Kenya

 

Bureau of African Affairs                                                     
June 2007                                                                     
                                                                       
  Background Note: Kenya                                                      
                                                       
  A lioness and her cub rest in Kenya's                                       
  Masai Mara game reserve, July 2005.                                         
  [© AP Images]                                                               
                                                                       
  Flag of Kenya is three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green;
  the red band is edged in white; a large warrior's shield covering crossed   
  spears is superimposed at the center.                                       
                                                                       
  PROFILE                                                                     
                                                                       
  OFFICIAL NAME:                                                              
  Republic of Kenya                                                           
                                                                       
  Geography                                                                   
  Area: 582,646 sq. km. (224,960 sq mi.); slightly smaller than Texas.        
  Cities: Capital--Nairobi (pop. 2.9 million; 2007 est.). Other cities--Mombasa
  (828,500; 2006 est.), Kisumu (322,000; 1999), Nakuru (219,366; 1999), Eldoret
  (193,830; 1999).                                                            
  Terrain: Kenya rises from a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean in a series
  of mountain ridges and plateaus which stand above 3,000 meters (9,000 ft.) in
  the center of the country. The Rift Valley bisects the country above Nairobi,
  opening up to a broad arid plain in the north. Highlands cover the south    
  before descending to the shores of Lake Victoria in the west.               
  Climate: Tropical in south, west, and central regions; arid and semi-arid in
  the north and the northeast.                                                
                                                                       
  People                                                                      
  Nationality: Noun and adjective--Kenyan(s).                                 
  Population (June 2007 est.): 36.9 million.                                  
  Major ethnic groups: Kikuyu 22%, Luyia 14%, Luo 14%, Kalenjin 11%, Kamba 11%,
  Kisii 6%, Meru 5%.                                                          
  Religions: Christian 80%, Muslim 10%, traditional African religions 9%, Hindu
  /Sikh/Baha'i/Jewish 1%.                                                     
  Languages: English (official), Swahili, over 40 other languages from the    
  Bantu, Nilotic, and Cushitic linguistic groups.                             
  Education: First 8 years of primary school are provided free by the         
  government. Attendance--92% for primary grades. Adult literacy rate--85.1%. 
  Health: Infant mortality rate--57.4/1,000. Life expectancy--55.3 yrs (2007  
  est.).                                                                      
  Work force (1.95 million wage earners): public sector 30%; private sector   
  70%. Informal sector workers--6.4 million. Services--45%; industry and      
  commerce--35%; agriculture--20%.                                            
                                                                       
  Government                                                                  
  Type: Republic.                                                             
  Independence: December 12, 1963.                                            
  Constitution: 1963.                                                         
  Branches: Executive--president (chief of state, head of government, commander
  in chief of armed forces). Legislative--unicameral National Assembly        
  (parliament). Judicial--Court of Appeal, High Court, various lower and      
  special courts, includes Kadhi (Sharia) courts.                             
  Administrative subdivisions: 69 districts, joined to form 7 rural provinces.
  Nairobi area has special provincial status. The government has gazetted 37  
  more districts, whose ratification was still in process as of February 2007.
  Political parties: Over 100 registered political parties. The ruling party, 
  the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), made up of 14 separately registered  
  parties, broke up in 2003, although it is still a registered party. A       
  Government of National Unity composed of Members of Parliament from all     
  political parties was created in 2005. KANU and Liberal Democratic Party    
  (LDP) united to reject a draft constitution in a national referendum in     
  November 2005 and later formed the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya (ODM-K) 
  party in opposition to the government.                                      
  Suffrage: Universal at 18.                                                  
                                                                       
