📰 Kenya · page 3

President Kibaki and the road to a new constitution

Further information: Mwai Kibaki, Presidency of Mwai Kibaki, 2002 Kenyan general election, 2007 Kenyan general election

Moi's plan to be replaced by Uhuru Kenyatta failed, and Mwai Kibaki, running for the opposition coalition "National Rainbow Coalition" (NARC), was elected president.205 David Anderson (2003) reports the elections were judged free and fair by local and international observers, and seemed to mark a turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution.[101]206

In 2005, Kenyans rejected a plan to replace the 1963 independence constitution with a new one.[103]207 As a result, the elections of 2007 took place following the procedure set by the old constitution.208 Kibaki was reelected in highly contested elections marred by political and ethnic violence.209 The main opposition leader, Raila Odinga, claimed the election was rigged and that he was the rightfully elected president.210 In the ensuing violence, 1,500 people were killed and another 600,000 internally displaced, making it the worst post-election violence in Kenya.211 To stop the death and displacement of people, Kibaki and Odinga agreed to work together, with the latter taking the position of a prime minister.[104]212 This made Odinga the second prime minister of Kenya.213

In July 2010, Kenya partnered with other East African countries to form the new East African Common Market within the East African Community.[105]214 In 2011, Kenya began sending troops to Somalia to fight the terror group Al-Shabaab.[106]215 In mid-2011, two consecutive missed rainy seasons precipitated the worst drought in East Africa in 60 years.216 The northwestern Turkana region was especially affected,[107] with local schools shut down as a result.[108]217 The crisis was reportedly over by early 2012 because of coordinated relief efforts.218 Aid agencies subsequently shifted their emphasis to recovery initiatives, including digging irrigation canals and distributing plant seeds.[109]219

In August 2010, Kenyans held a referendum and passed a new constitution, which limited presidential powers and devolved the central government.[99]220 Following the passage of the new constitution, Kenya became a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Kenya is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.221 The new constitution also states that executive powers are exercised by the executive branch of government, headed by the president, who chairs a cabinet composed of people chosen from outside parliament.222 Legislative power is vested exclusively in the Parliament of Kenya.223 The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.224

Kenyatta and Ruto presidencies

Main article: Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta, Presidency of William Ruto

In 2013, Kenya held its first general elections under the 2010 constitution.225 Uhuru Kenyatta won, though the result was unsuccessfully challenged at the Supreme Court by opposition leader Raila Odinga.[110]226 Kenyatta was re-elected in 2017 in another disputed election.227 Odinga accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of mismanaging the election and Kenyatta and his party of rigging.228 The Supreme Court overturned the results in a landmark ruling that established its position as an independent check on the president.[111][112]229 In the repeated election, Kenyatta won after Odinga refused to participate, citing irregularities.[113][114]230

In March 2018, a historic handshake between Kenyatta and Odinga signalled a period of reconciliation followed by economic growth and increased stability.[115][116]231 Between 2019 and 2021, the two combined efforts to promote major changes to the Kenyan constitution, labelled the "Building Bridges Initiative" (BBI).232 They said their efforts were to improve inclusion and overcome the country's election system that often resulted in post-election violence.[117][118]233 The BBI proposal called for broad expansion of the legislative and executive branches, including the creation of a prime minister with two deputies and an official leader of the opposition, reverting to selecting cabinet ministers from among the elected members of parliament, establishing up to 70 new constituencies, and adding up to 300 unelected members of Parliament (under an "affirmative action" plan).[117][118]234

Critics saw this as an attempt to reward political dynasties and blunt Deputy President William Ruto's efforts to seek the presidency, and bloat the government at a high cost to the debt-laded country.[117][118]235 Ultimately, in May 2021, the Kenyan High Court ruled the BBI unconstitutional, because it was an effort of the government rather than a popular initiative.[117][118]236 The court sharply criticised Kenyatta, laying out grounds for his being sued or even impeached.237 The ruling was seen as a major defeat for both Kenyatta and Odinga, but a boon to Odinga's future presidential-election rival, Ruto.[117][118]238 In August 2021, Kenya's Court of Appeal upheld the High Court's judgement in an appeal from the BBI Secretariat.[119]239

