A chronology of important events in the area we know today as Kenya:
Approximately 3.3 million BC. Evidence of some of the earliest human tools has been found in Kenya, suggesting it was the cradle of humanity from which descendants moved out to populate the world.
600 Arabs begin to settle in coastal areas, and over the centuries developed trading stations that facilitated contact with the Arab world, Persia and India.
1895 Formation of the British East African Protectorate.
1920 The East African Protectorate becomes a crown colony in Kenya, administered by a British governor.
Mau Mau
1944 Kenyan African Union (KAU) formed to campaign for African independence. First African appointment to the Legislative Council.
1947 Jomo Kenyatta becomes KAU leader.
1952-53 A secret Kikuyu guerrilla group known as Mau Mau began a violent campaign against white settlers. A state of emergency was declared, Jomo Kenyatta was imprisoned, and KAU was banned.
1956 The Mau Mau rebellion was brought to an end.
1960 State of emergency ends. The UK announces plans to prepare Kenya for African majority rule. The Kenya African National Union (Kanu) was formed by Tom Mboya and Oginga Odinga.
Kenyas første
president:
Jomo Kenyatta
Kenya’s First President: Jomo Kenyatta
Independence
1961 Jomo Kenyatta was released from two years of house arrest and took over the presidency of Kanu.
1963 Kenya gained its independence, with Kenyatta as Prime Minister.
1964 The Republic of Kenya was formed. Jomo Kenyatta became President and Oginga Odinga Vice President.
1966 Mr Odinga left Kanu after an ideological split and formed the Kenya People’s Union (KPU). In 1969, the assassination of Prime Minister Tom Mboya sparked ethnic unrest. KPU was banned and Odinga was arrested. Kanu was thus the only party to participate in elections.
1974 Jomo Kenyatta was re-elected.
Me-epochs
1978 Kenyatta died in office and was succeeded by Vice President Daniel arap Moi.
1982, June The National Assembly officially declared Kenya to be a one-party state.
1987 Opposition groups were suppressed. The international community criticised political arrests and human rights violations.
1991, August The Forum for Restoration of Democracy (Ford) was formed by six opposition leaders, including Oginga Odinga. The party was banned and its members were arrested. Creditors suspended all aid to Kenya amid harsh international condemnation.
1991, December A special conference in Kanu agreed to reintroduce a multi-party political system.
1992 Around 2,000 people were killed in a tribal conflict in the west of the country. A multi-party election was held.
1992, December President Moi was re-elected in the multi-party election and Kanu won a strong majority.
1994 Oginga Odinga died. The opposition groups formed a coalition, the United National Democratic Alliance, but it was plagued by disagreements.
1997, December President Moi won another term in a widely criticised election. His main opponents were former Vice President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, son of Oginga Odinga.
The embassy bomb
1998, August Al-Qaeda operatives bombed the US embassy in Nairobi. In the attack, 224 people were killed and thousands injured.
2002, July Approximately 200 Maasai and Samburu tribesmen accepted more than $7 million in compensation from the British Ministry of Defence. The tribesmen had been left behind or maimed by explosives from the British army that had been left on their lands over the past 50 years.
2002, November An Al-Qaeda attack on an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa killed 10 Kenyans and injured three Israelis. At the same time, an unsuccessful rocket attack was carried out on an Israeli airliner.
Kibaki victory
December 2002 Election. Mwai Kibaki wins a landslide victory, ending Daniel arap Moi’s 24-year rule and Kanu’s four decades in power.
October 2004 Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize.
2005, November-December Voters rejected a proposed new constitution in what was seen as a protest against President Kibaki.
December 2007 Disputed presidential elections led to violence in which more than 1,500 people died. The government and the opposition reached a power-sharing agreement in February, and a committee reached agreement in April. A new constitution was adopted.
2010, July Kenya joined its neighbours to form a new East African Common Market, intended to integrate the region’s economy.
2010, August A new constitution was drafted to limit the power of the president and transfer power to the regions. It was approved through a referendum.
2011, August-September Somali al-Shabab jihadists carried out operations against Kenyan coastal resorts and a refugee camp, also targeting foreigners.
Troops in Somalia
2011, October Kenyan troops entered Somalia to attack rebels accused of being behind several kidnappings of foreigners on Kenyan soil. Kenya was subjected to several reprisals.
January 2012 The International Criminal Court ruled that several prominent Kenyans had to stand trial over the 2007 post-election violence.
2012, March Oil was discovered. President Kibaki hailed it as a “major breakthrough”.
May 2012 More than 30 people were injured in an attack on a shopping centre in Nairobi by al-Shabab.
2012, August-September More than 100 people were killed in communal clashes over land and resources associated with coastal areas. Five people died in riots organised by Muslim protesters in Mombasa following the shooting of preacher Aboud Rogo Mohammed, who was accused by the UN of recruiting and funding al-Shabab Islamist fighters in Somalia.
Uhuru Kenyatta’s election victory
2013, March Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first president, won the presidential election with just over 50% of the vote. A challenge to the results raised by his main rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, was rejected by the Supreme Court.
June 2013 The British government expressed sincere regret at the torture of thousands of Kenyans during the suppression of the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s and pledged £20 million in compensation.
September 2013 Deputy President William Ruto pleaded not guilty at the International Criminal Court to charges of crimes against humanity following the 2007 post-election violence. Al-Shabab stepped up its attacks against the country.
September 2013 Somali al-Shabab militants attacked the Westgate shopping centre in Westlands, Nairobi, killing more than 60 people and demanding that Kenya’s military withdraw from Somalia.
2014, June 48 people died after al-Shabab militants attacked hotels and a police station in Mpeketoni, near the resort town of Lamu.
December 2014 Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court dropped charges against President Kenyatta for the 2007 post-election violence, citing insufficient evidence.
2015, April Al-Shabab carried out a massacre at Garissa University College in north-west Kenya, killing 148 people.
February 2017 The government declared a drought affecting a large part of the country to be a national disaster.
May 2017 A new multibillion dollar railway line connecting Mombasa with the capital Nairobi was opened. This was the country’s largest infrastructure project since independence.
2017, August-October President Kenyatta was declared the winner of the presidential election in August and re-elected in October.
2020, January Al-Shabab Somali jihadists attacked the Camp Simba military base near Lamu, killing three Americans.
2022, August Deputy President William Ruto won the presidential election with a narrow majority, beating his main rival Raila Odinga.
Source: BBC