  Economy                                                                     
  GDP (2006 est.): $22.79 billion.                                            
  Annual growth rate (2006): 6.1%.                                            
  Gross national income per capita (2006): $455.                              
  Natural resources: Wildlife, land.                                          
  Agriculture: Products--tea, coffee, sugarcane, horticultural products, corn,
  wheat, rice, sisal, pineapples, pyrethrum, dairy products, meat and meat    
  products, hides, skins. Arable land--5%.                                    
  Industry: Types--petroleum products, grain and sugar milling, cement, beer, 
  soft drinks, textiles, vehicle assembly, paper and light manufacturing.     
  Trade (2006): Exports--$3.1 billion: tea, coffee, horticultural products,   
  petroleum products, cement, pyrethrum, soda ash, sisal, hides and skins,    
  fluorspar. Major markets--Uganda, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Germany,        
  Netherlands, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Egypt, South Africa, United States.          
  Imports--$7.2 billion: machinery, vehicles, crude petroleum, iron and steel,
  resins and plastic materials, refined petroleum products, pharmaceuticals,  
  paper and paper products, fertilizers, wheat. Major suppliers--U.K., Japan, 
  South Africa, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Italy, India, France, United   
  States, Saudi Arabia.                                                       
                                                                       
  PEOPLE                                                                      
  Kenya has a very diverse population that includes three of Africa's major   
  sociolinguistic groups: Bantu (67%), Nilotic (30%), and Cushitic (3%).      
  Kenyans are deeply religious. About 80% of Kenyans are Christian, 10% Muslim,
  and 10% follow traditional African religions or other faiths. Most city     
  residents retain links with their rural, extended families and leave the city
  periodically to help work on the family farm. About 75% of the work force is
  engaged in agriculture, mainly as subsistence farmers. The national motto of
  Kenya is Harambee, meaning "pull together." In that spirit, volunteers in   
  hundreds of communities build schools, clinics, and other facilities each   
  year and collect funds to send students abroad. The six state universities  
  enroll about 45,000 students, representing some 25% of the Kenyan students  
  who qualify for admission. There are six private universities.              
                                                                       
  HISTORY                                                                     
  Fossils found in East Africa suggest that protohumans roamed the area more  
  than 20 million years ago. Recent finds near Kenya's Lake Turkana indicate  
  that hominids lived in the area 2.6 million years ago.                      
                                                                       
  Cushitic-speaking people from what is now Sudan and Ethiopia moved into the 
  area that is now Kenya beginning around 2000 BC. Arab traders began         
  frequenting the Kenya coast around the first century AD. Kenya's proximity to
  the Arabian Peninsula invited colonization, and Arab and Persian settlements
  sprouted along the coast by the eighth century. During the first millennium 
  AD, Nilotic and Bantu peoples moved into the region, and the latter now     
  comprise two thirds of Kenya's population. The Swahili language, a Bantu    
  language with significant Arabic vocabulary, developed as a trade language  
  for the region.                                                             
                                                                       
  Arab dominance on the coast was interrupted for about 150 years following the
  arrival of the Portuguese in 1498. British exploration of East Africa in the
  mid-1800s eventually led to the establishment of Britain's East African     
  Protectorate in 1895. The Protectorate promoted settlement of the fertile   
  central highlands by Europeans, dispossessing the Kikuyu and others of their
  land. Some fertile and well watered parts of the Rift Valley inhabited by the
  Maasai and the western highlands inhabited by the Kalenjin were also handed 
  over to European settlers. For other Kenyan communities, the British presence
  was slight, especially in the arid northern half of the country. The settlers
  were allowed a voice in government even before Kenya was officially made a  
  British colony in 1920, but Africans were prohibited from direct political  
  participation until 1944 when a few appointed (but not elected) African     
  representatives were permitted to sit in the legislature.                   
                                                                       
  From 1952 to 1959, Kenya was under a state of emergency arising from the "Mau
  Mau" insurgency against British colonial rule in general and its land       
  policies in particular. This rebellion took place almost exclusively in the 
  highlands of central Kenya among the Kikuyu people. Tens of thousands of    
  Kikuyu died in the fighting or in the detention camps and restricted        
  villages. British losses were about 650. During this period, African        
  participation in the political process increased rapidly.                   
                                                                       
