kenyatta and Odinga combined
efforts to promote major changes to the Kenyan constitution, labelled the "Building
Bridges Initiative" (BBI), saying that their efforts were to improve inclusion and
overcome the country's winner-take-all election system that often resulted in post-
election violence.[109][110] The BBI proposal called for broad expansion of the
legislative and executive branches, including the creation of a prime minister with
two deputies and an official leader of the opposition, reverting to selecting
cabinet ministers from among the elected Members of Parliament, establishment of up
to 70 new constituencies, and addition of up to 300 unelected members of Parliament
(under an "affirmative action" plan).[109][110]

Critics saw this as an unnecessary attempt to reward political dynasties and blunt
the efforts of Deputy President Willian Ruto (Odinga's rival for the next
presidency) and bloat the government at an exceptional cost to the debt-laded
country.[109][110] Ultimately, in May 2021, the Kenyan High Court ruled that the
BBI constitutional reform effort was unconstitutional, because it was not truly a
popular initiative, but rather an effort of the government.[109][110] The court
sharply criticized Kenyatta for the attempt, laying out grounds for his being sued,
personally, or even impeached (though the Parliament, which had passed the BBI, was
unlikely to do that). The ruling was seen as a major defeat for both Kenyatta (soon
to leave office), and Odinga (expected to seek the presidency), but a boon to
Odinga's future presidential-election rival, Ruto.[109][110] On 20 August 2021,
Kenya's Court of Appeal again upheld the High Court Judgment of May 2021, which was
appealed by the BBI Secretariat.[111]

Ruto presidency
In August 2022, Deputy President William Ruto narrowly won the presidential
election. He took 50.5% of the vote. His main rival, Raila Odinga, got 48.8% of the
vote.[112] On 13 September 2022, William Ruto was sworn in as Kenya's fifth
president.[113]

Geography
Main article: Geography of Kenya

A map of Kenya

A Köppen climate classification map of Kenya

At 580,367 km2 (224,081 sq mi),[10] Kenya is the world's 47th-largest country
(after Madagascar). It lies between latitudes 5°N and 5°S, and longitudes 34° and
42°E. From the coast on the Indian Ocean, the low plains rise to central highlands
which are bisected by the Great Rift Valley, and fertile plateaus lie on either
side, around Lake Victoria and to the east.[114][115]

The Kenyan Highlands are one of the most successful agricultural production regions
in Africa.[116] The highlands are the site of the highest point in Kenya and the
second highest peak on the continent: Mount Kenya, which reaches a height of 5,199
m (17,057 ft) and is the site of glaciers. Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m or 19,341 ft)
can be seen from Kenya to the south of the Tanzanian border.

Climate
Kenya's climate varies from tropical along the coast to temperate inland to arid in
the north and northeast parts of the country. The area receives a great deal of
sunshine every month. It is usually cool at night and early in the morning inland
at higher elevations.

The "long rains" season occurs from March/April to May/June. The "short rains"
season occurs from October to November/December. The rainfall is sometimes heavy
and often falls in the afternoons and evenings. Climate change is altering the
natural pattern of the rainfall period, causing an extension of the short rains,
which has begat floods,[117] and reducing the drought cycle from every ten years to
annual events, producing strong droughts such as the 2008–09 Kenya Drought.[118]

The temperature remains high throughout these months of tropical rain. The hottest
period is February and March, leading into the season of the long rains, and the
coldest is in July, until mid-August.[119]

Climate change is posing an increasing threat to global socio-[120]economic

development and environmental sustainability. Developing countries with low
adaptive capacity and high vulnerability to the phenomenon are disproportionately
affected. Climate change in Kenya is increasingly impacting the lives of Kenya's
citizens and the environment.[120] Climate Change has led to more frequent extreme
weather events like droughts which last longer than usual, irregular and
unpredictable rainfall, flooding and increasing temperatures.

The effects of these climatic changes have made already existing challenges with
water security, food security and economic growth even more difficult. Harvests and
agricultural production which account for about 33%[121] of total Gross Domestic
Product (GDP)[122] are also at risk. The increased temperatures, rainfall
variability in arid and semi-arid areas, and strong winds associated with tropical
cyclones have combined to create favorable conditions for the breeding and
migration of pests.[123] An increase in temperature of up to 2.5 °C by 2050 is
predicted to increase the frequency of extreme events such as floods and droughts.
[120]
Wildlife
Main articles: Wildlife of Kenya and Environmental issues in Kenya
Kenya has considerable land area devoted to wildlife habitats, including the Masai
Mara, where blue wildebeest and other bovids participate in a large-scale annual
migration. More than one million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras participate in the
migration across the Mara River.[124]

The "Big Five" game animals of Africa, that is the lion, leopard, buffalo,
rhinoceros, and elephant, can be found in Kenya and in the Masai Mara in
particular. A significant population of other wild animals, reptiles, and birds can
be found in the national parks and game reserves in the country. The annual animal
migration occurs between June and September, with millions of animals taking part,
attracting valuable foreign tourism. Two million wildebeest migrate a distance of
2,900 kilometres (1,802 mi) from the Serengeti in neighbouring Tanzania to the
Masai Mara[125] in Kenya, in a constant clockwise fashion, searching for food and
water supplies. This Serengeti Migration of the wildebeest is listed among the
Seven Natural Wonders of Africa.[126]

