Introduction

Background:

Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence in 1963 until his death in 1978, when President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud, but were viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. President MOI stepped down in December 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), defeated KANU candidate Uhuru KENYATTA and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform. KIBAKI`s NARC coalition splintered in 2005 over the constitutional review process. Government defectors joined with KANU to form a new opposition coalition, the Orange Democratic Movement, which defeated the government`s draft constitution in a popular referendum in November 2005. KIBAKI`s reelection in December 2007 brought charges of vote rigging from ODM candidate Raila ODINGA and unleashed two months of violence in which as many as 1,500 people died. UN-sponsored talks in late February produced a powersharing accord bringing ODINGA into the government in the restored position of prime minister.

Government

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Kenya
conventional short form: Kenya
local long form: Republic of Kenya/Jamhuri ya Kenya
local short form: Kenya
former: British East Africa

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Nairobi
geographic coordinates: 1 17 S, 36 49 E
time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

7 provinces and 1 area*, Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area*, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western

Independence:

12 December 1963 (from UK)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 12 December (1963)

Constitution:

12 December 1963, amended as a republic 1964, reissued with amendments 1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2001, note - a new draft constitution was defeated by popular referendum in 2005

Legal system:

based on Kenyan statutory law, Kenyan and English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law, judicial review in High Court, accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations, constitutional amendment of 1982 making Kenya a de jure one-party state repealed in 1991

Suffrage:

18 years of age, universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30 December 2002), Vice President Stephene Kalonzo MUSYOKA (since 10 January 2008),
head of government: President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30 December 2002), Vice President Stephene Kalonzo MUSYOKA (since 10 January 2008), note - the roles of the president and prime minister are not well defined at this juncture, constitutionally, the president remains chief of state and head of government, but the prime minister is charged with coordinating government business
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president and headed by the prime minister, who is the leader of the largest party in parliament
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term), in addition to receiving the largest number of votes in absolute terms, the presidential candidate must also win 25% or more of the vote in at least five of Kenya`s seven provinces and one area to avoid a runoff, election last held 27 December 2007 (next to be held in December 2012), vice president appointed by the president
election results: President Mwai KIBAKI reelected, percent of vote - Mwai KIBAKI 46%, Raila ODINGA 44%, Kalonzo MUSYOKA 9%

Legislative branch:

unicameral National Assembly or Bunge ususally referred to as Parliament(224 seats, 210 members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms, 12 so-called "nominated" members who are appointed by the president but selected by the parties in proportion to their parliamentary vote totals, 2 ex-officio members)
elections: last held 27 December 2007 (next to be held in December 2012)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA, seats by party - ODM 99, PNU 46, ODM-K 16, KANU 14 other 35, ex-officio 2, seats appointed by the president - ODM 6, PNU 3, ODM-K 2, KANU 1

Judicial branch:

Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the president), High Court

Political parties and leaders:

Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya or FORD-Kenya [Musikari KOMBO], Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or FORD-People [Reuben OYONDI], Kenya African National Union or KANU [Uhuru KENYATTA], National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya or NARC-Kenya [Martha KARUA], Orange Democratic Movement or ODM [Raila ODINGA], Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya or ODM-K [Kalonzo MUSYOKA], Party of National Unity or PNU [Mwai KIBAKI], Shirikisho Party of Kenya or SPK [Chirau Ali MWAKWERE]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Council of Islamic Preachers of Kenya or CIPK [Sheikh Idris MOHAMMED], Kenya Human Rights Commission [L. Muthoni WANYEKI], Muslim Human Rights Forum [Ali-Amin KIMATHI], National Convention Executive Council or NCEC, a proreform coalition of political parties and nongovernment organizations [Ndung`u WAINANA], National Muslim Leaders Forum or NAMLEF [Abdullahi ABDI], Protestant National Council of Churches of Kenya or NCCK [Canon Peter Karanja MWANGI], Roman Catholic and other Christian churches, Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims or SUPKEM [Shaykh Abdul Gafur al-BUSAIDY]
other: labor unions

International organization participation:

ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, EAC, EADB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Flag description:

three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green, the red band is edged in white, a large warrior`s shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at the center

Economy

Economy - overview:

The regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa, Kenya has been hampered by corruption and by reliance upon several primary goods whose prices have remained low. In 1997, the IMF suspended Kenya`s Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program due to the government`s failure to maintain reforms and curb corruption. A severe drought from 1999 to 2000 compounded Kenya`s problems, causing water and energy rationing and reducing agricultural output. As a result, GDP contracted by 0.2% in 2000. The IMF, which had resumed loans in 2000 to help Kenya through the drought, again halted lending in 2001 when the government failed to institute several anticorruption measures. Despite the return of strong rains in 2001, weak commodity prices, endemic corruption, and low investment limited Kenya`s economic growth to 1.2%. Growth lagged at 1.1% in 2002 because of erratic rains, low investor confidence, meager donor support, and political infighting up to the elections. In the key December 2002 elections, Daniel Arap MOI`s 24-year-old reign ended, and a new opposition government took on the formidable economic problems facing the nation. After some early progress in rooting out corruption and encouraging donor support, the KIBAKI government was rocked by high-level graft scandals in 2005 and 2006. In 2006 the World Bank and IMF delayed loans pending action by the government on corruption. The international financial institutions and donors have since resumed lending, despite little action on the government`s part to deal with corruption. Election related riots may have hurt Kenya`s 2008 performance. GDP grew an estimated 4.1%.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$66.48 billion (2008 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$31.42 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

4.1% (2008 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$1,800 (2008 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 23.8%
industry: 16.7%
services: 59.5% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

16.94 million (2008 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 75%
industry and services: 25% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate:

40% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 37.2% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

44.5 (1997)

Investment (gross fixed):

21.6% of GDP (2008 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $6.617 billion
expenditures: $8.196 billion (2008 est.)

Public debt:

52.7% of GDP (2008 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

25.5% (2008 est.)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

13.34% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$5.932 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$6.273 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$10.43 billion (31 December 2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$13.39 billion (31 December 2007)

Industries:

small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, clothing, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products, horticulture, oil refining, aluminum, steel, lead, cement, commercial ship repair, tourism

Electricity - production:

6.264 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

5.124 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports:

58.3 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

22.5 million kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production:

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

Oil - consumption:

65,530 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

5,137 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports:

72,780 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Current account balance:

-$1.859 billion (2008 est.)

Exports:

$4.729 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Exports - commodities:

tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, cement

Exports - partners:

Uganda 16.9%, UK 9.3%, Tanzania 8.2%, Netherlands 8.2%, US 6.4%, Pakistan 5.2% (2007)

Imports:

$9.485 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and plastics

Imports - partners:

UAE 11.4%, China 9.9%, India 8.7%, Saudi Arabia 8%, South Africa 6.9%, US 6.2%, Japan 5.9%, UK 4.6% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$3.116 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Debt - external:

$6.749 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$2.541 billion (2008 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$47 million (2008 est.)

Exchange rates:

Kenyan shillings (KES) per US dollar - 68.358 (2008 est.), 68.309 (2007), 72.101 (2006), 75.554 (2005), 79.174 (2004)

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:

264,800 (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

11.44 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: inadequate, fixed-line telephone system is small and inefficient, trunks are primarily microwave radio relay, business data commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system
domestic: no recent growth in fixed-line infrastructure and the sole provider, Telkom Kenya, is slated for privatization, multiple providers in the mobile-cellular segment of the market fostering a boom in mobile-cellular telephone usage
international: country code - 254, satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 24, FM 18, shortwave 6 (2001)

Television broadcast stations:

8 (2001)

Internet country code:

.ke

Internet hosts:

27,376 (2008)

Internet users:

3 million (2007)

Transportation

Airports:

225 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 15
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 210
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12
914 to 1,523 m: 113
under 914 m: 85 (2007)

Pipelines:

refined products 900 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 2,778 km
narrow gauge: 2,778 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 63,265 km (interurban roads)
paved: 8,933 km
unpaved: 54,332 km
note: there also are 100,000 km of rural roads and 14,500 km of urban roads for a national total of 177,765 km (2004)

Waterways:

part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries of Kenya (2007)

Merchant marine:

total: 1
by type: petroleum tanker 1
registered in other countries: 6 (Bahamas 1, Comoros 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2, Tuvalu 1, unknown 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Mombasa

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:

Kenya served as an important mediator in brokering Sudan`s north-south separation in February 2005, Kenya provides shelter to almost a quarter of a million refugees, including Ugandans who flee across the border periodically to seek protection from Lord`s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, Kenya works hard to prevent the clan and militia fighting in Somalia from spreading across the border, which has long been open to nomadic pastoralists, the boundary that separates Kenya`s and Sudan`s sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times