Ruto narrowly won the 2022 presidential election, defeating Odinga to become Kenya's fifth president.[120][121]240 In 2024, Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza coalition faced popular protests over the Kenyan Finance Bill 2024.[122]241

Geography

Main article: Geography of Kenya

At 580367 km2,[123] Kenya is the world's 47th-largest country (after Madagascar).242 It lies between latitudes 5°N and 5°S, and longitudes 34° and 42°E. From the coast on the Indian Ocean, the low plains rise to central highlands which are bisected by the Great Rift Valley, and fertile plateaus lie on either side, around Lake Victoria and to the east.[124][125]243

The Kenyan Highlands are one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa.[126]244 The highlands are the site of the highest point in Kenya and the second highest peak on the continent: Mount Kenya, which reaches a height of 5199 m and is the site of glaciers.245 Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 m) can be seen from Kenya to the south of the Tanzanian border.246

Climate

Kenya's climate varies from tropical along the coast, to temperate inland, to arid in the north and northeast parts of the country.247 The area receives a great deal of sunshine every month.248 It is usually cool at night and early in the morning inland at higher elevations.[127]249

The "long rains" season occurs from March/April to May/June.250 The "short rains" season occurs from October to November/December.251 The rainfall is sometimes heavy and often falls in the afternoons and evenings.252 Climate change is altering the natural pattern of the rainfall period, causing an extension of the short rains – which has led to floods –[128] and reducing the drought cycle from every ten years to annual events, producing strong droughts such as the 2008–09 Kenya Drought.[129]253

The temperature remains high throughout these months of tropical rain.254 The hottest period is February and March, leading into the season of the long rains, and the coldest is in July, until mid-August.[130]255

Wildlife

Main article: Wildlife of Kenya, Environmental issues in Kenya

Kenya has extensive land area devoted to wildlife habitats, including the Tsavo game park and Masai Mara, where Blue Wildebeest and other bovids participate in a large-scale annual migration.256 More than one million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras participate in the migration across the Mara River.[131]257

The "Big Five" game animals of Africa, that is the lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros, and elephant, can be found in Kenya and in the Masai Mara in particular.258 A significant population of other wild animals, reptiles, and birds can be found in the national parks and game reserves in the country.259 The annual animal migration occurs between June and September, with millions of animals taking part, attracting valuable foreign tourism.260 Two million wildebeest migrate a distance of 2900 km from the Serengeti in neighbouring Tanzania to the Masai Mara[132] in Kenya, in a constant clockwise fashion, searching for food and water supplies.261 This Serengeti Migration of the wildebeest is listed among the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa.[133]262

Conservation

Kenya had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.2/10, ranking it 133rd globally out of 172 countries.[134]263 Conservation International operates in Kenya through Conservation International Kenya, a country programme founded in 2014 that reports work spanning nearly 4.9 million hectares, including forest and rangeland conservation and restoration, ecotourism, and climate-mitigation activities such as REDD+.[135]264

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Kenya

Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic with a multi-party system.265 The president is head of state and head of government.266 Executive power is exercised by the government.267 Legislative power is vested in the government, the National Assembly and the Senate.268 The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.269 There has been growing concern, especially during former president Daniel arap Moi's tenure, that the executive was increasingly meddling with the affairs of the judiciary.[136]270

Kenya has high levels of corruption according to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), a metric which attempts to gauge the prevalence of public-sector corruption in various countries.271 In 2019, the nation placed 137th out of 180 countries in the index, with a score of 28 out of 100.[137]272 But there are several rather significant developments with regard to curbing corruption from the Kenyan government, for instance the establishment of a new and independent Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).[138]273