Kenya had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.2/10, ranking it
133rd globally out of 172 countries.[127]

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Kenya

Kenya's third president, Mwai Kibaki

Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic with a multi-party
system. The president is both the head of state and head of government. Executive
power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the
government and the National Assembly and the Senate. The Judiciary is independent
of the executive and the legislature. There has been growing concern, especially
during former president Daniel arap Moi's tenure, that the executive was
increasingly meddling with the affairs of the judiciary.[128]

Kenya has high levels of corruption according to Transparency International's

Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), a metric which attempts to gauge the prevalence
of public-sector corruption in various countries. In 2019, the nation placed 137th
out of 180 countries in the index, with a score of 28 out of 100.[129] But there
are several rather significant developments with regard to curbing corruption from
the Kenyan government, for instance the establishment of a new and independent
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).[130]

The Supreme Court of Kenya building

Following general elections held in 1997, the Constitution of Kenya Review Act,
designed to pave the way for more comprehensive amendments to the Kenyan
constitution, was passed by the national parliament.[131]

In December 2002, Kenya held democratic and open elections, which were judged free
and fair by most international observers.[132] The 2002 elections marked an
important turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution in that power was
transferred peacefully from the Kenya African National Union (KANU), which had
ruled the country since independence, to the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), a
coalition of political parties.

Under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, the new ruling coalition promised to focus its
efforts on generating economic growth, combating corruption, improving education,
and rewriting its constitution. A few of these promises have been met. There is
free primary education.[133] In 2007, the government issued a statement declaring
that from 2008, secondary education would be heavily subsidised, with the
government footing all tuition fees.[134]

2013 elections and new government

Main articles: Kenyan general election, 2013 and Kenyan local elections, 2013
Under the new constitution and with President Kibaki prohibited by term limits from
running for a third term, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta ran for office. He
won with 50.51% of the vote in March 2013.

In December 2014, President Kenyatta signed a Security Laws Amendment Bill, which
supporters of the law suggested was necessary to guard against armed groups.
Opposition politicians, human rights groups, and nine Western countries criticised
the security bill, arguing that it infringed on democratic freedoms. The
governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France also
collectively issued a press statement cautioning about the law's potential impact.
Through the Jubilee Coalition, the Bill was later passed on 19 December in the
National Assembly under acrimonious circumstances.[135]

Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Kenya

President Barack Obama in Nairobi, July 2015

Kenya has close ties with its fellow Swahili-speaking neighbours in the African
Great Lakes region. Relations with Uganda and Tanzania are generally strong, as the
three nations work toward economic and social integration through common membership
in the East African Community.

Relations with Somalia have historically been tense, although there has been some
military co-ordination against Islamist insurgents. Kenya has good relations with
the United Kingdom.[136] Kenya is one of the most pro-American nations in Africa,
and the wider world.[137]

With International Criminal Court trial dates scheduled in 2013 for both President
Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto related to the 2007 election aftermath,
US president Barack Obama chose not to visit the country during his mid-2013
African trip.[138] Later in the summer, Kenyatta visited China at the invitation of
President Xi Jinping after a stop in Russia and not having visited the United
States as president.[139] In July 2015, Obama visited Kenya, the first American
president to visit the country while in office.[140]

The British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) is used for the training of British
infantry battalions in the arid and rugged terrain of the Great Rift Valley.[141]
[142]

Armed forces
Main article: Kenya Defence Forces
Emblem of the Kenya Defence Forces
Emblem of the Kenya Defence Forces
The Kenya Defence Forces are the armed forces of Kenya. The Kenya Army, Kenya Navy,
and Kenya Air Force compose the National Defence Forces. The current Kenya Defence
Forces were established, and its composition laid out, in Article 241 of the 2010
Constitution of Kenya; the KDF is governed by the Kenya Defence Forces Act of 2012.
[143] The President of Kenya is the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces.

The armed forces are regularly deployed in peacekeeping missions around the world.
Further, in the aftermath of the national elections of December 2007 and the
violence that subsequently engulfed the country, a commission of inquiry, the Waki
Commission, commended its readiness and adjudged it to "have performed its duty
well."[144] Nevertheless, there have been serious allegations of human rights
violations, most recently while conducting counter-insurgency operations in the Mt
Elgon area[145] and also in the district of Mandera central.[146]

Kenya's armed forces, like many government institutions in the country, have been
tainted by corruption allegations. Because the operations of the armed forces have
been traditionally cloaked by the ubiquitous blanket of "state security", the
corruption has been hidden from public view, and thus less subject to public
scrutiny and notoriety. This has changed recently. In what are by Kenyan standards
unprecedented revelations, in 2010, credible claims of corruption were made with
regard to recruitment[147] and procurement of armoured personnel carriers.[148]
Further, the wisdom and prudence of certain decisions of procurement have been
publicly questioned.[149]

Administrative divisions
Main articles: Counties of Kenya and Divisions of Kenya
Kenya's 47 counties
Kenya is divided into 47 semi-autonomous counties that are headed by governors.
These 47 counties form the first-order divisions of Kenya.

The smallest administrative units in Kenya are called locations. Locations often
coincide with electoral wards. Locations are usually named after their central
villages/towns. Many larger towns consist of several locations. Each location has a
chief, appointed by the state.

