Kenya's History
The first of many footprints to be stamped on Kenyan soil were left way
back in 2000 BC by nomadic tribes from Ethiopia. A second group followed
around 1000 BC and occupied much of central Kenya. The rest of the ancestors
of the country's medley of tribes arrived from all over the continent
between 500 BC and 500 AD. The Bantu-speaking people (such as the Gusii,
Kikuyu, Akamba and Meru) arrived from West Africa while the Nilotic speakers
(Maasai, Luo, Samburu and Turkana) came from the Nile Valley in southern
Sudan. As tribes migrated throughout the interior, Muslims from the Arabian
Peninsula and Shirazis from Persia (now Iran) settled along the East African
coast from the 8th century AD onwards.
Drawn by the whiff of spices and money, the Portuguese started sniffing
around in the 15th century. After venturing further and further down the
western coast of Africa, Vasco da Gama finally rounded the Cape of Good
Hope and headed up the continent's eastern coast in 1498. Seven years
later, the Portuguese onslaught on the region began. By the 16th century,
most of the indigenous Swahili trading towns, including Mombasa, had been
either sacked or occupied by the Portuguese - marking the end of the Arab
monopoly of Indian Ocean trade. The Portuguese settled in for a long period
of harsh colonial rule, playing one sultan off against another. But their
grip on the coast was always tenuous because their outposts had to be
supplied from Goa in India. Control of the coast was won back by the Arabs
in 1720.
The remainder of the 18th century saw the Omani dynasties from the Persian
Gulf dug in along the East African coast. The depredations of the Portuguese
era and constant quarrels among the Arab governors caused a decline in
trade and prosperity which meant that economic powerhouses such as Britain
and Germany weren't interested in grabbing a slice of East Africa until
about the mid-19th century.
With Europeans suddenly tramping all over Africa in search of fame and
fortune, even Kenya's intimidating interior was forced to give up its
secrets to outsiders. Until the 1880s, the Rift Valley and the Aberdare
highlands remained the heartland of the proud warrior tribe, the Maasai.
By the late 19th century, years of civil war between the Maasai's two
opposing factions had weakened the tribe. Disease and famine had also
taken their toll. This opened the way for the English to negotiate a treaty
with the Maasai laibon (chief, or spiritual leader) and begin work
on the Mombasa-Uganda railway - which cut straight through the Maasai
grazing lands. The halfway point of this railway is roughly where Nairobi
stands today.
It was downhill from here for the Maasai. As white settlers demanded
more fertile land, the Maasai were herded into smaller reserves. The Kikuyu,
a Bantu agricultural tribe from the highlands west of Mt Kenya, also had
vast tracts of land ripped from under their feet.
White settlement in the early 20th century was initially disastrous,
but - once they bothered to learn a little about the land - the British
succeeded in making their colony viable. Other European settlers soon
established coffee plantations and by the 1950s the white settler population
had reached about 80,000. With little choice left but to hop on the economic
hamster wheel created by the Europeans, tribes like the Kikuyu nonetheless
maintained their rage. Harry Thuku, an early leader of the Kikuyu political
association, was duly jailed by the British in 1922. His successor, Johnstone
Kamau (later Jomo Kenyatta) was to become independent Kenya's first president.
As opposition to colonial rule grew, the Kenya African Union (KAU) emerged
and became strident in its demands. Other such societies soon added their
voices to the cry for freedom, including the Mau Mau, whose members (mainly
Kikuyu) vowed to drive white settlers out of Kenya. The ensuing Mau Mau
Rebellion ended in 1956 with the defeat of the Mau Mau. The death toll
stood at over 13,500 Africans - Mau Mau guerrillas, civilians and troops
- and just over 100 Europeans.
Kenyatta spent years in jail or under house arrest but was freed in 1961
and became leader of the reincarnated KAU, the Kenya African National
Union (KANU). He ushered in independence on 12 December 1963, and under
his presidency the country developed into one of Africa's most stable
and prosperous nations. With Kenyatta's death in 1978 came Daniel Arap
Moi, a member of the Tugen tribe.
Moi's rule was characterised by rifts and dissension. He took criticism
badly and as a result oversaw the disbanding of tribal societies and the
disruption of universities. A coup attempt by the Kenyan Air Force in
1982 was put down by forces loyal to Moi. The air force was disbanded
and replaced by a new unit. With the winds of democratic pluralism sweeping
Africa in the late 1980s and early 1990s, international aid for Moi's
Kenya was suspended.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and major aid donors
demanded that repression cease and Moi's political stranglehold ease.
He conceded, but much to Moi's delight, the opposition in the 1993 election
shot itself in the foot - The Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD)
was unable to agree on a leader. By splitting into three parties, FORD's
much-vaunted cause became hopeless. Moi, the beneficiary of his opposition's
vanity, won with just one-third of the total vote.
In 1995, a new party was launched in an attempt to unite the splintered
opposition. The party was Safina, founded by Richard Leakey, famed anthropologist,
elephant saviour and political activist. Despite almost constant harassment
by the government, Safina has made some headway.
Elections were held in Kenya at the end of 1997. Despite widespread allegations
of vote rigging and intimidation of opposition candidates, Moi once again
scraped home with a little over 40% of the vote.
*The above information was obtained from
www.lonelyplanet.com and Youth International
wants to acknowlege all due credit to the source of the information.
