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KENYA<br />
COUNTRYFILE<br />
How much do you now about<br />
Kenya? The following summarizes<br />
key aspects about our country and<br />
we hope you and your children can<br />
benefit from it.<br />
Independence from Britain on 12 th<br />
December 1963.<br />
Geography & Demographics.<br />
Kenya is the 49 th largest country in the<br />
world covering an area of 581,309 km 2 .<br />
With a population of 45 million the<br />
overwhelming majority of whom are<br />
below the age of 50.<br />
Administration.<br />
The country was previously divided into<br />
8 provinces- Central, Rift-valley, Coast,<br />
Nyanza, Western, Eastern, Nairobi and<br />
North Eastern.<br />
After the new constitution in 2010, the<br />
country is now divided into 47 countieseach<br />
headed by a governor akin to the<br />
ones we have in the US- or Nigeria.<br />
Nairobi remains the political, economic<br />
and social capital of the country with<br />
very limited effort to move any national<br />
foundations elsewhere.<br />
Politics and governance.<br />
A presidential system with a president<br />
elected after every 5 years.<br />
Two Legislative houses-the Lower House<br />
- Parliament with 349 members and<br />
the upper house- The Senate with 67<br />
members.<br />
Membership is by election through<br />
some members are nominated directly<br />
by their political parties.<br />
All counties have elected members<br />
who form regional parliaments and<br />
governments.<br />
Kenya has had 4 presidents since<br />
independence:<br />
ü<br />
ü<br />
ü<br />
ü<br />
Jomo Kenyatta who led the<br />
country to independence until<br />
his death in 1978.<br />
Daniel arap Moi from 1978 to<br />
2002.<br />
Emilio Mwai Kibaki- from<br />
2002-2013-todate.<br />
Uhuru Kenyatta (son to the first<br />
president)-2013-todate.<br />
*Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga served as the<br />
second prime minister of the country<br />
from 2008-2013.<br />
Regional hub.<br />
Nairobi remains a regional and the<br />
African headquarters of many global<br />
corporations such as GE, Google, GSK,<br />
and Microsoft; as well as scientific<br />
and research organization such as<br />
the International center for inspect<br />
physiology and ecology-ICIPE.<br />
It is the only third world country with<br />
a UN headquarters-the United Nations<br />
environmental program located in<br />
Nairobi along Limuru Road<br />
Major exports<br />
· Tea, coffee, horticulture (flowers<br />
and fruits), pyrethrum, tourism and<br />
manufactured goods to the region.<br />
· Sports especially athletes, rugby<br />
and recently footballer(s).<br />
key economic sectors<br />
1. Agriculture, horticulture and food<br />
processing.<br />
2. Banking and insurance.<br />
3. Technology and mobile<br />
communication. Among the country<br />
with the highest mobile phone<br />
connectivity with 35 million active<br />
mobile phone handsets.<br />
4. Dairy farming.<br />
5. Kenya will soon be a major exporter<br />
of valuable minerals, oil and natural<br />
gas.<br />
Major tourist attractions/Places to<br />
visit:<br />
· The spectacular and beautiful Great<br />
Rift Valley.<br />
· The great Mount Kenya (the second<br />
highest mountain in Africa).<br />
· Maasai Mara Game Reserve and<br />
specifically the wildest migration<br />
across the crocodile infested Mara<br />
River.<br />
38<br />
3RD EDITION | JULY 2017
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