Kenya has 43 ethnic groups.
The population in 1998 was 28 million.
The country covered 220,000 square miles, about twice the size of Nevada.
(SFC, 6/18/97, p.A8)(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A12)
The Bukusu are a Bantu speaking people. They were surrounded by the Nilotic speaking Iteso, Sabaot, and Nandi. The Ndorobo were hunter-gatherers. Other ethnic groups include: the Aweera, the hunter-gatherer Dahalo, the Kamba, Waata, and Boni (Sanye); the pastoral Orma and Somali; and the agricultural Malakote, Pokomo, and Mijikenda. The Cushites were hunter gatherers and pastoralist.
(NH, 6/97, p.40,43)(SFC,12/26/97, p.B7)
Kiswahili is a native Bantu language. (NH, 6/97, p.40)
----------------------------------------------------
6 Million years ago In 2000 French researchers found bones in the Rift Valley of Central Kenya that they called their Millennial Ancestor and believed to be a direct precursor of humans. Dr. Martin Pickford and co-discoverers named the fossil Orrorin tugenensis (orrorin means original man in the Tugen language). The bones were found in the Lukeino Formation of the Tugen Hills.
(SFC, 2/7/01, p.A10)(SSFC, 4/8/01, p.A12)(AM, 7/01, p.25)
c3.5 Million It was reported in 2001 that a new flat-faced hominid skull found by Justus Erus of the Leakey group near Kenya’s Lake Turkana dated to this time. Maeve Leakey named it Kenyanthropus platyops, “the flat-faced man of Kenya.”
(SFC, 3/22/01, p.A2)(AM, 7/01, p.24)
900,000BP In 2004 Scientists from the US, Britain and Kenya reported that a skull fragment of a small adult with some characteristics of Homo erectus was about 900,000 years old. It was found in 2003 in Olorgesalie, 100 miles southeast of the capital, Nairobi, Kenya.
(AP, 7/3/04)
100-200AD In East Africa coastal people lived in village communities. They smelted and forged iron.
(NH, 6/97, p.42)
700-800 The village site of Galu produced the world’s oldest crucible steel.
(NH, 6/97, p.44)
800-900 A timber mosque was built at Shanga.
(NH, 6/97, p.43)
1200-1300 The great palace and main mosque at Gede (Gedi) were built.
(NH, 6/97, p.41)
1300-1400 Lamu Town on Lamu Island dates to at least the 14th century.
(SSFC, 4/15/01, p.T6)
1300-1600 Tombs with decorated pillars called phallic pillars by the locals are widespread among the Oromo of Somalia and Kenya, where they symbolize manhood and indicate interred men.
(NH, 6/97, p.45)
c1500 Gede was abandoned owing to the salinization of the wells and external invasion. The Portuguese arrived with little resistance.
(NH, 6/97, p.43,46)
1500-1700 Lamu Island, off the coast of Kenya, was dominated by the Portuguese after which the Sultan of Oman made it part of his kingdom.
(SSFC, 4/15/01, p.T6)
1810 Lamu Fort was built on Lamu Island.
(SSFC, 4/15/01, p.T7)
1863 Feb 15, Samuel and Florence Baker encountered John Speke and James Grant at the frontier village of Gondokoro (southern Sudan). Speke and Grant said they had found the Nile’s headwaters at a lake they named Victoria (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda).
(ON, 10/01, p.9)
1890s A rail line was established between Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya, and became the Lunatic Express from media speculation that the planners were insane.
(SSFC, 12/22/02, p.C4)
1891 Oct 20, Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya opposition leader and 1st premier (1963-78), was born.
(MC, 10/20/01)
1900-1997 In 1999 Brian Herne of Kenya published "White Hunters," an anecdotal history of safari hunting over this period.
(WSJ, 7/9/99, p.W10)
1902 The African Standard was inaugurated at the completion of the East African Railway from the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa to Lake Victoria. It was launched by A.M. Jeevanjee, a Karachi-born trader. Jeevanjee sold the paper in 1905 to two British businessmen, who changed the name to the East African Standard and in 1910 moved its headquarters to Nairobi. A few months before independence in 1963, the British-based Lonrho Group bought the newspaper. In 1977, it became a tabloid and the name was changed to the Standard. In 1995 Lonrho sold its controlling interest to the Standard Newspapers Group Limited, a company in which prominent Kenyan politicians are believed to have considerable interests. The name was changed back to the East African Standard.
(AP, 11/15/02)
1903 Aug 7, Louis Leakey, anthropologist, archeologist and paleontologist, was born in Kenya. He believed that Africa was the cradle of mankind.
(HN, 8/7/98)(Internet)
1907 The British forced the abolition of slavery on the new Sultan of Zanzibar and Lamu Island went into an economic decline.
(SSFC, 4/15/01, p.T7)
1914-1931 Karen Blixen, Danish author, lived on a farm near Nairobi, Kenya. Her lover was Denys Finch-Hatton. She wrote under the name Isak Dinesen. The two were featured in the 1985 film “Out of Africa” that starred Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. The country was then called British East Africa.
