2. Kenya political timeline
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a sovereign state in East Africa.
The capital and largest city is Nairobi.
Year
Event
1498
Vasco de gama reaches east African Coast.
1898
Railway track between Mombasa to Lake Victoriya
1902
Border between Kenya and Uganda adusted.
1944
Kenyan African Union formed
1963
Kenya gains independence from British.
1964
Kenya becomes Republic. Kenyatta becomes first President and Oginga Odinga becomes first Vice-President.
1969
Popular minister Tom Mboya is murdered sparking ethnic tension. KPU is banned.
1971
A plan to overthrow president Kenyatta is foiled by president Nyerere of Tanzania.
1972
Minister Ronald Ngala dies in a road accident. The death is considered suspicious by many
1975
Popular politician JM Kariuki is murdered. The hand of the government is suspected
1978
President Kenyatta dies in Mombasa. Deniel Arap Moi becomes president
1982
June– Kenya is declared a one party state by parliament
1990
Popular foreign minister Robert Ouko is murdered under suspicious circumstances.
1991
August - Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) is formed by six opposition leaders, including Oginga
Odinga. Party outlawed and member arrested. Creditors suspend aid to Kenya amid fierce international condemnation.
1991
December—President Moi and KANU yield to external pressure and introduce a multi-party political system
1992
Daniel arap Moi wins Kenya’s first multi party election against a dividend opposition.
2002
Mwai Kibaki is elected as president marking the first time since Independence that KANU is not the ruling party.
2005
The Draft constitution is rejected at the referendum with 58% voting against it. A major blow to President kibaki.
2007
Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner in a contentious election. More than 1000 Kenyans loose their lives in the ensuing
violence.
2010
A new draft constitution is passed by a majority of 68% votes in the referendum.
2012
The ICC confirms charges against Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Francis Muthaura and Police commissioner Hussein
Ali.
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3. Economy and Geo-political significance of Kenya
Although Kenya is the biggest and most advanced economy in east and central Africa and
a minority of the wealthy urban population often leaves a misleading impression of affluence, Kenya is still a poor developing country with a Human Resource index (HDI) of 0.519, putting the country at position 145 out of 186 – one of the
lowest in the world and half of Kenyans live in absolute Poverty. The important agricultural sector is one of the least developed and largely inefficient, employing 75 percent of the workforce compared to less than 3 percent in the Food Secure
developed countries. East and Central Africa's biggest economy has posted tremendous growth in the service sector,
boosted by rapid expansion in telecommunication and financial activity over the last decade, and now contributes 62 percent of GDP.Kenya has traditionally been a liberal market with minimal government involvement (price control) seen in
the oil industry. However, recent legislation allows the government to determine and gazette price-controls on essential
commodities like maize flour, kerosine and cooking oil.Kenya's services sector, which contributes about 61 percent of
GDP, is dominated by tourism. The tourism sectorhas exhibited steady growth in most years since independence and
by the late 1980s had become the country's principal source of foreign exchange. Tourists, the largest number from
Germany and the United Kingdom, areattracted mainly to the coastal beaches and the games reserve, notably, the expansive east aandWeat tsavo nationalPark(20,808 square kilometres) in the southeast.
In March 1996, the presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda re-established the East African Community (EAC). The
EAC's objectives include harmonising tariffs and customs regimes,
free movement of people, and improving regional infrastructures.
In March 2004, the three East African countries signed a Custom
Union agreement Kenya is East and Central Africa's hub for Financial services. The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) is ranked 4th in Africa in terms of Market capitalisation.
The Kenya banking system is supervised by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). .Kenya's inclusion among the beneficiaries of the U.S. Government's African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has given a boost to manufacturing in recent years. Since AGOA took effect in 2000, Kenya's clothing sales to the United States increased
from US$44 million to US$270 million (2006).Kenyatta becomes a president of a rapidly developing African
country that has broke ranks with the West besides becoming a military power after destroying Islamist terrorist
and militant Somalia in Somalia, beating the West and the NATO counter-terrorism operations hands down .Oil
and Gas discoveries and confirmation of their commercial values, coalmines, titanium export, and gold and geothermal power generation are key attractions pulling edgy investors to Kenya. This wealth alongside massive infrastructure programs
under Chinese contractors and a successful anti-terror operation in Somalia makes Kenya an attractive besides strategic development partner and investment hub. Kenya no longer
leans on the West for development programs; rather, it has set the terms of diplomatic engagement very clear, that, only development partnership makes diplomatic relations
sense.China has been covertly funding Kenyan military and intelligence operations in the region, making China one of the most important development and security programs partner
with Kenya making the West worried its losing clout. The United States alone has invested billions of dollars through military, intelligence, and counter-terrorism pro-
grams across East and Central Africa with its main forward bases in Kenya.
4. Kenya has been upgrading its military capability by sourcing new weaponry from
China, Russia, and Ukraine further sidelining the West, which in the past enjoyed
these lucrative contracts through their defense equipment contracting firms.The
West indeed will have to bow to Uhuru Kenyatta or lose to Russia, Japan, and
China all who now fund Kenyan security and economic development projects
with less ado. Kenya has become the hottest oil and gas venue in East Africa since
big discoveries were made in the country’s virgin oilfields last April.
