Kenya Here

7/31/2019 Kenya Here

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Kenya:Land, People

and Politics


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Regional Map Capital: Nairobi

Area: 582,650 sq km; abouttwice the size of Nevada

Population: 36,913,721 (2007estimate)

Main ethnic groups:Kikuyu,Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, Kamba,Kisii, Meru

GDP per capita: purchasingpower parity - $1,600 (2007estimate)

40% of the labor force isunemployed. Of those working,75% are employed inagriculture while 25% areemployed in service/industry

50% of the population livesbelow the poverty line

AIDS and Malaria are leadingcauses of illness and death in

the country.


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Ethnic Groups MapKikuyu 22%: The Kikuyu homeland is around MountKenya. Land ownership is the most important social,

political, religious, and economic factor. Kikuyufarmers produce most of the fresh produce that isconsumed in Nairobi as well as coffee and tea forexport.

Luhya 14%: The Luyha's traditional homeland isaround Kakamega in western Kenya. The Luyha sufferfrom high population density which effects their farmingeconomy as cultivation occurs on plots that get smallerwith each generation. They are important producers of

sugar-cane.

Luo 13%: The Luo live for the most part on the shoresof Lake Victoria. They are fishermen and farmers. TheLuo also played an important role during theindependence struggle and many leading politicianshave been Luo including Oginga Odinga, Tom Mboya,and Robert Ouko.

Kalenjin 12%: The Kalenjin have become politicallypowerful. They live primarily in the Rift Valley Although

mainly pastoralists, the Kalenjin have taken up someagriculture and also produce honey. ,

Kamba 11%: The Kamba homeland, which is east ofNairobi towards Tsavo national park

Meru 6%: The Meru live mainly on the northeast sideof Mount Kenya. They are farmers and also producetea, coffee, pyrethrum, maize, potatoes and miraa, astimulant popular with Muslims.


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The Land

Kenya has a range of features from large cities to wideopen plains. Some parts of the country are very fertile andsupport agriculture. Other regions are dry and warm withlittle rainfall. The vast plains support a wide array ofwildlife and make Kenya one of the most desired

destinations for safaris.Top left: Mt. Kenya, the countrys highest peak.

Top center: Lake Victoria, the worlds second largest lake

and the source of Kenyas fishing industry.

To right: Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.

Bottom right: The grasslands that are home to many of

the countrys indigenous species.


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Tourism

Tourism is the second largest industry in Kenya

Approximately 1 million tourists travel to Kenya for safaris eachyear

This is a $1 billion industry that impacts the daily lives of nearly 5million Kenyans

Tourism accounts for much of Kenyas economic growth over the

past several decades


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Agriculture is the backbone of Kenyas

economy, providing food for the

citizens as well as for export Approximately 75 % of the countrys

people are employed in agriculture Primary crops that are exported include

tea, flowers and sugar

Other Industries


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Social Issues

Malaria is a mosquito-borne diseasecaused by a parasite.

People with malaria often experience fever,chills, and flu-like illness.

This disease can be prevented and curedby using bednets, insecticides, andantimalarial drugs.

Lake Victoria, Kenya is the malaria capitalof the world.

In this region, twenty-percent of childrenunder the age of five die of malaria.

1,300,000: Estimated number of peopleliving with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2005

6.1%:Estimated percentage of adults(ages 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS by theend of 2005

62%: Estimated percentage of HIVcases that occured among women (ages15-49) by the end of 2005

150,000: Estimated number of children

(ages 0-15) living with HIV/AIDS by theend of 2005

140,000: Estimated number of deathsdue to AIDS during 2005

1,100,000: Estimated number of childrenwho have lost their mother or father orboth parents to AIDS and who were aliveand under the age of 17 end of 2005
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTb_70IOlHHcsAwmOJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBwZzgzMmo2BHBvcwMyBHNlYwNzcgR2dGlkA0kwMDFfNzA-/SIG=1ioijk3fp/EXP=1206547060/**http%3A//images.search.yahoo.com/images/view%3Fback=http%253A%252F%252Fimages.search.yahoo.com%252Fsearch%252Fimages%253Fei%253DUTF-8%2526p%253DHIV%252520%25252F%252520AIDS%2526fr2%253Dtab-web%2526fr%253Db1ie7%26w=500%26h=375%26imgurl=static.flickr.com%252F35%252F71462331_6d5f6b5e45.jpg%26rurl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.flickr.com%252Fphotos%252Flondon%252F71462331%252F%26size=199.3kB%26name=HIV/AIDS%20affects%20us%20all%26p=HIV%20/%20AIDS%26type=JPG%26oid=6037601d81752a4e%26fusr=jonrawlinson%26tit=HIV/AIDS%20affects%20us%20all%26hurl=http%3A//www.flickr.com/photos/london/%26no=2&tt=357362http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTb_g2HelHrwwAyiGJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBwZzgzMmo2BHBvcwMyBHNlYwNzcgR2dGlkA0kwMDFfNzA-/SIG=1fnrmjimd/EXP=1206546102/**http%3A//images.search.yahoo.com/images/view%3Fback=http%253A%252F%252Fimages.search.yahoo.com%252Fsearch%252Fimages%253Fp%253Dmalaria%2526ni%253D18%2526ei%253DUTF-8%2526fr%253Db1ie7%2526xargs%253D0%2526pstart%253D1%2526b%253D1%26w=220%26h=210%26imgurl=www.cbc.ca%252Fgfx%252Fpix%252Fmalaria.jpg%26rurl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.cbc.ca%252Fhealth%252Fstory%252F2006%252F04%252F24%252Fmalaria060424.html%26size=11.8kB%26name=malaria.jpg%26p=malaria%26type=JPG%26oid=379997cf76ff8f9a%26no=2&tt=119390


