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Kenya

KENYA has been independent from Britain since 1963.  This mainly agricultural African country is famed for its rich scenic beauty and abundant wildlife.  The challenges facing today’s culturally and ethnically diverse Kenya include corruption, high unemployment and poverty.

Historical Background

Kenya was first settled by people from northern Africa as early as 2000 BC. During the 1st century AD Arab traders visited the Kenyan coast, and by the 8th century the settlements there were mainly Arab and Persian. In the 16th century the Portuguese arrived, but there were frequent rebellions against their presence, and by 1730 they were completely expelled from the Kenyan coast by the Omani Arabs. Their dominance in turn was ended by the naval might and trade ambitions of the British and Germans in the 1880's.

Kenya was declared a British colony in 1919. In the 1930's there were as many as 30,000 white settlers in the Central Highlands, obtaining their income from farming coffee and tea. Following the suppression of the Mau Mau rebellion in 1956, the first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council were held and returned the Kenyan African Nationalist Union (KANU) to power under Jomo Kenyatta, who became the first President of Kenya. Independence was declared on 12th December 1963.

In 1982, an abortive coup against President Moi, Kenyatta’s successor, was suppressed resulting in civilian casualties. Constitutional reform led to multi-party elections in 1992 and 1997, and Moi was re-elected on both occasions. In 2002 Mwai Kibaki, of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) was elected President.

Following the general election in December 2007 Mwai Kibaki was again declared President, however the vote was close and Ralia Odinga’sopposition party, along with international leaders and observers claimed there had been vote rigging. This sparked protests and violence across Kenya, particularly in the west, mainly along ethnic lines. Over 1,000 people were killed and 304,000 displaced before the political parties came to a power-sharing agreement in March 2008. 

Geography

Kenya is located in East Africa to the south of Ethiopia and Somalia. To the west is Uganda, and to the south Tanzania. Kenya has an area of 224,961 sq miles, about the same size as France, and a coastline on the Indian Ocean of 536 km. 

Low coastal plains rise inland to become the central highlands, through which the Great Rift Valley runs. Most people live on the plains in the south and west; elsewhere is largely desert.

Kenya’s climate is tropical: hot and humid at the coast, temperate inland, and drier in the north. The highest average annual temperature on the northern plains is about 34C, and by contrast Nairobi’s lowest averages at 13C.

Kenya is hottest in the period from February to March and coldest from July to August. The rainy seasons are from April to June and October to December.  In the past drought has left millions of Kenyans dependent on food aid, but floods can also occur during the rainy seasons.

Society and Culture

Kenya has around 42 different tribes, each with its own culture and tradition and some. They can be divided into three main groups: the Bantus who came from western Africa, the Hamitic group from Ethiopia and Somalia, and the Nilotic tribes from Sudan and Egypt. Although the majority of Kenyans now live a semi-Western life style, some tribes including the Maasai, Turkana and Samburu – who live in remote areas, have largely kept their traditional life styles and appearances.  

The official languages are Swahili and English, with Swahili being more widely spoken than English. In total, there are dozens of local languages spoken by different people groups. 

Kenyans traditionally wear very colourful clothing, heavily embroidered, with lots of jewellery including necklaces, nose rings, earings and headgear. Red and black are popular colours showing love for mother Earth.  

Living standards in the Kenyan cities are on average higher than in most of Africa, however this has declined slightly in recent years, due to the influx of people moving to the cities in search of work, many of whom end up increasing the population of the city slums. 

Staple foods include maize, ugali, rice, bread, chapati (fried paste of wheat powder), vegetables, and meat such as beef, chicken and goat. 

Whilst Kenyans are hard workers, they have a more casual approach to time than people in the West and often use the phrase “Hakuna Matata” (used in the The Lion King) is Swahili for “Don’t worry and enjoy life”. 

Economy

Kenya has one of the largest economies in Africa. However economic growth and development has been hindered due to corruption, droughts and a over-reliance on a small number of primary goods whose prices have remained low in recent years,

Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 75% of the workforce. A number of tribes are still semi-nomadic. Crops include coffee, tea, maize, corn, sugar, wheat, cotton, cassava, barley. 

Kenya’s industrial sector is small, though larger than most other African countries. The main industries are food processing, chemicals, textiles, footwear, machinery and plastic goods. 

The wildlife parks and pam-fringed beaches attract many tourists and tourism has grown rapidly and in recent years.  

Although Kenya is one of the richer African countries, around half the population live below the poverty line and many who live in very remote areas live similar lifestyles to their ancestors. 

Very high population growth and lack of rainfall are putting a great strain on the economy. Population density is low, however much of Kenya is desert of non-productive due to others reasons. 70% of the population are squeezed onto only 10% of the land in the South east. Over 80% of people live in rural areas, increasing numbers are leaving arid and barren lands and moving to the cities.

Christianity in Kenya

Protestant missionary work in Kenya began with the Church Missionary Society in 1844. Out of their efforts grew the Anglican Church of Kenya, which today has over 1,000,000 adherents.

The British Methodists arrived in 1862, and the Africa Inland Mission (AIM) began another important work in 1895, which led to the formation of the Africa Inland Church in 1943.

PCI partners with the Presbyterian Church of East Africa(PCEA), whose roots lie in the Scottish Presbyterian mission work that began in 1891. Today, PCEA has around 1.5 million affiliates in over 1,000 congregations.

Kenya enjoys freedom of religion, and the church has grown rapidly in the last 20 years. Over four-fifths of the population claim to be Christians. Kenya is reckoned to have 13 million evangelicals, nearly as many as the whole of Europe. Still, there are about 24 “unreached” people groups representing less than 20% of the population, most of who are Muslims or follow traditional religion.

In recent times, tensions have arisen between Christian and Muslim groups in the north.

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