  The first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council took place
  in 1957. Kenya became independent on December 12, 1963, and the next year   
  joined the Commonwealth. Jomo Kenyatta, an ethnic Kikuyu and head of the    
  Kenya African National Union (KANU), became Kenya's first President. The    
  minority party, Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), representing a       
  coalition of small ethnic groups that had feared dominance by larger ones,  
  dissolved itself in 1964 and joined KANU.                                   
                                                                       
  A small but significant leftist opposition party, the Kenya People's Union  
  (KPU), was formed in 1966, led by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, a former Vice     
  President and Luo elder. The KPU was banned shortly thereafter, however, and
  its leader detained. KANU became Kenya's sole political party. At Kenyatta's
  death in August 1978, Vice President Daniel arap Moi, a Kalenjin from Rift  
  Valley province, became interim President. By October of that year, Moi     
  became President formally after he was elected head of KANU and designated  
  its sole nominee for the presidential election.                             
                                                                       
  In June 1982, the National Assembly amended the constitution, making Kenya  
  officially a one-party state. Two months later, young military officers in  
  league with some opposition elements attempted to overthrow the government in
  a violent but ultimately unsuccessful coup. In response to street protests  
  and donor pressure, Parliament repealed the one-party section of the        
  constitution in December 1991. In 1992, independent Kenya's first multiparty
  elections were held. Divisions in the opposition contributed to Moi's       
  retention of the presidency in 1992 and again in the 1997 election. Following
  the 1997 election Kenya experienced its first coalition government as KANU  
  was forced to cobble together a majority by bringing into government a few  
  minor parties.                                                              
                                                                       
  In October 2002, a coalition of opposition parties joined forces with a     
  faction which broke away from KANU to form the National Rainbow Coalition   
  (NARC). In December 2002, the NARC candidate, Mwai Kibaki, was elected the  
  country's third President. President Kibaki received 62% of the vote, and   
  NARC also won 59% of the parliamentary seats. Kibaki, a Kikuyu from Central 
  province, had served as a Member of Parliament since Kenya's independence in
  1963. He served in senior posts in both the Kenyatta and Moi governments,   
  including Vice President and Finance Minister. In 2003, internal conflicts  
  disrupted the NARC government, culminating in its defeat in 2005 in a       
  referendum over the government's draft constitution. The new opposition     
  became the Orange Democratic Movement of Kenya (ODM-K)--an alliance of former
  NARC members and KANU, among others. In early 2006, pro-government supporters
  formed the NARC-Kenya party to rival the ODM-K. Kenya is scheduled to hold  
  presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections on December 29, 
  2007.                                                                       
                                                                       
  GOVERNMENT                                                                  
  The unicameral National Assembly consists of 210 members elected to a term of
  5 years from single-member constituencies, plus 12 members nominated by     
  political parties on a proportional representation basis. The president     
  appoints the vice president and cabinet members from among those elected to 
  the assembly. The attorney general and the speaker are ex-officio members of
  the National Assembly.                                                      
                                                                       
  The judiciary is headed by a High Court, consisting of a Chief Justice and  
  High Court judges and judges of Kenya's Court of Appeal, all appointed by the
  president.                                                                  
                                                                       
  Local administration is divided among 69 rural districts, each headed by a  
  commissioner appointed by the president. The government has proposed 37 more
  districts, but these are not yet ratified by Parliament. The districts are  
  joined to form seven rural provinces. Nairobi has special provincial status.
  The Ministry of State in charge of Provincial Administration and Internal   
  Security supervises the administration of districts and provinces.          
                                                                       
  Principal Government Officials                                              
  President--Mwai Kibaki                                                      
  Vice President--Moody Awori                                                 
  Minister of Foreign Affairs--Raphael Tuju                                   
  Ambassador to the United States--Peter Ogego                                
  Ambassador to the United Nations--Zachary Muita-Muburi                      
  Consulate General Los Angeles--Ms. Nyambura Kamau                           
                                                                       
  Kenya maintains an embassy in the United States at 2249 R Street NW,        
  Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-387-6101, website: http://www.kenyaembassy.com
  ) and consulates in Los Angeles and New York.                               
                                                                       