Regional Geopolitical Outcome
Kenya is a regional economic giant that in 10 years under a good regime can
overtake economies like South Africa, besides the regional military superpower.Every military or regionally important security intelligence operation
planned by the West is coordinated by Kenya; Kenyatta’s astute character
and near-radical resolve observed in his political self defines a more powerhungry general who will increase Kenya’s geopolitical influence. Kenyaâs influence is growing geopolitically, it is more by accident rather than the result
of a deliberate strategy. To be more specific, it is largely through the geoeconomic visions of individual Kenyans and Kenyan private firms (most of
which are family led), that Kenyaâs regional profile has grown. The birth of a new Southern Sudan is an occasion to reflect on the need
for Kenyaâs grand geopolitical strategy. The fact is Kenya should be conscious of the historic blessings bestowed upon it by geography
and circumstance. Located as we are at the cross-roads of an economically mature West and an emergent East; and nestled at the solarplexus of Africa, we should leverage our fortune into becoming the nerve-centre â the nexus â of economic and political influence.
5. ECONOMICAL Comparison
Parameter
KENYA
INDIA
Currency
shilling
Indian Rupee
GDP
$41.84 BN
$4.72 trillion
ANNUAL GROWTH RATE
5.1%
5.8%
PER CAPITA INCOME
$1800
$3851
TOURISM INDUSTRY
20 billion shillings
$121 billion
EXPORT
$5.942 billion tea, coffee, horticultural products, petroleum
products, cement, fish
$309.1 billion petroleum products, iron and
steel, chemicals, vehicles, apparel
MAJOR MARKET
Uganda , Tanzania , Netherlands , UK, , US Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo
UAE, USA, CHINA,
IMPORT
$14.39 billion machinery &transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron& steel, resins plastics
$488.6 billion crude oil, raw precious stones, machinery, fertilizer, iron and steel, chemicals
MAJOR SUPPLIAR
China, india1, UAE , Saudi Arabia , South Africa, Japan
China, UEA, USA, Saudi Arebia, Switzerland
HDI
0.519
0.554
Military
24120
1,129,900 active personnel , 960,000 reserve personnel
Population
40 million
1.2 billion
Government
Developed republic
Federal parliamentary constitutional republic
Legislation
Parliament, senate, National assembly
Parliament of india, rajya sabha, lok sabha
Industry
Small consumer goods agricultural products, horticulture,oil Iron and steel, cotton, sugar, jute, paper, cement, aluminium
refining; aluminum, steel, lead; cement, commercial ship
Chemicals, fertilizer, automoibile
repair
SINGAPORE, Hong Kong, Kenya
6. INDIA KENYA RELATIONSHIP
The East African coast and the west coast of India have long been linked by merchants. The Indian Diaspora in Kenya has contributed actively to Kenya’s progress. Many Kenyans have studied in
India. In recent times, there is a growing trade (US$ 2.4 billion in 2011-12) and investment partnership. Indian firms have invested in telecommunications, petrochemicals And chemicals, floriculture, etc. and have executed engineering contracts in the power and other sectors. During 2010,
there were several high level political exchanges between India and Kenya. Kenya’s Prime Minister Hon. Raila Odinga met Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during a visit to India in
November 2010 to attend the India Economic Summit organized by the World Economic Forum.
He had visited Gujarat in 2009. Hon’ble Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Anand Sharma called
on Prime Minister Odinga and held consultations with Minister of Trade Hon. Ambassador Chirau Ali Mwakwere during his visit to Kenya for the
6thsession of the India-Kenya Joint Trade Committee in October 2010. Hon’ble Speaker Smt. Meira Kumar led the Indian parliamentary delegation to
the 56th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference in Nairobi in September 2010. Hon’ble Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Shri
Vayalar Ravi visited Kenya in February 2010. Two Indian navy ships - INS Delhi and INS Deepak - visited Mombasa from November 12-15 2012. A delegation from the National Defence College visited Kenya from May 14-19 2012 on a study tour. INS Sarvekshak visited Mombasa from November 25December 4 2011. The Director of Kenya National Archives and Documentation Service participated in the IORARC meeting of the Heads of Archives
in New Delhi from September 25-26 2012. A two member Indian Parliamentary delegation participated at the ‘2012 Symposium to Peer Review the
Curriculum of the Centre for Parliamentary Studies and Training Conference’organised by the National Assembly of Kenya from July 29-August 3
2012. A 4-member Kenyan parliamentary delegation visited India for a ‘benchmarking study’ at the Lok Sabha Secretariat from August 20-25 2012. The
Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs organized ‘Indiafrica: A Shared Future’ Initiative at the AIESEC Business Summit in Nairobi
on August 26 2011.An India-Kenya Trade Agreement was signed in 1981, under which both countries accorded Most Favoured Nation status to each
other. The India-Kenya Joint Trade Committee (JTC) was set up at Ministerial level in 1983 as a follow-up to the Agreement. The JTC has met six
times since, the last in October 2010 in Nairobi. A Joint Business Council was set up in 1985 by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce &
Industry and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KNCCI). The KNCCI signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 1996.Recent business promotion events organized in Kenya include : Kenya Plast 2012 organised by the All India
Plastics Manufacturers Association (AIPMA in September 2012 in Nairobi; around 35 Indian companies participated at the Printing and Packaging
Exhibition organised by an Indian group in Nairobi in September 2012; India Medical Tourism Destination Event in August 2012; Visit of a business
delegation from Gujarat (July 2012), ASSOCHAM, FIEO and EPC for EOUs/EPZs delegation of 50 Indian companies in 5th Africa Export & Import Fair
2012 (June 2012); visit of All India Plastics Manufacturers Association delegation (June 2012); participation of 15 Indian companies through CII in 15th
Build Expo Africa (May 2012).
