A Brief History About Kenya
Name Of Kenya
Kenya is named after a mountain of the same name. The Kikuyu people who lived around present day Mt Kenya referred to it as Kirinyaga or Kerenyaga, meaning mountain of whiteness because of its snowcapped peak. Mt. Kirinyaga which was the main landmark became synonymous with the territory the British later claimed as their colony. However, the name Kenya arose out of the inability of the British to pronounce Kirinyaga correctly.
Origin
Kenya’s history dates to the Stone Age, making Kenya one of the countries in the world that possesses the largest and most complete record of man’s cultural development. This is partly because of the country’s rich variety of environmental factors conducive to human survival and development. According to archaeological finds in various parts of the country, the prehistoric period can best be described under two categories; the Stone Age period which dates from about 2 million years
ago and Neolithic period from about 10,000 to 2000 years ago. Available evidence indicates that man left behind traces of his occupation during the iron age through the pre-colonial period and up to the present time. The phases of the various periods are characterized by tools ranging from crude to advanced much smaller ones and relevant to the respective lifestyles. The sites for the tools are widespread in Kenya.
Pre-colonial
Around 2000 BC, Cushitic-speaking people from northern Africa settled in the part of East Africa that is now Kenya. By the 1st Century AD, the Kenyan coast was frequented by Arab traders, who due to Kenya’s proximity to the Arabian Peninsula, established Arab and Persian colonies there. The Nilotic and Bantu people also moved into the region during the first millennium AD. and settled inland.
Evolving from a mixture of Bantu and Arabic, the Swahili language then developed as a lingua franca for trade between the different peoples. When the Portuguese arrived in 1498, the Arab dominance on the coast was clipped, as the Port of Mombasa became an important resupply stop for ships bound for the Far East.
The Portuguese gave way in turn to Islamic control under the Imam of Oman in the 1600s until another European influence came along, this time from the United Kingdom during the 19th century.
Colonial History
The roots of the colonial history of Kenya go back to the Berlin Conference in 1885,when East Africa was first divided into territories of influence by the European powers. The British Government founded the East African Protectorate in 1895 and soon after, opened the fertile highlands to white settlers. Even before it was officially declared a British colony in 1920, these settlers were allowed a voice in government, while the Africans and the Asians were banned from direct political participation until 1944. During this period thousands of Indians were brought into Kenya to work on building the Kenya Uganda Railway Line and subsequently settled there, whilst inviting many of their kith and kin who were mainly traders from India to join them.
Resistance to Colonialism — the Mau Mau
The colonization process was met with resistance which was countered with excessive force. Hence, most of Kenya’s modern history is marked by rebellions against the British, with the first one being in 1890 and the last one, known as MauMau rebellion in 1952.
In 1942, members of the Kikuyu, Embu, Meru and Kamba tribes took an oath of unity and secrecy to fight for freedom from British rule. The Mau Mau Movement began with that oath and Kenya embarked on its long hard road to National Sovereignty.
In 1953, Jomo Kenyatta was charged with directing the Mau Mau and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. Another freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi was arrested in 1956 for his role in the Mau Mau uprising as one of the leaders of the struggle for independence and was subsequently hanged by the colonialists. Kenya was put under a state of emergency from October 1952 to December 1959, due to the MauMau rebellion against British colonial rule and thousands of Kenyans were incarcerated in detention camps. During this period, African participation in the political process increased rapidly and in 1954 all three races (European, Asian and African) were admitted into the Kenya Legislative Council on a representative basis.
Kenya Achieves Independence
The outbreak of the Mau Mau paved the way for constitutional reforms and development in subsequent years. In 1955, a myriad of political parties were formed all over the country after the colonial Government yielded to their formation. In 1957, the first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council took place and those elected increased the people’s agitation for Jomo Kenyatta’s release from detention.
This was after the racial barriers in the Government began to be lifted. By 1960, LEGCO had an African majority. In 1960, Kenya African National Union (KANU), which advocated for a unitary government was formed. In 1961, Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) which advocated a quasi-federal government (Majimbo) was also formed.
In 1962 Kenyatta was released to become Kenya’s first Prime Minister, when Kenya finally gained independence on December 12, 1963. The following year, Kenya became a Republic with Kenyatta as its first President. In the same year Kenya joined the British Commonwealth.