  POLITICAL CONDITIONS                                                        
  Since independence, Kenya has maintained remarkable stability despite changes
  in its political system and crises in neighboring countries. Particularly   
  since the re-emergence of multiparty democracy, Kenyans have enjoyed an     
  increased degree of freedom.                                                
                                                                       
  In December 2002, Kenyans held democratic and open elections, which were    
  judged free and fair by international observers. The 2002 elections marked an
  important turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution as the presidency and
  the parliamentary majority passed from the party that had ruled Kenya since 
  independence to a coalition of new political parties. The government lost a 
  referendum over its draft constitution in November 2005. This vote too was  
  widely accepted as free, fair and credible.                                 
                                                                       
  Under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, the NARC coalition promised to focus its
  efforts on generating economic growth, improving and expanding education,   
  combating corruption and rewriting the constitution. The first two goals were
  largely met, but progress toward the second two goals has been limited.     
  President Kibaki's current cabinet consists of Members of Parliament from   
  allied parties and others recruited from opposition parties who joined the  
  cabinet without the approval of their party leaderships.                    
                                                                       
  In early 2006, revelations from investigative reports of two major          
  government-linked corruption scandals rocked Kenya and led to resignations, 
  including three ministers (one of whom was later re-appointed). In March    
  2006, another major scandal was uncovered involving money laundering and tax
  evasion in the Kenyan banking system. The government's March 2006 raid on the
  Standard Group media house conducted by masked Kenyan police was            
  internationally condemned and was met with outrage by Kenya media and civil 
  society. The government did not provide a sufficient explanation. No one has
  been held accountable.                                                      
                                                                       
  ECONOMY                                                                     
  After independence, Kenya promoted rapid economic growth through public     
  investment, encouragement of smallholder agricultural production, and       
  incentives for private (often foreign) industrial investment. Gross domestic
  product (GDP) grew at an annual average of 6.6% from 1963 to 1973.          
  Agricultural production grew by 4.7% annually during the same period,       
  stimulated by redistributing estates, diffusing new crop strains, and opening
  new areas to cultivation. After experiencing moderately high growth rates   
  during the 1960s and 1970s, Kenya's economic performance during the last two
  decades has been far below its potential. The economy grew by an annual     
  average of only 1.5% between 1997 and 2002, which was below the population  
  growth estimated at 2.5% per annum, leading to a decline in per capita      
  incomes. The decline in economic performance in the last two decades was    
  largely due to inappropriate agricultural policies, inadequate credit, and  
  poor international terms of trade contributing to the decline in agriculture.
  Kenya's inward-looking policy of import substitution and rising oil prices  
  made Kenya's manufacturing sector uncompetitive. The government began a     
  massive intrusion in the private sector. Lack of export incentives, tight   
  import controls, and foreign exchange controls made the domestic environment
  for investment even less attractive.                                        
                                                                       
  From 1991 to 1993, Kenya had its worst economic performance since           
  independence. Growth in GDP stagnated, and agricultural production shrank at
  an annual rate of 3.9%. Inflation reached a record 100% in August 1993, and 
  the government's budget deficit was over 10% of GDP. As a result of these   
  combined problems, bilateral and multilateral donors suspended program aid to
  Kenya in 1991. In the 1990s, the government implemented economic reform     
  measures to stabilize the economy and restore sustainable growth. In 1994,  
  nearly all administrative controls on producer and retail prices, imports,  
  foreign exchange and grain marketing were removed. The Government of Kenya  
  privatized a range of publicly owned companies, reduced the number of civil 
  servants, and introduced conservative fiscal and monetary policies. By the  
  mid-1990s, the government lifted price controls on petroleum products. In   
  1995, foreigners were allowed to invest in the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).
  In July 1997, the Government of Kenya refused to meet commitments made      
  earlier to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on governance reforms. As a
  result, the IMF suspended lending for 3 years, and the World Bank also put a
  $90-million structural adjustment credit on hold.                           
                                                                       
