Country Profile Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Country Profile - Research Paper Example Kenya is a country situated in the eastern coast of Africa and lies on the equator. The country hares borders with five countries; Tanzania lies to the South, Uganda lies to the West, South Sudan to the North-West, Ethiopia lies to the North part of Kenya while Somalia lies to the North-Eastern side of the country. (Pateman, 28). The Republic of Kenya has a total land area of 582,684 square km. (224,960 square miles) this is nearly the same size as Texas. The country got its name from Mount Kenya, which is quite a significant landmark and is the second highest mountain peak in Africa. The capital city of Kenya is Nairobi which is also the largest city in the Eastern Africa region. HISTORY The history of Kenya can be evidently be traced in the late 1800s when the Kenya-Uganda railways was being constructed by the British. Before then, the country was under the Protectorate of Sultan of Zanzibar who handed over the country to the Germans. The Germans later handed over the country to Im perial British East Africa which was in charge of constructing the railways going through the two countries (from Kenya to Uganda). Later on after the First World War and the completing of the Kenya-Uganda railways most of the British and European settlers in the early 20th century chose to settle in the country especially the central highlands this was in order for them to practice farming and grow coffee and tea. This in did not go down well with the locals as they felt their lands had been grabbed by the colonialists who had forbidden them from cultivating their lands by imposing huge taxes soon their houses and farming. The natives later started a resistance and they called the resistance Mau Mau Rebellion. From the October of 1952 to December 1959 the country was under the state of emergency and the Mau Mau fighters were engaged in guerrilla war against British rule. The capture of key Mau Mau fighters led to the war ending and thereafter the first direct elections for the Afri cans in the Legislative Council was held in the 1957 and in December 12th 1963 Kenya gained independence from Britain and also formed their first constitution on the same day. (YouTube) and (Pateman). One year later on 12th December 1964 Kenya was declared a republic. The first president of the country was Jomo Kenyatta who was the president until his untimely death in 1978. Daniel Arap Moi took over the country from 1978 until 2002 when a new political revolution led by the current president Mwai Kibaki won the election took over. In 2007 there was a massive ethnic unrest and political violence after different political parties accused the current president of rigging the election, this led to approximately more than 1000 people being killed and more than 60,000 displaced in the ethnic violence that was the aftermath of the flawed election. President Mwai Kibaki is expected to hand over the presidency in 2013. STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT Kenya is a democratic republic in the sense that the president is both the head of state and also he is the head of the government. The country has also a multi party system of politics. After the 2007 ethnic clashes caused by the elections, there has been constitutional amendments that enabled the sharing of the executive powers between the two political rivals in the government that is the President and the Prime Minister. The executive power is mainly exercised by the