Kenya

“ Mombasa is the chief port of Kenya Colony.
In this African village there are 25,000 natives, representing perhaps a hundred tribes, each with its own dress and customs. All, however, are eager buyers of the gaudy print cloths in the bazaars of the Hindu merchants.
In Kenya Colony the East Indians complicate matters for the British government. They practically control the retail trade and, having grown rich and prosperous, have begun to raise embarrassing political issues. ”

“ The ponies swam the deep, strong, sixty-yard stream of turbulent red water. On the farther bank the country is really magnificent in quality and aspect. The centre of the picture is always Mount Kenya; but there never was a mountain which made so little of its height. It rises 33 by long gentle slopes, more like a swelling of ground than a peak, from an immense upland plain, and so gradual is the acclivity that, but for the sudden outcrop of snow-clad rock which crowns the summit, no one would believe it over eighteen thousand feet high. ”

“ Nairobi, on a plateau higher than Denver, is the administrative centre of Kenya Colony and a healthful place for white men. Farms are springing up about it, and there are already 2,000 Europeans in this African outpost. ”

“ Nairobi promises to become one of the railroad centres of this part of the world. It is the chief station between the Indian Ocean and Lake Victoria, and a road is now proposed from here to Mt. Kenya. The Uganda Railway goes through some of the poorest country in the colony, and the Mt. Kenya road will open up a rich agricultural region which is thickly populated by tribes more than ordinarily industrious. The railroad shops are here, and the employees have a large collection of tin cottages for their homes. ”

“ The Guardian is very anxious that, during the coming months, the Africa Committee and the Bahá’ís should concentrate their efforts on establishing an Assembly in Kenya, and hopes that you will be able to direct pioneers to Nairobi as soon as possible. ”

“ Kenya is a sovereign Republic. (2) The Republic of Kenya shall be a multi-party democratic State founded on the national values and principles of governance referred to in Article 10. 5. Territory of Kenya Kenya consists of the territory and territorial waters comprising Kenya on the effective date, and any additional territory and territorial waters as defined by an Act of Parliament. 6. Devolution and access to services (1) The territory of Kenya is divided into the counties specified in the First Schedule. ”

“ From Mombasa on the east coast they had made their way on the railroad to Nairobi. This small but important settlement, which was the administrative center of Kenya Colony, marked their last touch with civilization.
Procuring bearers and guides, they had thence set out afoot into the Kikuyu country. Day had followed day without striking incident. The Kikuyus are a peaceful people, above the average of African intelligence, inhabiting a magnificent country abounding in streams, uplands and forest. It is one of the most healthful and fertile of regions. ”

“ Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence until his death in 1978, when current President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. ”

“ These men supply sportsmen with tents, provisions, and other things for shooting trips, as well as porters to carry their stuff and chase the lions out of the jungles so that the hunters may get a shot at them.
It seems strange to have newspapers under the shadow of Mt. Kenya, and within a half day’s ride on horseback to lion and rhinoceros hunting. Nevertheless, Nairobi has three dailies, which also issue weekly editions. They are all banking on the future of the town and all claim to be prosperous. ”

“ By the last advices from Nairobi I learn that the Hallidays' farm in Kenya is exceedingly prosperous. Mr. Halliday received his lease, and was recently mentioned in a Government report as one of the most enterprising and successful settlers in British East Africa. Mrs. Burtenshaw regards this testimonial as unfair, since Mr. Halliday is only a figurehead, and John does the work; but, as Mr. Gillespie says, nobody cares a pin for what appears in a Government report.
There are two other farms adjoining Alloway, one owned by Charles Ferrier, the other by the two Brownes. ”

“ The Kenya women also go naked to the spring to bring water and to bathe their children. Whilst getting the boats through the rapids the Kenya men take off their loin-cloths, but the Bahau men never do this. ”

“ Halliday hastily. "We're out on business--strictly on business, and we've no time for playing till we've fixed on our land. Where is this Mount Kenya, anyway? John Gilmour--d'ye know him?--was out hunting a while ago, and he wrote me he'd found the very place for me, somewhere south-east of Mount Kenya ”

“ Now thousands of them go over our thoroughfares down to the seacoast, and we have something like eighteen hundred natives of Kenya here at Mombasa.”
The British have found the Masai such good cattlemen that they believe they can train them into good grooms for horses. Another feature of British dealings with the natives is the establishment of trading posts in the native reserves. Here the Africans are encouraged to set up little stores of their own. ”

“ Also, part of our foreign policy is to ensure the safety and secure borders of Israel, safe routes of our oil supplies and commitment to our bilateral and multi-lateral allies. Kenya has always been our friend, and these ties shall now be strengthened by my heritage. ”

“ The Gurre, another Somali tribe, occupy the country south of the lower Daua. Primitive hunting tribes are the Wandorobo in Masailand, and scattered tribes of small stature in various parts. The coast-land contains a mixed population of Swahili, Arab and Indian immigrants, and representatives of numerous interior tribes.
Provinces and Towns.—The protectorate has been divided into the provinces of Seyyidie (the south coast province, capital Mombasa) ; Ukamba, which occupies the centre of the protectorate (capital Nairobi) ; Kenya, the district of Mt. Kenya (capital Fort Hall) ”

“ Republic of Kenya
conventional short form:
Kenya
former:
British East Africa
Digraph:
KE
Type:
republic
Capital:
Nairobi
Administrative divisions:
8 provinces; Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi, North Eastern, Nyanza,
Rift Valley, Western
Independence:
12 December 1963 (from UK)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 12 December (1963)
Constitution:
12 December 1963, amended as a republic 1964; reissued with amendments
1979, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1991, and 1992
Legal system:
based on English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law; judicial
review in High Court ”