  The Government of Kenya took some positive steps on reform, including the   
  establishment of the Kenyan Anti-Corruption Authority in 1999, and the      
  adoption of measures to improve the transparency of government procurements 
  and reduce the government payroll. In July 2000, the IMF signed a $150      
  million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), and the World Bank    
  followed suit shortly after with a $157 million Economic and Public Sector  
  Reform credit. The Anti-Corruption Authority was declared unconstitutional in
  December 2000, and other parts of the reform effort faltered in 2001. The IMF
  and World Bank again suspended their programs.                              
                                                                       
  Net foreign direct investment (FDI) was negative from 2000-2003, but started
  trickling back in 2004, as demonstrated by an increase in the number of     
  enterprises operating in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) from 66 to 74 between
  2003 and 2004. The value of total investments increased from Ksh18.7 billion
  (U.S. $247.3 million) in 2005 to Ksh20.1 billion (over U.S. $278.3 million) 
  in 2006. Following the end of the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) textile      
  agreement in January 2005, several textile and apparel factories closed,    
  leaving 68 EPZ enterprises. In 2006, this number increased to 70 EPZ        
  enterprises.                                                                
                                                                       
  The economy began to recover after 2002, registering 2.8% growth in 2003,   
  4.3% in 2004, 5.8% in 2005, and 6.1 % in 2006. Under the leadership of      
  President Kibaki, who took over on December 30, 2002, the Government of Kenya
  began an ambitious economic reform program and resumed its cooperation with 
  the World Bank and the IMF. The National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government
  enacted the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and Public Officers     
  Ethics Act in May 2003 aimed at fighting graft in public offices. There was 
  some movement to reduce corruption in 2003, but the government did not      
  sustain that momentum. Other reforms especially in the judiciary, public    
  procurement etc, led to the unlocking of donor aid and a renewed hope of    
  economic revival.                                                           
                                                                       
  In November 2003, following the signing into law of key anti-corruption     
  legislation and other reforms by the new government, donors reengaged as the
  IMF approved a three-year $250 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
  and donors committed $4.2 billion in support over 4 years. In December 2004,
  the IMF approved Kenya's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)       
  arrangement equivalent to U.S. $252.8 million to support the government's   
  economic and governance reforms. However, the government's ability to       
  stimulate economic demand through fiscal and monetary policy remains fairly 
  limited while the pace at which the government is pursuing reforms in other 
  key areas remains slow. Although the Privatization Law was enacted in 2005, 
  modest steps have been made on privatizing of parastatals apart from Kenya  
  Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and the concessioning of Kenya      
  Railways, while civil service reform is limited despite the government's    
  assertion that reforms would be undertaken. Accelerating growth to achieve  
  Kenya's potential and reduce the poverty that afflicts more than 56% of its 
  population will require continued de-regulation of business, improved       
  delivery of government services, addressing structural reforms, massive     
  investment in new infrastructure (especially roads), reduction of chronic   
  insecurity caused by crime, and improved economic governance generally.     
                                                                       
  The current expansion is fairly broad-based and is built on a stable        
  macro-environment fostered by government, and the resilience,               
  resourcefulness, and improved confidence of the private sector. Nairobi     
  continues to be the primary communication and financial hub of East Africa. 
  It enjoys the region's best transportation linkages, communications         
  infrastructure, and trained personnel, although these advantages are less   
  prominent than in past years. On January 31, 2007, the government signed a  
  $2.7 million contract with Tyco Telecommunications to perform an undersea   
  survey for the construction of a fiber-optic cable to Fujairah in the United
  Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) called the East African Marine Systems (TEAMS). Two  
  other fiber-optic cables projects are being pursued to link Kenya to the rest
  of East Africa and India. Once TEAMS and the domestic fiber-optic cables    
  planned by the government are completed, the economy is expected to benefit 
  significantly from reduced internet access prices and improved capacity. A  
  wide range of foreign firms maintain regional branches or representative    
  offices in the city. In March 1996, the Presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and  
  Uganda re-established the East African Community (EAC). The EAC's objectives
  include harmonizing 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 paving the way for a common      
  market. The Customs Union and a Common External Tariff were established on  
  January 1, 2005, but the EAC countries are still working out exceptions to  
  the tariff. Rwanda and Burundi have since joined the community. In May 2007,
  during a Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Summit, 13  
  heads of state endorsed a move to adopt a COMESA customs union and set      
  December 8, 2008 as the target date for its adoption.                       
                                                                       