Constituencies are an electoral subdivision, with each county comprising a whole

number of constituencies. An interim boundaries commission was formed in 2010 to
review the constituencies and in its report, it recommended the creation of an
additional 80 constituencies. Previous to the 2013 elections, there were 210
constituencies in Kenya.[150]

Human rights
See also: Human rights in Kenya, LGBT rights in Kenya, and Human trafficking in
Kenya
Homosexual acts are illegal in Kenya and punishable by up to 14 years in prison,
though the state often turns a blind eye to prosecuting gay people.[151][152]
According to a 2020 survey by the Pew Research Center, 83% of Kenyans believe that
homosexuality should not be accepted by society.[153] While addressing a joint
press conference together with President Barack Obama in 2015, President Kenyatta
declined to assure Kenya's commitment to gay rights, saying that "the issue of gay
rights is really a non-issue... But there are some things that we must admit we
don't share. Our culture, our societies don't accept."[154]

In November 2008, WikiLeaks brought wide international attention[155] to The Cry of

Blood report, which documents the extrajudicial killing of gangsters by the Kenyan
police. In the report, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
reported these in their key finding "e)", stating that the forced disappearances
and extrajudicial killings appeared to be official policy sanctioned by the
political leadership and the police.[156][157]

Economy
Main article: Economy of Kenya
Kenya's macroeconomic outlook has steadily posted robust growth over the past few
decades mostly from road, rail, air and water transport infrastructure projects as
well as massive investments in Information and Communication Technology. However,
much of this growth has come from cash flows diverted from ordinary Kenyan pockets
at the microeconomic level through targeted monetary and fiscal measures coupled
with poor management, corruption, massive theft of public funds, overlegislation
and an ineffective judiciary resulting in diminished incomes in ordinary households
and small businesses, unemployment, underemployment and general discontent across
multiple sectors. Kenya ranks poorly on the Fragile States Index at number 25 out
of 178 countries, ranked in 2019, and is placed in the ALERT category. In 2014, the
country's macroeconomic indicators were re-based, causing the GDP to shift upwards
to low-middle-income country status.

Despite government assurances to the contrary, the Kenyan government is currently

broke and struggling to meet its financial obligations. Junior government employees
at both national and county levels are the hardest hit and have not received their
monthly salaries, benefits and deductions for up to six months or more.[158][159]
There is conflicting data on the state of the economy from different government
agencies with official data not reflecting record inflation and very high prices of
food and other basic commodities.[160][161]

Kenya has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.555 (medium), ranked 145 out of 186
in the world. As of 2005, 17.7% of Kenyans lived on less than $1.25 a day. [162] In
2017, Kenya ranked 92nd in the World Bank ease of doing business rising from 113rd
in 2016 (of 190 countries).[163] The important agricultural sector is one of the
least developed and largely inefficient, employing 75% of the workforce compared to
less than 3% in the food secure developed countries. Kenya is usually classified as
a frontier market or occasionally an emerging market, but it is not one of the
least developed countries.

The economy has seen much expansion, seen by strong performance in tourism, higher
education, and telecommunications, and decent post-drought results in agriculture,
especially the vital tea sector.[164] Kenya's economy grew by more than 7% in 2007,
and its foreign debt was greatly reduced.[164] This changed immediately after the
disputed presidential election of December 2007, following the chaos which engulfed
the country.

Telecommunications and financial activity over the last decade now comprise 62% of
GDP. 22% of GDP still comes from the unreliable agricultural sector which employs
75% of the labour force (a characteristic of under-developed economies that have
not attained food security). A small portion of the population relies on food aid.
[165] Industry and manufacturing is the smallest sector, accounting for 16% of GDP.
The service, industry and manufacturing sectors only employ 25% of the labour force
but contribute 75% of GDP.[164] Kenya also exports textiles worth over $400 million
under AGOA.

Privatisation of state corporations like the defunct Kenya Post and

Telecommunications Company, which resulted in East Africa's most profitable company
—Safaricom, has led to their revival because of massive private investment.

As of May 2011, economic prospects are positive with 4–5% GDP growth expected,
largely because of expansions in tourism, telecommunications, transport,
construction, and a recovery in agriculture. The World Bank estimated growth of
4.3% in 2012.[166]

Kenya, trends in the Human Development Index 1970–2010

In March 1996, the presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda re-established the
East African Community (EAC). The EAC's objectives include harmonising tariffs and
customs regimes, free movement of people, and improving regional infrastructures.
In March 2004, the three East African countries signed a Customs Union Agreement.

Kenya has a more developed financial services sector than its neighbours. The
Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) is ranked 4th in Africa in terms of market
capitalisation. The Kenyan banking system is supervised by the Central Bank of
Kenya (CBK). As of late July 2004, the system consisted of 43 commercial banks
(down from 48 in 2001) and several non-bank financial institutions including
mortgage companies, four savings and loan associations, and several core foreign-
exchange bureaus.[164]

