Resource 1: Some important historical events since independence

 Background information / subject knowledge for teacher

Mau Mau

1944 – Kenyan African Union (KAU) formed to campaign for African independence. First African appointment to legislative council.

1947 – Jomo Kenyatta becomes KAU leader.

1952 – Secret Kikuyu guerrilla group known as Mau Mau begins violent campaign against white settlers. State of emergency declared. Kenyatta arrested.

1953 – Kenyatta charged with management of Mau Mau and jailed. KAU banned.

1956 – Mau Mau rebellion put down after thousands killed – mainly Africans.

1959 – Kenyatta released from jail but under house arrest.

1960 – State of emergency ends. Britain announces plans to prepare Kenya for majority African rule. Kenya African National Union (KANU) formed by Tom Mboya and Oginga Odinga.

Independence

1961 – Kenyatta freed and assumes presidency of KANU.

1963 – Kenya gains independence, with Kenyatta as prime minister.

1964 – Republic of Kenya formed. Kenyatta becomes president and Odinga vice-president.

1966 – Odinga, a Luo, leaves KANU after ideological split, forms rival Kenya People's Union (KPU).

1969 – Assassination of government minister Tom Mboya sparks ethnic unrest. KPU banned and Odinga arrested. Kanu only party to contest elections.

1974 – Kenyatta re-elected.

Moi era begins

1978 – Kenyatta dies in office, succeeded by Vice-President Daniel arap Moi.

1982 June – Kenya officially declared a one-party state by National Assembly.

1982 August – Army suppresses air force coup attempt. Private Hezekiah Ochuka rules for about six hours.

1987 – Opposition groups suppressed. International criticism of political arrests and human rights abuses.

1989 – Political prisoners freed.

1990 - Death of the foreign minister, Robert Ouko, in suspicious circumstances leads to increased dissent against government.

Multi-party elections

1991 August – Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) formed by six opposition leaders, including Oginga Odinga. Party outlawed and members arrested. Creditors suspend aid to Kenya amid fierce international condemnation.

1991 December - Special conference of KANU agrees to introduce a multi-party political system.

1992 - Approximately 2,000 people killed in tribal conflict in the west of the country.

1992 August - FORD splits into two factions – FORD-Asili (led by ex- government minister Kenneth Matiba) and FORD-Kenya (led by Odinga).

1992 December - Moi re-elected in multi-party elections. KANU wins strong majority.

1994 - Odinga dies. Opposition groups form coalition – the United National Democratic Alliance – but it is plagued by disagreements.

1995 - New opposition party – Safina – launched by palaeontologist Richard Leakey. Party refused official registration until November 1997.

1997 - Demonstrations calling for democratic reform. World Bank witholds disbursement of $5bn in structural adjustment credit.

1997 December - Moi wins further term in widely criticised elections. His main opponents are former vice-president Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, son of Oginga Odinga.

Embassy bomb

1998 August - Bomb explodes at US embassy in Nairobi, killing 224 people and injuring thousands.

1999 - Moi appoints Richard Leakey to head government drive against corruption.

2001 - Leakey appears in court to face charges of abuse of power and perverting the course of justice.

2001 June - Parliament passes a law allowing the import and manufacture of cheap copies of anti-Aids drugs.

2001 - Ethnic tensions culminate in several violent clashes. In December thousands flee and several people are killed in rent battles involving Nubian and Luo communities in Nairobi's Kibera slum district.

2002 July - Some 200 Maasai and Samburu tribespeople accept more than $7m in compensation from the British Ministry of Defence. The tribespeople had been bereaved or maimed by British Army explosives left on their land over the last 50 years.

2002 November - Ten Kenyans, three Israelis are killed when an Israeli- owned hotel near Mombasa is blown up by a car bomb. A simultaneous rocket attack on an Israeli airliner fails. A statement – purportedly from al-Qaeda – claims responsibility.

Kibaki victory

2002 December - Opposition presidential candidate Mwai Kibaki wins a landslide victory over KANU rival Uhuru Kenyatta, ending Daniel arap Moi's 24-year rule and KANU's four decades in power.

Adapted from: BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ go/ pr/ fr/ -/ 1/ hi/ world/ africa/ country_profiles/ 1070329.stm [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] (Accessed 2008)