  Tourism is now Kenya's largest foreign exchange earning sector, followed by 
  flowers, tea and coffee. In 2006 tourism generated $803 million, up from $699
  million the previous year. Africa is Kenya's largest export market, followed
  by the European Union (EU). Kenya benefits significantly from the African   
  Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Although Congress renewed the AGOA       
  third-country fabric provision in December 2006 to provide more time to     
  develop local cotton and fabric production that meets the buyers' rigorous  
  standards, its apparel industry is struggling to hold its ground against    
  Asian competition. Kenya's main exports to the U.S. are AGOA-program        
  garments, but it continues to run a trade deficit with the U.S.             
                                                                       
  Kenya faces profound environmental challenges brought on by high population 
  growth, deforestation, shifting climate patterns, and the overgrazing of    
  cattle in marginal areas in the north and west of the country. Significant  
  portions of the population will continue to require emergency food assistance
  in the coming years.                                                        
                                                                       
  FOREIGN RELATIONS                                                           
  Despite internal tensions in Sudan and Ethiopia, Kenya has maintained good  
  relations with its northern neighbors. Recent relations with Uganda and     
  Tanzania have improved as the three countries work for mutual economic      
  benefit.                                                                    
                                                                       
  Kenya has hosted and played an active role in the negotiations to resolve the
  civil war in Sudan and to reinstate a central government authority in       
  Somalia. The Sudan peace negotiations have made major progress, resulting in
  the signing in Kenya of agreements between the Khartoum government and the  
  southern Sudan rebels to put an end to the two-decade-long war. On January 9,
  2005 a Sudan North-South Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed in Nairobi.  
  Negotiations in the Somali National Reconciliation Conference resulted at the
  end of 2004 in the establishing of Somali Transitional Federal Institutions 
  (Assembly, President, Prime Minister, and Government). Until early 2005,    
  Kenya served as a major host both for these institutions and for refugees   
  from Somalia as well as Sudan. Between May and June 2005, members of the    
  Somalia Transitional Federal Institutions relocated to Somalia.             
                                                                       
  Kenya maintains a moderate profile in Third World politics. Kenya's relations
  with Western countries are generally friendly, although current political and
  economic instabilities are sometimes blamed on Western pressures.           
                                                                       
  U.S.-KENYAN RELATIONS                                                       
  The United States and Kenya have enjoyed cordial relations since Kenya's    
  independence. More than 5,000 U.S. citizens live in Kenya. In 2006 a record 
  86,528 Americans visited Kenya, up 17.6% from 2005. About two-thirds of the 
  resident Americans are missionaries and their families. U.S. business       
  investment is estimated to be more than $285 million, primarily in commerce,
  light manufacturing, and the tourism industry.                              
                                                                       
  U.S. assistance to Kenya promotes broad-based economic development as the   
  basis for continued progress in political, social, and related areas of     
  national life. U.S. aid strategy is designed to achieve four major          
  objectives--improving health care, including family planning and AIDS       
  prevention; increasing rural incomes by assisting small enterprises and     
  boosting agricultural productivity; promoting sustainable use of natural    
  resources; and strengthening democratic institutions. The Peace Corps has 150
  volunteers in Kenya.                                                        
                                                                       
  Principal U.S. Officials                                                    
  Ambassador--Michael E. Ranneberger                                          
  Deputy Chief of Mission--Pamela Slutz                                       
  USAID Mission Director--Stephen Haykin                                      
  Public Affairs Officer--Robert C. Kerr                                      
                                                                       
  The U.S. Embassy in Kenya is located on UN Avenue, Nairobi, P.O. Box 606,   
  Village Market, Nairobi (tel. 254-20-363-6000; fax 254-20-363-6157).        
                                                                       
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  and country analysis and provides access to the National Trade Data Bank.   

 

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