Overview
Kenya is named after Mount Kenya- the second tallest Mountain in Africa. The Kikuyu people who lived around present day Mt Kenya referred to it as Kirinyaga or Kerenyaga, meaning mountain of whiteness because of its snow capped peak. Mt Kirinyaga which was the main landmark became synonymous with the territory the British later claimed as their colony. The name Kenya arose out of the inability of the British to pronounce Kirinyaga correctly.
The first Government of independent Kenya immediately had to deal with some pressing economic and political problems. The priorities were acceleration of growth, Kenyanisation of the economy and redistribution of incomes. None of these, however, could be achieved without political stability, and it was first felt necessary to neutralize those elements in the country who supported extreme policies and who was undermining, rather than building confidence in the new nation. Thus, Kenya embarked on the road to peace and stability, which has made it possible for the country to realize great strides in development. Kenya has played a leading role in the quest for peace and stability in the turbulent East African region, because of her stability and general neutrality.
Since independence Kenya has had 4 presidents. The first president mzee Jomo Kenyatta led Kenya since its independence. Upon Kenyatta’s death on 22nd August 1978, Daniel Arap Moi took over the leadership until he retired on 30th December 2002- in line with a constitutional provision which limits the presidential term to a maximum 10 years of 5 years each. Mwai Kibaki then took over from Moi on 30th December 2002 to become Kenya’s third President through the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) thus ending KANU’s forty year dominance. Kibaki was re-elected in 2007 and handed over to current President Uhuru Kenyatta on March 2012. President Uhuru was elected on The National Alliance (TNA) Party.
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