Following general elections held in 1997, the Constitution of Kenya Review Act, designed to pave the way for more comprehensive amendments to the Kenyan constitution, was passed by the national parliament.[139]274

In December 2002, Kenya held democratic and open elections, which were judged free and fair by most international observers.[140]275 The 2002 elections marked an important turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution in that power was transferred peacefully from the Kenya African National Union (KANU), which had ruled the country since independence, to the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), a coalition of political parties.276

Under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, the new ruling coalition promised to focus its efforts on generating economic growth, combating corruption, improving education, and rewriting its constitution.277 A few of these promises have been met.278 There is free primary education.[141]279 In 2007, the government issued a statement declaring that from 2008, secondary education would be heavily subsidised, with the government footing all tuition fees.[142]280

2013 elections and new government

Main article: Kenyan general election, 2013, Kenyan local elections, 2013

Under the new constitution and with President Kibaki prohibited by term limits from running for a third term, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta ran for office.281 He won with 50.51% of the vote in March 2013.282

In December 2014, President Kenyatta signed a Security Laws Amendment Bill, which supporters of the law suggested was necessary to guard against armed groups.283 Opposition politicians, human rights groups, and nine Western countries criticised the security bill, arguing that it infringed on democratic freedoms.284 The governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France also collectively issued a press statement cautioning about the law's potential impact.285 Through the Jubilee Coalition, the Bill was later passed on 19 December in the National Assembly under acrimonious circumstances.[143]286

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Kenya

Relations with Somalia have historically been tense, although there has been some military co-ordination against Islamist insurgents.287 Kenya has good relations with the United Kingdom.[144]288 Kenya is one of the most pro-American nations in Africa, and the wider world.[145]289

With International Criminal Court trial dates scheduled in 2013 for both President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto related to the 2007 election aftermath, US president Barack Obama, who is half-Kenyan, chose not to visit the country during his mid-2013 African trip.[146]290 Later in the summer, Kenyatta visited China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping after a stop in Russia and not having visited the United States as president.[147]291 In July 2015, Obama visited Kenya, the first American president to visit the country while in office.[148]292

The British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) is used for the training of British infantry battalions in the arid and rugged terrain of the Great Rift Valley.[149][150]293

Armed forces

Main article: Kenya Defence Forces

The Kenya Defence Forces are the armed forces of Kenya.294 The Kenya Army, Kenya Navy, and Kenya Air Force compose the National Defence Forces.295 The current Kenya Defence Forces were established, and its composition laid out, in Article 241 of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya; the KDF is governed by the Kenya Defence Forces Act of 2012.[151]296 The President of Kenya is the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces.297

The armed forces are regularly deployed in peacekeeping missions around the world.298 Further, in the aftermath of the national elections of December 2007 and the violence that subsequently engulfed the country, a commission of inquiry, the Waki Commission, commended its readiness and adjudged it to "have performed its duty well."[152]299 Nevertheless, there have been serious allegations of human rights violations, most recently while conducting counter-insurgency operations in the Mt Elgon area[153] and also in the district of Mandera central.[154]300

Kenya's armed forces, like many government institutions in the country, have been tainted by corruption allegations.301 Because the operations of the armed forces have been traditionally cloaked by the ubiquitous blanket of "state security", the corruption has been hidden from public view, and thus less subject to public scrutiny and notoriety.302 This has changed recently.303 In what are by Kenyan standards unprecedented revelations, in 2010, credible claims of corruption were made with regard to recruitment[155] and procurement of armoured personnel carriers.[156]304 Further, the wisdom and prudence of certain decisions of procurement have been publicly questioned.[157]305

Administrative divisions

Main article: Counties of Kenya, Divisions of Kenya

Kenya is divided into 47 semi-autonomous counties that are headed by governors.306 These 47 counties form the first-order divisions of Kenya.307