Tourism
Main article: Tourism in Kenya

Amboseli National Park

Tsavo East National Park

Tourism in Kenya is the second-largest source of foreign exchange revenue following
agriculture.[167] The Kenya Tourism Board is responsible for maintaining
information pertaining to tourism in Kenya.[168][169] The main tourist attractions
are photo safaris through the 60 national parks and game reserves. Other
attractions include the wildebeest migration at the Masaai Mara, which is
considered to be the 7th wonder of the world; historical mosques, and colonial-era
forts at Mombasa, Malindi, and Lamu; renowned scenery such as the white-capped
Mount Kenya and the Great Rift Valley; tea plantations at Kericho; coffee
plantations at Thika; a splendid view of Mount Kilimanjaro across the border into
Tanzania; and the beaches along the Swahili Coast, in the Indian Ocean. Tourists,
the largest number being from Germany and the United Kingdom, are attracted mainly
to the coastal beaches and the game reserves, notably, the expansive East and Tsavo
West National Park, 20,808 square kilometres (8,034 sq mi) to the southeast.
[citation needed]

Agriculture
Main article: Agriculture in Kenya

Tea farm near Kericho, Kericho County

Agriculture is the second largest contributor to Kenya's gross domestic product
(GDP) after the service sector. In 2005, agriculture, including forestry and
fishing, accounted for 24% of GDP, as well as for 18% of wage employment and 50% of
revenue from exports. The principal cash crops are tea, horticultural produce, and
coffee. Horticultural produce and tea are the main growth sectors and the two most
valuable of all of Kenya's exports. The production of major food staples such as
corn is subject to sharp weather-related fluctuations. Production downturns
periodically necessitate food aid—for example in 2004, due to one of Kenya's
intermittent droughts.[170]

A consortium led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT) has had some success in helping farmers grow new pigeon pea
varieties instead of maize, in particularly dry areas. Pigeon peas are very
drought-resistant, so can be grown in areas with less than 650 millimetres (26 in)
annual rainfall. Successive projects encouraged the commercialisation of legumes by
stimulating the growth of local seed production and agro-dealer networks for
distribution and marketing. This work, which included linking producers to
wholesalers, helped to increase local producer prices by 20–25% in Nairobi and
Mombasa. The commercialisation of the pigeon pea is now enabling some farmers to
buy assets ranging from mobile phones to productive land and livestock, and is
opening pathways for them to move out of poverty.[171]

Tea, coffee, sisal, pyrethrum, corn, and wheat are grown in the fertile highlands,
one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa.[116]
Livestock predominates in the semi-arid savanna to the north and east. Coconuts,
pineapples, cashew nuts, cotton, sugarcane, sisal, and corn are grown in the lower-
lying areas. Kenya has not attained the level of investment and efficiency in
agriculture that can guarantee food security, and coupled with resulting poverty
(53% of the population lives below the poverty line), a significant portion of the
population regularly starves and is heavily dependent on food aid.[165] Poor roads,
an inadequate railway network, under-used water transport, and expensive air
transport have isolated mostly arid and semi-arid areas, and farmers in other
regions often leave food to rot in the fields because they cannot access markets.
This was last seen in August and September 2011, prompting the Kenyans for Kenya
initiative by the Red Cross.[172]

Agricultural countryside in Kenya

Kenya's irrigation sector is categorised into three organizational types:
smallholder schemes, centrally-managed public schemes, and private/commercial
irrigation schemes.

The smallholder schemes are owned, developed, and managed by individuals or groups
of farmers operating as water users or self-help groups. Irrigation is carried out
on individual or on group farms averaging 0.1–0.4 ha. There are about 3,000
smallholder irrigation schemes covering a total area of 47,000 ha. The country has
seven large, centrally managed irrigation schemes, namely Mwea, Bura, Hola,
Perkera, West Kano, Bunyala, and Ahero, covering a total area of 18,200 ha and
averaging 2,600 ha per scheme. These schemes are managed by the National Irrigation
Board and account for 18% of irrigated land area in Kenya. Large-scale private
commercial farms cover 45,000 hectares, accounting for 40% of irrigated land. They
utilise high technology and produce high-value crops for the export market,
especially flowers and vegetables.[173]

Kenya is the world's 3rd largest exporter of cut flowers.[174] Roughly half of
Kenya's 127 flower farms are concentrated around Lake Naivasha, 90 kilometres
northwest of Nairobi.[174] To speed their export, Nairobi airport has a terminal
dedicated to the transport of flowers and vegetables.[174]

Industry and manufacturing

The Kenya Commercial Bank office at KENCOM House (right) in Nairobi

Although Kenya is a low middle-income country, manufacturing accounts for 14% of
the GDP, with industrial activity concentrated around the three largest urban
centres of Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu, and is dominated by food-processing
industries such as grain milling, beer production, sugarcane crushing, and the
fabrication of consumer goods, e.g., vehicles from kits.

Kenya also has a cement production industry.[175] Kenya has an oil refinery that
processes imported crude petroleum into petroleum products, mainly for the domestic
market. In addition, a substantial and expanding informal sector commonly referred
to as jua kali engages in small-scale manufacturing of household goods, auto parts,
and farm implements.[176][177]

Kenya's inclusion among the beneficiaries of the US Government's African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA) has given a boost to manufacturing in recent years. Since
AGOA took effect in 2000, Kenya's clothing sales to the United States increased
from US$44 million to US$270 million (2006).[178] Other initiatives to strengthen
manufacturing have been the new government's favourable tax measures, including the
removal of duty on capital equipment and other raw materials.[179]

Transport
Main article: Transport in Kenya
The country has an extensive network of paved and unpaved roads. Kenya's railway
system links the nation's ports and major cities, connecting it with neighbouring
Uganda. There are 15 airports which have paved runways.