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Poverty: 50% of Kenyas population lives below the poverty line

Unemployment: While most Kenyans (85%) are literate, the

unemployment rate is 40% Ethnic Clashes: particularly since the Dec. 2007 elections, Kenyans have

become divided socially and politically by ethnic groups. This has causedmany to become refugees, fleeing from their homes and businesses togovernment camps or back to the ancestral homeland of their particularethnic group.

Social Issues


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Politics Kenya is a democratic republic

The country gained independence from the United Kingdom on Dec.12, 1963, and was ruled by the Kenya African National Union until2002.

Kenya was a de-facto one party state for many years, and an officialone-party state from 1982 to 1991, during which KANU made itself theonly legal party in Kenya.

Independent Kenya's first multi-party democratic election was held in1992, but the 2002 elections marked the first time the presidency andthe parliamentary majority changed hands.

The executive branch is made up of an elected president and anappointed vice president and cabinet.

The president, who is the chief of state, head of government and the

commander in chief of the armed forces, is elected to a five-year termby a direct popular vote and is eligible for two terms.

A presidential candidate needs to win the absolute majority of votes,as well as win 25 percent or more of the vote in at least five of Kenya'sprovinces.

President Mwai Kibaki, of the Party of National Unity, was elected for

his second term as president in highly contested elections on Dec. 27,2007.


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Political Issues

Ethnic violence racked Kenya, once one of Africa's most stable and prosperous nations, killing nearly 1000people and driving more than 300,000 from their homes after a disputed presidential election on Dec. 27,2007.

Political riots exploded in the streets on Dec. 30, after the government announced that President MwaiKibaki had been re-elected.

Kenya's top opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, accused him of rigging the vote. International observersalso expressed suspicion that Kibaki-loyal election officials stuffed ballot boxes.

The violence quickly dissolved into an ethnic battle between mobs and militias. The Kalenjin ethnic group,who support Odinga, began burning houses and beating and murdering Kikuyus, Kibaki's ethnic group.Kikuyus have dominated politics and the Kenyan economy for many years. Odinga's ethnic group, Luos,and other supporting groups like Kalenjin had high hopes for him to win the presidency and increase therepresentation of different ethnic groups.

Under the power-sharing deal announced Feb. 28, 2008, Kibaki would remain president, with cabinet

posts split between rival parties, and Odinga would become executive prime minister, a newly createdcabinet post.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/images/medium/jan-june08/leaders_2-4_lg.jpg


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Politics: President

Mwai Kibaki was sworn in as Kenya's president after a controversial re-election on Dec.27, 2007. His disputed victory sparked violence in the East African nation of 36 millionpeople. Backers of opposition leader Raila Odinga charged that the vote-counting wasrigged.

Kibaki first came into power in December 2002, when he and his opposition alliance, theNational Rainbow Coalition, won 63 percent of the vote and a parliamentary majority.

Born Nov. 15, 1931, Kibaki is a Kikuyu, Kenya's largest ethnic group.


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Politics: Executive Prime Minister

Born Jan. 2, 1945, Raila Odinga comes from the Luo tribe, one of Kenya's largest ethnicgroups.

Odinga's father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, was a nationalist hero and Kenya's first vice

president in 1963. Odinga helped Mwai Kibaki win power in 2002, joining the National Rainbow Coalition partywhich Kibaki led. Odinga served for three years in Kibaki's cabinet as minister for roads, publicworks and housing, but was fired for campaigning against Kibaki in a constitutional referendumin 2005.

In 2007, Odinga ran against Kibaki as leader of the Orange Democratic Movement, but wasdefeated.

Under the power-sharing deal announced Feb. 28, 2008, Odinga was given the newly createdposition of executive prime minister.

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