Kenyan Independence

The independent Republic of Kenya was formed in 1964 (not very long ago!). So let’s go back a bit more shall we....

Kenya became a military base for the British in the First World War, as efforts to subdue the German colony to the south were frustrated. In August 1914, the governors of British East Africa (as the British Protectorate was generally know) and German East Africa agreed to a truce in an attempt to keep the young colonies out of direct hostilities. The experience gained by Africans in the war coupled with the creation of the white-settler-dominated Kenya Crown Colony, gave rise to considerable political activity in the 1920s. By the later 1930s government began to intrude on ordinary Africans through marketing controls, stricter education supervision and land changes. Pressure on ordinary Kenyans by governments in a hurry to modernize in the 1930s to 1950s enabled the mass political parties to acquire support for “centrally” focused movements.

In the Second World War (1939-1945) Kenya became an important British military base for successful campaigns against Italy in the Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia. The war brought money and an opportunity for military service to nearly 98,000 men. The war stimulated African nationalism and after the war African ex-servicemen sought to maintain socioeconomic gains they had accrued through service in the King’s African Rifles (KAR). The social and economic connotations of KAR service, combined with massive wartime expansion of Kenyan defense forces, created a new class of modernized Africans with distinctive characteristics and interests.

In response to the rising pressures the British Colonial Office broadened the membership of the Legislative Council and increased it’s role. By 1952 a multiracial pattern of quotas allowed for 14 European, 1 Arab, and 6 Asian elected members, together with an additional 6 African and 1 Arab member chosen by the governor. The council of ministers became the principal instrument of government in 1954.

A key watershed came from 1952 to 1956 during the Mau Mau uprising, an armed local movement directed principally against the colonial government and the European settlers. It was the largest and most successful such movement in British Africa, but it was not emulated by the other colonies. To support its military campaign of counter-insurgency the colonial government embarked on agrarian reforms that stripped white settlers of many of their former protections; for example, Africans were for the first time allowed to grow coffee, the major cash crop. After the suppression of the Mau Mau uprising, the British profited for the election of the six African members of the Legislative Council under a weighted franchise based on education. The new colonial constitution of 1958 increased African representation, but African nationalists began to demand a democratic franchise on the principle of “one man, one vote”. However Europeans and Asians, because of their minority position, feared the effects of the universal suffrage.

At a conference held in 1960 in London, agreement was reached between the African members and the English settlers of the New Kenya Group, led by Michael Blundell. Following the agreement a new African party the Kenya Aferican National Union (KANU), with the slogan “Freedom” (or “Uhuru”) was formed under the leadership of Kikuyu leader James S. Gichuru and labor leader Tom Mboya. A split in KANU produced the breakaway rival party, the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), led by R. Ngala and M. Muliro. In the elections of February 1961, KANU won 19 of the 33 seats while KADU won 11.In 1962 a KANU-KADU coalition government, including both leaders Kenyatta and Ngala, was formed. The 1962 constitution established a bicameral legislature consisting of a 117 member House of Representatives and a 41 member Senate. The country was divided into 7 semi-autonomous regions, each with it’s own regional assembly. Open elections were held in May 1963. KADU gained control of the assemblies in the Rift Valley, Coast, and Western regions. KANU won majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives, and in the assemblies in the Central, Eastern, and Nyanza regions. Kenya now achieved internal self-government with Jomo Kenyatta as it’s first prime minister. The British and KANU agreed, over KADU protests, to constitutional changes in October 1963 straightening the central government. Kenya became independent on December 12, 1963. In 1964 Kenya became a republic, and constitutional changes further centralized the government.

The British government bought out the white settlers and they mostly left Kenya.

Kenyatta was succeeded by Daniel arap Moi in 1978 who ruled until 2002. Moi came under pressure, notably by US ambassador Smith Hempstone, to restore a multi-party system from his attempt at a de-jure status, which he did in 1991. During the 1990’s Mois involvement in human rights abuses and corruption was uncovered. He was constitutionally barred from running in the 2002 election, which were won by Mwai Kibaki. Widely reported electoral fraud on Kibaki’s side in the 2007 election resulted in the 2007-2008 Kenyan crisis.

The latest general elections were held on 27 December 2007. In them, President Kibaki under the Party of National Unity ran for re-election against the main opposition party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). The elections were seen to have been flawed with international observers saying that they were below international standards.  As the count came in to the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) headquarters, Odinga was shown to have a slight, and then substantial lead as the results from his strongholds came in early. As the ECK continued to count the votes, Kibaki closed the gap and then overtook his opponent by a substantial margin after votes from his stronghold arrived later. This led to protests and open discrediting of the ECK for complicity and to Odinga declaring himself the “people’s president” and calling for a recount. The protests escalated into violence and destruction of property, almost 1,000 people were killed and nearly 600,000 displaced. The dispute caused underlying tensions over land and its distribution to re-erupt, as it had in the 1992 and 1997 elections. Hundreds of thousands were forced off their land to relatives elsewhere in the country and some claim weapons are being bought in the region, perhaps in anticipation of the 2012 elections. <----- This is when many of the residents in the IDP camp across from Naomi’s Village were displaced.

Research conducted by Alyssa.