Energy
Main article: Energy in Kenya

Workers at Olkaria Geothermal Power Plant

The largest share of Kenya's electricity supply comes from geothermal energy,[180]
followed by hydroelectric stations at dams along the upper Tana River, as well as
the Turkwel Gorge Dam in the west. A petroleum-fired plant on the coast, geothermal
facilities at Olkaria (near Nairobi), and electricity imported from Uganda make up
the rest of the supply. A 2,000 MW powerline from Ethiopia is nearing completion.

Kenya's installed capacity increased from 1,142 megawatts between 2001 and 2003 to
2,341 in 2016.[181] The state-owned Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen),
established in 1997 under the name of Kenya Power Company, handles the generation
of electricity, while Kenya Power handles the electricity transmission and
distribution system in the country. Shortfalls of electricity occur periodically,
when drought reduces water flow. To become energy sufficient, Kenya has installed
wind power and solar power (over 300 MW each), and aims to build a nuclear power
plant by 2027.[182][183]

Kenya has proven deposits of oil in Turkana. Tullow Oil estimates the country's oil
reserves to be around one billion barrels.[184] Exploration is still continuing to
determine whether there are more reserves. Kenya currently imports all crude
petroleum requirements. It has no strategic reserves and relies solely on oil
marketers' 21-day oil reserves required under industry regulations. Petroleum
accounts for 20% to 25% of the national import bill.[185]

Chinese investment and trade

Published comments on Kenya's Capital FM website by Liu Guangyuan, China's
ambassador to Kenya, at the time of President Kenyatta's 2013 trip to Beijing,
said, "Chinese investment in Kenya ... reached $474 million, representing Kenya's
largest source of foreign direct investment, and ... bilateral trade ... reached
$2.84 billion" in 2012. Kenyatta was "[a]ccompanied by 60 Kenyan business people
[and hoped to] ... gain support from China for a planned $2.5 billion railway from
the southern Kenyan port of Mombasa to neighbouring Uganda, as well as a nearly
$1.8 billion dam", according to a statement from the president's office, also at
the time of the trip.[139]

Base Titanium, a subsidiary of Base resources of Australia, shipped its first major
consignment of minerals to China. About 25,000 tonnes of ilmenite was flagged off
the Kenyan coastal town of Kilifi. The first shipment was expected to earn Kenya
about KSh.15–20 billion/= in earnings.[186] In 2014, the Chinese contracted railway
project from Nairobi to Mombasa was suspended due to a dispute over compensation
for land acquisition.[187]

Vision 2030

The official logo of Vision 2030

In 2007, the Kenyan government unveiled Vision 2030, an economic development
programme it hopes will put the country in the same league as the Asian Economic
Tigers by 2030. In 2013, it launched a National Climate Change Action Plan, having
acknowledged that omitting climate as a key development issue in Vision 2030 was an
oversight failure. The 200-page Action Plan, developed with support from the
Climate & Development Knowledge Network, sets out the Government of Kenya's vision
for a 'low-carbon climate resilient development pathway'. At the launch in March
2013, the Secretary of the Ministry of Planning, National Development, and Vision
2030 emphasized that climate would be a central issue in the renewed Medium-Term
Plan that would be launched in the coming months. This would create a direct and
robust delivery framework for the Action Plan and ensure climate change is treated
as an economy-wide issue.[188] Furthermore, Kenya submitted an updated, more
ambitious NDC on December 24, 2020, with a commitment to abate greenhouse gases by
32 percent by 2030 relative to the business-as-usual scenario and in line with its
sustainable development agenda and national circumstances.[189]

Economic summary
GDP $41.84 billion (2012) at Market Price. $76.07 billion (Purchasing Power
Parity, 2012)
There exists an informal economy that is never counted as part of the official GDP
figures.

Annual growth rate 5.1% (2012)

Per capita income Per Capita Income (PPP)= $1,800
Agricultural produce tea, coffee, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables,
dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs
Industry small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles,
clothing, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products, horticulture, oil
refining; aluminium, steel, lead; cement, commercial ship repair, tourism
Trade in 2012
Exports $5.942 billion tea, coffee, horticultural products, petroleum
products, cement, fish
Major markets Uganda 9.9%, Tanzania 9.6%, Netherlands 8.4%, UK, 8.1%, US 6.2%,
Egypt 4.9%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 4.2% (2012)[10]
Imports $14.39 billion machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum
products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and plastics
Major suppliers China 15.3%, India 13.8%, UAE 10.5%, Saudi Arabia 7.3%, South
Africa 5.5%, Japan 4.0% (2012)[10]
Oil exploration
See also: Oil in Kenya

Lake Turkana borders Turkana County.

Kenya has proven oil deposits in Turkana County. President Mwai Kibaki announced on
26 March 2012 that Tullow Oil, an Anglo-Irish oil exploration firm, had struck oil,
but its commercial viability and subsequent production would take about three years
to confirm.[190]

Early in 2006, Chinese president Hu Jintao signed an oil exploration contract with
Kenya, part of a series of deals designed to keep Africa's natural resources
flowing to China's rapidly expanding economy.