“ Inhabitants.—The white population is chiefly in the Kikuyu uplands, the rift-valley, and in the Kenya region. The whites are mostly agriculturists. There are also numbers of Indian settlers in the same districts. The African races include representatives of various stocks, as the country forms a borderland between the Negro and Hamitic peoples, and contains many tribes of doubtful affinities. The Bantu division of the negroes is represented chiefly in the south, the principal tribes being the Wakamba, Wakikuyu and Wanyika. By the north-east shores of Victoria Nyanza dwell the Kavirondo (q.v.) ”

“ US Embassy, Mombasa Road, Nairobi mailing address: Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831 telephone: [254] (2) 537-800 FAX: [254] (2) 537-810
Flag description: 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
Economy Kenya
Economy - overview: Kenya, the regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa, is hampered by corruption and reliance upon several primary goods whose prices continue to decline. ”

“ We have an enormous territory and millions of people. We have not yet prospected the country, nor have we dealt long enough with the natives to know what we can do with the people. We have really no idea as yet as to just what our resources are, or the labour we can secure to exploit them.”
Not long ago the great plateau of Kenya Colony was inaccessible and unknown and its four million blacks were in continual war with one another. Now, besides the railway, it is being opened up with roads permitting the use of motor transport. ”

“ We must also sympathize with the Whites in Kenya Colony in their opposition to a filling of their country with cheap Hindu labor. As Americans we can understand the Negro and recognize his cheerful qualities, but we can have little sympathy with the Hindu whom we have expressly barred from our Pacific Coast. These Hindus, with the Chinese, have ruined the native races of many of the Polynesian Islands. They have been for ages in contact with the highest civilizations, but have failed to benefit by such contact, either physically, intellectually, or morally. ”

“ Kenya
Note:
the Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural
production regions in Africa
:Kenya People
Population:
26,164,473 (July 1992) , growth rate 3.6% (1992)
Birth rate:
44 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
8 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
68 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
60 years male, 64 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
6.2 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Kenyan (s) ”

“ The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud, but are viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. The country faces a period of political uncertainty because MOI is constitutionally required to step down at the next elections that have to be held by early 2003.
Kenya Geography
Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between
Somalia and Tanzania ”

“ Parliament shall enact legislation to— (a) ensure that communities receive compensation or royalties for the use of their cultures and cultural heritage; and (b) recognise and protect the ownership of indigenous seeds and plant varieties, their genetic and diverse characteristics and their use by the communities of Kenya.
CHAPTER THREE – CITIZENSHIP SOLE PART 12. Entitlements of citizens (1) Every citizen is entitled to— (a) the rights, privileges and benefits of citizenship, subject to the limits provided or permitted by this Constitution ”

“ I have often noticed that the women of the Kenyah tribe in the interior are far more genial and less shy than those of other communities, and I believe that the surest sign of the good faith of natives such as these is that the women and children come out to greet one unattended by the men. ”

“ Of all these tribes the Kenyahs are perhaps the highest in social evolution. By their superior solidarity and their undoubted intelligence they were able to hold their own against the turbulent Kayans. They are the most expert boatmen of the Baram district, and, what is very significant, the women are less shy than is the case among other tribes. Indeed, some of the girls and young women—for example, those in Tama Bulan’s house—are particularly friendly and lively, but always behave in a really ladylike way. ”

“ OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89) , $74 million; Communist countries (1970-88) , $83 million
Currency: Kenyan shilling (plural—shillings) ; 1 Kenyan shilling (KSh) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Kenyan shillings (KSh) per US$1—21.749 (December 1989) , 20.572 (1989) , 17.747 (1988) , 16.454 (1987) , 16.226 (1986) , 16.432 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
Communications
Railroads: 2,040 km 1.000-meter gauge
Highways: 64,590 km total; 7,000 km paved, 4,150 km gravel, remainder improved earth
Inland waterways: part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries of Kenya ”

“ Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1%
Religions: Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, indigenous beliefs 10%, Muslim 10%, other 2% note: a large majority of Kenyans are Christian, but estimates for the percentage of the population that adheres to Islam or indigenous beliefs vary widely
Languages: English (official) , Kiswahili (official) , numerous indigenous languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 78.1% male: 86.3% female: 70% (1995 est.) ”

“ In the mean time the men were busy gorging the elephant meat. A little M’kamba boy named M’waniki composed a song, which was sung with great success by a lady named Kinyala, who, with many others, had on the previous day joined their fortunes to those of our porters, in many cases deserting their husbands and homes in M’thara that they might follow the safari to Nairobi, which, to these poor creatures, was a vast and distant city of a splendour beyond their wildest dreams. ”

“ After travelling for some days, we finally arrived at Nairobi, since become the capital of British East Africa, and here the character of the country completely changed. From the dry scrub-covered plain we now entered a splendid grazing country, with magnificent forests and beautiful woodland scenery, making a very pleasant change from the bare landscape of the last few marches. What is now known as Nairobi was then practically a swamp, and from the nature of the surrounding country I should never have imagined that it would be chosen as the site for the future capital of British East Africa. ”

“ We reached Mombasa in due course, and from there [Pg 2] proceeded to Nairobi by the railway then in course of construction to Uganda. Nairobi is 327 miles from the coast, and is an important centre, being the headquarters of both the Civil Administration of the Protectorate and the Uganda railway. On our arrival, George received an offer, which he accepted, to go up to the lake with a steamer, which was then on the way out from England in sections, and on his arrival at the lake with it to rebuild it. I remained in Nairobi. ”