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Kenya contains sites of fossil finds that are significant to the study of man's evolution, early development and history. In the western part of the country, deposits have been found dating back over 20 million years. These have yielded remains of anthropoid creatures that some archaeologists have conjectured may play a critical role in human ancestry.
Archaeological evidence indicates that people have occupied the area's lakeshores continuously from about 8,000 B.C. These people represent part of a geographically widespread culture that gained its food primarily by fishing and gathering aquatic animals and plants. At about the third millennium B.C., new peoples arrived in the Rift Valley and the Kenya Highlands; their skeletal remains are similar to those of Cushitic-speaking peoples who now inhabit the regions on the Horn of Africa.
Two waves of Bantu migrants moving in a southward direction began arriving in Kenya 2,000 years ago, bringing with them techniques now associated with the Iron Age. The largest of these groups in Kenya today are the Kikuyu and the Kamba. Some of the coastal peoples, among them the Digo, Giriama and Pokomo, have affinities with the Bantu. Cushitic, Nilo-Hamatic and other peoples also settled in the region. The Nilotic peoples are also thought to have moved to this area from Sudan, and to have given rise to the Luo, among others. The largest Nilo-Hamatic group today is the Kalenjin.
Early in the 16th century, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama stopped at Mombasa on his way to India. The Portuguese built Fort Jesus in Mombasa in 1593; this soon became the headquarters of Portuguese officials and the main port of call for Portuguese vessels, but the fort was captured by Omani Arabs in 1698. In the 18th century, the Arabs made several attempts to penetrate the interior of Kenya in efforts to take over control of the slave trade then dominated by the Kamba. These attempts were repelled; only in the beginning of the 19th century were the Arabs able to take over the internal slave trade.
The first Europeans to reach the interior of the area were the Reverend Johann Krapf and the Reverend Johannes Rebmann, both agents of the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS).
In 1883, the British traveler Joseph Thompson became the first European to traverse Maasai territory. Britain and Germany competed for control of Maasailand, leading to their 1890 agreement to divide the hinterland between them.
The administration of the country was taken over by the British Foreign Office in July 1885, when it was declared a British protectorate. The protectorate was administered from Zanzibar, the residence of the first Commissioner, Sir Arthur Harding. From the beginning, the indigenous peoples strongly resisted the imposition of foreign rule. In particular, the Nandi in the interior of the country were distinguished resisters of the empire's incursion. A series of British military expeditions in 1896, 1897 and 1905 eventually forced the Nandi to capitulate, with great loss of life on the Nandi side.
British rule led to far-reaching social and economic changes. Since East Africa attracted many British immigrants, Kenya had a substantial British community until independence. The Highlands were largely owned by British farmers.
In 1923, the British government announced that the interests of the African natives would forthwith be under their control. In 1925, local councils were organized to assist the colonial power in governing Africans; these councils operated through chiefs who, among the Kikuyu, had little or no traditional standing. In 1928, the Young Kikuyu Association was reorganized under the name of the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA); Johnstone Kamau Ngengi (Jomo Kenyatta) was elected General Secretary.
In 1929-1931, Kenyatta was sent twice to Great Britain in an unsuccessful effort to voice KCA views and African grievances before a parliamentary committee on the union of Kenya, Tanganyika, and Uganda. In effect, Kenyatta was obliged to remain away from Kenya until 1946. During the 1930s, the KCA became the voice of an emerging Kikuyu consciousness until it was officially banned in 1940. In the late 1930s, the Kamba and Taita formed associations of their own that were similarly designed to serve tribal aims.
Kenya's first genuine African nationalist organization, the Kenya African Union (KAU), was established in 1944. The Union promptly demanded access to the highlands, which were then largely owned by white settlers. In late 1946, Kenyatta returned to Kenya as the unrivaled leader of nationalist movement; in mid-1947, he was elected to the presidency of the KAU. In 1950, a leader of the Luo (the second largest ethnic group), Oginga Odinga, joined the KAU. The Mau Mau, a secret society largely composed of Kikuyu, initiated a campaign of terror against highland settlers between 1952 and 1956. The campaign also resulted, however, in thousands of African causalities when Kikuyu factions turned on one another.
In reprisal for these activities, the KAU was banned in 1953 by the British who imprisoned Kenyatta. The Mau Mau arose out of a complex set of political, social and economic circumstances. At the heart of Kikuyu grievances was the recovery of their land that was taken over by settlers.
On October 7, 1952, the Mau Mau assassinated Senior Chief Warihiu. The British then declared martial law, which led to the interrogation and detention of thousands of Kikuyu. From the protection of the forest, the Mau Mau trained and launched guerrilla attacks against colonial post offices, police stations, European settlements and farms as well as punishing Africans who supported the colonial government.
At the Legislative election in May 1963, KANU triumphed, and Kenyatta was elected prime minister. Independence was formally declared in December 1963. Kenya became a republic in December 1964, with Kenyatta as its first president. The entire KADU membership had earlier defected to KANU, rendering Kenya a de facto one-party state.
In June 1982, Kenya's National Assembly declared Moi led KANU the sole legal party. Press censorship and political detentions increased, and led to an attempted coup in August 1982, by the Kenyan Air Force. Odinga was linked to the coup attempt and placed under house arrest. Tensions continued unabated into the following year when the Minister of Constitutional Affairs, Charles Njono, was accused by Moi of seeking the presidency through foreign intervention. Njono was forced to resign his seat in June 1983.
In September, with only 48% of the electorate casting ballots, Moi was re-elected for a second term, unopposed. Anticipating problems in the national elections of March 1988, Moi dissolved the National Assembly in February, and released 10 political prisoners. In February 1988, Moi dismissed preliminary public elections and was summarily re-elected president.
In August 1990, Oginga Odinga and six prominent opposition leaders formed the Forum for Restoration of Democracy (FORD) with extensive multi-ethnic support. The new movement immediately gained the public's support and its popularity soared.
Under this intense pressure, President Moi finally relented at a special KANU conference on December 3, 1991 to demands for a multi-party state.
Kenya's political history saw several critical changes in 1992. The FORD party staged the country's first legal opposition rally in 22 years. Civil unrest broke out near the tea-growing areas of Molo in the west central region. Outbreaks of violence continued to mount over the following two years, seeming to confirm the government's predictions that multi-party politics would exacerbate ethnic tension and eventually splinter the country along tribal lines. Opposition parties claimed that the government had itself incited the violence, which left an estimated 2,300 people dead and 25,000 displaced.
KANU seemed to take the opposition challenge seriously, particularly the challenge from FORD-Kenya. When multi-party elections for the presidency and the National Assembly were held on December 29, 1992, Moi retained his place in Kenyan politics with 36.35% of the presidential election votes, while Kenneth Matiba took 26%, Mwai Kibaki 19.45%, and Oginga Odinga 17.48%. The opposition protested the elections, calling them invalid on the grounds of gross procedural irregularities. Despite these efforts, President Moi was sworn in on January 4, 1993, for another five-year term. |