A family of lions in Maasai Mara

The deal allowed for China's state-controlled offshore oil and gas company, CNOOC,
to prospect for oil in Kenya, which is just beginning to drill its first
exploratory wells on the borders of Sudan and the disputed area of North Eastern
Province, on the border with Somalia and in coastal waters. There are formal
estimates of the possible reserves of oil discovered.[191]

Action against pollution

In 2017, Kenya banned single-use plastic bags. According to the national
environmental authority, 80% of the public has adhered to this ban. Subsequently,
in 2020, the prohibition of single-use plastics was extended to protected areas,
including parks and forests.[192]

A law passed in July 2023 mandates companies to actively reduce the pollution and
environmental impact caused by the products they introduce into the Kenyan market,
either individually or through collective schemes. Unlike previous practices,
businesses are now obligated to participate in waste collection and recycling
initiatives, such the Petco initiative established by the government in 2018.[192]

Child labour and prostitution

Maasai people. The Maasai live in both Kenya and Tanzania.

Child labour is common in Kenya, particularly in agriculture.[193] In 2006, UNICEF
estimated that up to 30% of girls in the coastal areas of Malindi, Mombasa, Kilifi,
and Diani were subject to prostitution. Most of the prostitutes in Kenya are aged
9–18.[193] The Ministry of Gender and Child Affairs employed 400 child protection
officers in 2009.[193] The causes of child labour include poverty, the lack of
access to education, and weak government institutions.[193] Kenya has ratified
Convention No. 81 on labour inspection in industries and Convention No. 129 on
labour inspection in agriculture.[194]

Child labour in Kenya

Microfinance
Main article: Microfinance in Kenya
More than 20 institutions offer business loans on a large scale, specific
agriculture loans, education loans, and loans for other purposes. Additionally,
there are:

emergency loans, which are more expensive in respect to interest rates, but are
quickly available
group loans for smaller groups (four to five members) and larger groups (up to 30
members)
women's loans, which are also available to groups of women
Out of approximately 40 million Kenyans, about 14 million are unable to receive
financial service through formal loan application services, and an additional 12
million have no access to financial service institutions at all. Further, one
million Kenyans are reliant on informal groups for receiving financial aid.[195]

To mitigate this problem, the mobile banking service M-Pesa was launched in 2007 by
Vodafone and Safaricom, in collaboration from the Financial Deepening Challenge
Fund competition established by the UK government's Department for International
Development. M-Pesa allows users to deposit, withdraw, transfer money, pay for
goods and services (Lipa na M-Pesa), access credit and savings, all with a mobile
device,[196] has provided access to digital transactions to millions of Kenyans in
poverty situation.[197]

Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Kenya

A Bantu Kikuyu woman in traditional attire

Population[198][199]
Year Million
1948 5.4
1962 8.3
1969 10.9
2000 31.4
2021 53
Kenya had a population of approximately 48 million in January 2017.[10] The country
has a young population, with 73% of residents under 30 because of rapid population
growth,[200][201] from 2.9 million to 40 million inhabitants over the last century.
[202]

Nairobi is home to Kibera, one of the world's largest slums. The shantytown is
believed to house between 170,000[203] and one million people.[204] The UNHCR base
in Dadaab in the north houses around 500,000.[205]

Ethnic groups
Kenya has a diverse population that includes many of Africa's major ethnoracial and
linguistic groups. Although there is no official list of Kenyan ethnic groups, the
number of ethnic categories and sub-categories recorded in the country's census has
changed significantly over time, expanding from 42 in 1969 to more than 120 in
2019.[206] Most residents are Bantus (60%) or Nilotes (30%).[207] Cushitic groups
also form a small ethnic minority, as do Arabs, Indians, and Europeans.[207][208]

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), in 2019, Kenya had a
total population of 47,564,296. The largest native ethnic groups were the Kikuyu
(8,148,668), Luhya (6,823,842), Kalenjin (6,358,113), Luo (5,066,966), Kamba
(4,663,910), Somali (2,780,502), Kisii (2,703,235), Mijikenda (2,488,691), Meru
(1,975,869), Maasai (1,189,522), and Turkana (1,016,174). The North Eastern
Province of Kenya, formerly known as NFD, is predominantly inhabited by the
indigenous ethnic Somalis. Foreign-rooted populations include Arabs, Asians, and
Europeans.[2]

Languages
Main article: Languages of Kenya
Kenya's ethnic groups typically speak their mother tongues within their own
communities. The two official languages, English and Swahili, are used in varying
degrees of fluency for communication with other populations. English is widely
spoken in commerce, schooling, and government.[209] Peri-urban and rural dwellers
are less multilingual, with many in rural areas speaking only their native
languages.[210]

British English is primarily used in Kenya. Additionally, a distinct local dialect,

Kenyan English, is used by some communities and individuals in the country, and
contains features unique to it that were derived from local Bantu languages such as
Kiswahili and Kikuyu.[211] It has been developing since colonisation and also
contains certain elements of American English. Sheng is a Kiswahili-based cant
spoken in some urban areas. Primarily a mixture of Swahili and English, it is an
example of linguistic code-switching.[212]

69 languages are spoken in Kenya. Most belong to two broad language families:
Niger-Congo (Bantu branch) and Nilo-Saharan (Nilotic branch), spoken by the
country's Bantu and Nilotic populations respectively. The Cushitic and Arab ethnic
minorities speak languages belonging to the separate Afroasiatic family, with the
Indian and European residents speaking languages from the Indo-European family.
[213]

