An American Perspective on the Kenyan Crisis

In the last several weeks, I have received several questions on the blog about how this recent violence in Kenya came about. The general perception here in the United States is that Kenya is a peaceful nation and therefore it causes confusion as to why, now, there is widespread violence and terrorism focused within their own borders.

While the explanation will take a little time, I do hope to shed some light on the history and background of this African nation and also a few personal observations based on my visit there two years ago this month.

Snapshot of Kenya (Statistics courtesy of U.S. State Dept)

Geography
Area – 224,960 sq miles (582,646 sq km): Slightly smaller than the state of Texas

Capital City
Nairobi – Population as of last year: 2.9 million

Terrain
From low coastal plains on the Indian Ocean to a series of mountain ridges which stand above 9,000 feet (3,000 meters)

Major Ethnic Groups
Kikuyu – 22%
Luyia – 14%
Luo – 14%
Kalenjin – 11%
Kamba – 11%
Kisii – 6%
Meru – 5%

Government
Type – Republic
Gained Independence from Great Britain on December 12, 1963

Economy
GDP – $22.79 Billion
Gross National Income Per Capita - $455 (2006)

History

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 Kenyan coastline around the first century AD. Kenya’s close proximity to the Arabian Peninsula invited colonization and settlements sprung up along the coast by the eighth century.

British exploration of East Africa in the mid 1800’s eventually led to the establishment of Britain’s East African Protectorate in 1895. The Protectorate promoted settlement of the fertile central highlands by Europeans. I was told by my missionary host while I was in Kenya (as we sat at a former British hunting lodge btw) that the English military would donate land in the UK to former soldiers as part of their retirement. Part of the idea of the Protectorate was to allow these military men to retire to the Kenyan highlands since the land in England was becoming scarce.

Kenya was officially made a British Colony in 1920 but certainly not without opposition. From 1952 to 1959, Kenya was under a state of emergency rising from the “Mau Mau” insurgency against British rule and it’s land policies. This rebellion took place primarily amongst the Kikuyu people in central Kenya. Tens of thousands of native Kenyans died during these clashes. British losses totaled 650. The first elections for Africans to the legislation took place in 1957. By 1963, Kenya had become an independent nation.

Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the new nation. If you travel by air to Nairobi, you will land at Kenyatta airport named in his honor. When Kenyatta died in 1978, Vice President Daniel Moi became President. In June of 1982, the National Assembly amended the constitution making Kenya officially a one-party state. In response to street protests and rioting along with donor pressure, Parliament repealed the one party section of the constitution in December of 1991.

Present Day

In October of 2002, a coalition of opposition parties formed the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). In December of that year, the NARC candidate, Mwai Kibaki, was elected the country’s third President. Kibaki, a Kikuyu from the Central province, had served as a member of parliament since Kenya’s independence in 1963. In 2003, internal conflicts disrupted the NARC government, culminating in it’s defeat in 2005 in a referendum over the government’s draft constitution. Two of the leaders of the movement to defeat the constitution, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka, who are both former Kibaki allies, are now rival candidates for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the Orange Democratic Movement – Kenya(ODMK) party. The intense battle for political position culminated at the flash point of the December general elections.

To bring you up to speed now, all you need to do is read the recent headlines.

My Experience

While I am certainly not an expert and don’t pretend to be, I did meet hundreds of Kenyan people during my stay in Nairobi and Limuru. I met Massai as we traveled from Nairobi south to Namanga on the Tanzanian border and on to the base of Mt. Kilimanjaroo. I talked at length with church leaders in Nairobi and also with a young lady in Limuru who was selling Massai merchandise. I talked with the college students who were focused on learning at the Sonlight School of Ministry. I met the aged (average life span in Kenya is 55), and also a young boy named Kevin who said “someday I will come to America”.

Let me say that I personally believe that the heart of the Kenyan people will rise above the foolishness of these that are causing such harm. The men and women that I met looked me in the eye and I could sense that their hearts were warm and genuine. I will never forget speaking to the children at the Karen academy who could already speak 3 languages (Swahili, Kikuyu, English). They sang praises to God and recited scripture verses from memory. Though the classrooms were primitive (to our standards in the west), the education was diligent and done with excellence. I wept as I spoke to them about “making a difference despite their hardships.” This is the future of Kenya and I believe it shines brightly.

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