Urban centres
Main article: List of cities and towns in Kenya by population

Largest cities or towns in Kenya

According to the 2019 Census[214]
Rank Name County Pop. Rank Name County Pop.
Nairobi
Nairobi
Mombasa
Mombasa 1 Nairobi Nairobi 4 397 073 11 Ongata Rongai
Kajiado 172 569
2 Mombasa Mombasa 1 208 333 12 Garissa Garissa 163 399
3 Nakuru Nakuru 570 674 13 Kitale Trans-Nzoia 162 174
4 Ruiru Kiambu 490 120 14 Juja Kiambu 156 041
5 Eldoret Uasin Gishu 475 716 15 Mlolongo Machakos 136 351
6 Kisumu Kisumu 397 957 16 Malindi Kilifi 119 859
7 Kikuyu Kiambu 323 881 17 Mandera Mandera 114 718
8 Thika Kiambu 251 407 18 Kisii Kisii 112 417
9 Naivasha Nakuru 198 444 19 Kakamega Kakamega 107 227
10 Karuri Kiambu 194 342 20 Ngong Kajiado 102 323
Religion
Main article: Religion in Kenya

Holy Ghost Roman Catholic Cathedral in Mombasa

Most Kenyans are Christian (85.5%), with 53.9% Protestant and 20.6% Roman Catholic.
[2] The Presbyterian Church of East Africa has 3 million followers in Kenya and
surrounding countries.[215] There are smaller conservative Reformed churches, the
Africa Evangelical Presbyterian Church,[216] the Independent Presbyterian Church in
Kenya, and the Reformed Church of East Africa. Orthodox Christianity has 621,200
adherents.[217] Kenya has by far the highest number of Quakers of any country in
the world, with around 146,300.[218] The only Jewish synagogue in the country is in
Nairobi.

Islam is the second largest religion, comprising 10.9% of the population. 60% of
Kenyan Muslims live in the Coastal Region, comprising 50% of the total population
there, while the upper part of Kenya's Eastern Region is home to 10% of the
country's Muslims, where they are the majority religious group.[219] Indigenous
beliefs are practised by 0.7% of the population, although many self-identifying
Christians and Muslims maintain some traditional beliefs and customs. Nonreligious
Kenyans are 1.6% of the population.[2]

Some Hindus also live in Kenya. The numbers are estimated to be around 60,287, or
0.13% of the population.[2]

Health
Main article: Health in Kenya

Outpatient Department of AIC Kapsowar Hospital[220] in Kapsowar

Health care is one of the low-priority sectors in Kenya and was allocated 4.8% of
the national budget in 2019/2020 or just 4.59% of GDP compared to high-priority
sectors such as education which was allocated more than 25%. This is below the
4.98% average in Sub-Saharan Africa and 9.83% spent globally.

According to the National and County Health Budget Analysis FY 2020/21, the
breakdown of county health expenditure was 58% on Policy Planning and
Administrative Support Services, 28% on Curative and Rehabilitative Health
Services, 8% on Preventive and Promotive Health Services and 7% on Other
Programmes.

Health care is largely funded by private individuals and their families or

employers through direct payments to health care providers, to the National Health
Insurance Fund or to medical insurance companies. Additional funding comes from
local, international and some government social safety net schemes. Public
hospitals are fee-for-service establishments that generate large amounts of county
and national government revenues making them highly political and corrupt
enterprises.[221]

Private health facilities are diverse, highly dynamic, and difficult to classify,
unlike public health facilities, which are easily grouped in classes that consist
of community-based (level I) services, run by community health workers;
dispensaries (level II facilities) run by nurses; health centres (level III
facilities), run by clinical officers; sub-county hospitals (level IV facilities),
which may be run by a clinical officer or a medical officer; county hospitals
(level V facilities), which may be run by a medical officer or a medical
practitioner; and national referral hospitals (level VI facilities), which are run
by fully qualified medical practitioners.

Table showing different grades of clinical officers, medical officers, and medical
practitioners in Kenya's public service
Nurses are by far the largest group of front-line health care providers in all
sectors, followed by clinical officers, medical officers, and medical
practitioners. These are absorbed and deployed into government service in
accordance with the Scheme of Service for Nursing Personnel (2014), the Revised
Scheme of Service for Clinical Personnel (2020) and the Revised Scheme of Service
for Medical Officers and Dental Officers (2016).

Traditional healers (herbalists, witch doctors, and faith healers) are readily
available, trusted, and widely consulted as practitioners of first or last choice
by both rural and urban dwellers.

Despite major achievements in the health sector, Kenya still faces many challenges.
The estimated life expectancy dropped in 2009 to approximately 55 years — five
years below the 1990 level.[222] The infant mortality rate was high at
approximately 44 deaths per 1,000 children in 2012.[223] The WHO estimated in 2011
that only 42% of births were attended by a skilled health professional.[224]

Diseases of poverty directly correlate with a country's economic performance and

wealth distribution: In 2015/16, 35.6% of Kenyans lived below the poverty line.
[225] Preventable diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, diarrhoea, and
malnutrition are the biggest burden, major child-killers, and responsible for much
morbidity; weak policies, corruption, inadequate health workers, weak management,
and poor leadership in the public health sector are largely to blame. According to
2009 estimates, HIV/AIDS prevalence is about 6.3% of the adult population.[226]
However, the 2011 UNAIDS Report suggests that the HIV epidemic may be improving in
Kenya, as HIV prevalence is declining among young people (ages 15–24) and pregnant
women.[227] Kenya had an estimated 15 million cases of malaria in 2006.[228]

Women
Main articles: Women in Kenya, Child marriage in Kenya, and Polygamy in Kenya
The total fertility rate in Kenya was estimated to be 4.49 children per woman in
2012.[229] According to a 2008–09 survey by the Kenyan government, the total
fertility rate was 4.6% and the contraception usage rate among married women was
46%.[230] Maternal mortality is high, partly because of female genital mutilation,
[164] with about 27% of women having undergone it.[231] This practice is however on
the decline as the country becomes more modernised, and in 2011 it was banned in
Kenya.[232] Women were economically empowered before colonialisation. By colonial
land alienation, women lost access and control of land.[233] They became more
economically dependent on men.[233] A colonial order of gender emerged where males
dominated females.[233] Median age at first marriage increases with increasing
education.[234] Rape, defilement, and battering are not always seen as serious
crimes.[235] Reports of sexual assault are not always taken seriously.[235]

Youth
Article 260 of the Kenyan Constitution of 2010 defines youth as those between the
ages of 18 and 34.[236] According to the 2019 Population and Census results, 75
percent of the 47.6 million population is under the age of 35, making Kenya a
country of the youth.[237] Youth unemployment and underemployment in Kenya has
become a problem.[238] According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS),
approximately 1.7 million people lost their jobs as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic, which eliminated some informal jobs and caused the economy to slow.[238]
The Kenyan government has made progress in addressing the high youth unemployment
by implementing various affirmative action programs and projects which include: the
National Youth Service, The National Youth Enterprise Development Fund,[239] The
Women Enterprise Fund,[240] Kazi Mtaani, Ajira Digital, Kikao Mtaani,[241] Uwezo
fund,[242] Future Bora[243] and Studio mashinani[244] that empower youth, offer job
opportunities and to raise one's standard of living.[245]

Education
Main article: Education in Kenya

School children in a classroom

An MSc student at Kenyatta University in Nairobi

Children attend nursery school, or kindergarten in the private sector until they
are five years old. This lasts one to three years (KG1, KG2 and KG3) and is
financed privately because there has been no government policy on pre-schooling
until recently.[246]

Basic formal education starts at age six and lasts 12 years, consisting of eight
years in primary school and four in high school or secondary. Primary school is
free in public schools and those attending can join a vocational youth/village
polytechnic, or make their own arrangements for an apprenticeship program and learn
a trade such as tailoring, carpentry, motor vehicle repair, brick-laying and
masonry for about two years.[247]

Those who complete high school can join a polytechnic or other technical college
and study for three years, or proceed directly to university and study for four
years. Graduates from the polytechnics and colleges can then join the workforce and
later obtain a specialised higher diploma qualification after a further one to two
years of training, or join the university—usually in the second or third year of
their respective course. The higher diploma is accepted by many employers in place
of a bachelor's degree and direct or accelerated admission to post-graduate studies
is possible in some universities.

A Maasai girl at school

Public universities in Kenya are highly commercialised institutions and only a
small fraction of qualified high school graduates are admitted on limited
government-sponsorship into programs of their choice. Most are admitted into the
social sciences, which are cheap to run, or as self-sponsored students paying the
full cost of their studies. Most qualified students who miss out opt for middle-
level diploma programs in public or private universities, colleges, and
polytechnics.

In 2018, 18.5 percent of the Kenyan adult population was illiterate, which was the
highest rate of literacy in East Africa.[248][249] There are very wide regional
disparities: for example, Nairobi had the highest level of literacy at 87.1 per
cent, compared to North Eastern Province, the lowest, at 8.0 per cent. Preschool,
which targets children from age three to five, is an integral component of the
education system and is a key requirement for admission to Standard One (First
Grade). At the end of primary education, pupils sit the Kenya Certificate of
Primary Education (KCPE), which determines those who proceed to secondary school or
vocational training. The result of this examination is needed for placement at
secondary school.[247]

Primary school is for students aged 6/7-13/14 years. For those who proceed to the
secondary level, there is a national examination at the end of Form Four – the
Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), which determines those proceeding
to the universities, other professional training, or employment. Students sit
examinations in eight subjects of their choosing. However, English, Kiswahili, and
mathematics are compulsory subjects.

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), formerly
the Joint Admissions Board (JAB), is responsible for selecting students joining the
public universities. Other than the public schools, there are many private schools,
mainly in urban areas. Similarly, there are a number of international schools
catering to various overseas educational systems.

Kenya was ranked 100th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.[250]

Culture

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Main article: Culture of Kenya

Kenyan boys and girls performing a traditional dance

Nation Media House, which hosts the Nation Media Group

The culture of Kenya comprises multiple traditions. Kenya has no single prominent
culture. It instead consists of the various cultures of the country's different
communities.

Notable populations include the Swahili on the coast, several other Bantu
communities in the central and western regions, and Nilotic communities in the
northwest. The Maasai culture is well known to tourism, despite constituting a
relatively small part of Kenya's population. They are renowned for their elaborate
upper-body adornment and jewellery.

Additionally, Kenya has an extensive music, television, and theatre scene.