(SFC, 6/17/98, p.E1)(SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T10)
1920 Kenya was made a crown colony.
(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A10)
1924 Daniel arap Moi was born.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)
1936 Mar 22, Roger Whittaker, country singer (Durham Town), was born in Nairobi, Kenya.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1938 Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) wrote her novel: “Out of Africa.”
(SFEC, 11/3/96, BR p.5)
1944 Jan 19, Richard [Erskine Frere] Leakey, anthropologist, was born in Nairobi, Kenya.
(MC, 1/19/02)
1952 The Mau Mau start chopping away in Kenya. The Mau Mau movement was in part due to the white domination of the rich plateau region. The Mau Mau separatist group used a toxic plant to poison 33 steers in an act of rebellion.
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A10)(WSJ, 9/18/01, p.B1)
c1952 The film “Mogambo” was shot in Kenya. Bunny Allen (d.2002 at 95), professional hunter, managed a 300-tent camp for the actors and crew that included Clark Gable and Grace Kelly.
(SFC, 2/18/02, p.B6)
1953 Apr 8, Jomo Kenyatta (1891-1978), one of modern Africa's earliest nationalist leaders, was convicted by Kenya's British rulers for leading the Mau Mau Rebellion against the white settlers of his country. Along with five other Mau Mau leaders, he was subsequently sentenced to seven years' hard labor.
(MC, 4/8/02)
1954 The British government began making preparations for the country’s Independence.
(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A10)
1961 Sep 10, Jomo Kenyatta returned to Kenya from exile, during which he had been elected president of the Kenya National African Union.
(HN, 9/10/98)
1963 May 27, Jomo Kenyatta was elected 1st prime minister of Kenya.
(MC, 5/27/02)
1963 Dec 12, Kenya gained independence from Britain and the Kenyan African National Union Party (KANU) began ruling. Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, was the first president and served until 1978.
(SFC, 10/17/96, A8)(SFC, 7/1/97, p.A9)(AP,12/12/97)(SFC,12/23/97, p.D4)(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A12)
1963 Dec. 13, Kenya became a republic.
(HFA, '96, p.44)
1964 Dec 12, Kenya formally became a republic.
(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A10)(HN, 12/12/98)
1967-1977 The East African Community of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda established a common shilling that lasted only a decade as cooperation fizzled.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A1)
1969 Tom Mboya of the Luo tribe, the expected successor to Jomo Kenyatta, was assassinated.
(SFC,12/23/97, p.D2)
1977 Kamoya Kimenu, asst. to Drs. Louis and Mary Leakey, and later to their son Richard Leakey, was appointed curator pf prehistoric sites for the National Museums of Kenya. In Oct. 1985, the Nat’l. Geog. awarded him with the John Oliver La Gorce Medal for accomplishment in geographic exploration.
(NG, Nov. 1985, edit.)
1977 Kenya banned all hunting but in the next 20 years a half to a third of the wildlife still disappeared.
(WSJ, 7/23/96, p.A22)
1977 Kenya Airways began operating.
(SFC, 1/31/00, p.A5)
1978 Aug 22, In Kenya Pres. Jomo Kenyatta (1963-1978), a leading figure in Kenya's struggle for independence, died at age 83. He was succeeded by Vice President Daniel Arap Moi of the Kalengin tribe, head of the Kenya African National Union.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)(SFC, 6/18/97, p.A8)(SFC,11/27/97, p.B6)(AP, 8/22/98)
1979 Elephant hunting was banned in Kenya with the herd down to 1.3 million.
(SFC, 4/11/00, p.D2)
1980 Jan 3, Conservationist Joy Adamson, author of "Born Free," was killed in northern Kenya by a servant.
(AP, 1/3/98)(WSJ, 9/8/00, p.W4)
1980 Dec 31, A bomb blast wrecked the Jewish-owned Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 15 people and wounding more than 80.
(NYT, 10/8/04, p.A12)
1980 In Nairobi the Carnivore Restaurant was established by Martin and Geraldine Dunford.
(SFEC, 6/20/99, p.T14)
1987 Nov 1, Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya won the New York City Marathon in two hours, 11 minutes and one second; Priscilla Welch of Britain led the women in two hours, 30 minutes and 16 seconds.
(AP, 11/1/97)
1987 Ngonya wa Gakonya founded his Tent of the Living God, with an anti-Western creed based on traditional rituals for age-based groups of the Kikuyu. The sect was banned in 1990 and Gakonya was briefly jailed. The Mungiki was a sister sect.
(SFC, 4/1/00, p.A12,14)
1988 Sep, Julie Ward was killed in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. In 1998 game warden Simon ole Makallah was arrested for the murder.
(SFC, 9/16/98, p.C2)
1989 May 11, Kenya announced that it would seek a worldwide ban on the trade of ivory -- a move intended to preserve its fast-dwindling elephant herds.
(AP, 5/11/99)
1989 Paleontologist Richard Leakey founded the Kenya Wildlife Service.
(SFC, 9/1/04, p.A10)
1989 George Adamson, husband of Joy Adamson, was slaughtered at his Kora wilderness preserve. In 2000 the TV documentary “To Walk with Lions” dramatized his final days.
(WSJ, 9/8/00, p.W4)
1990 Nov 4, Douglas Wakiihuri of Kenya and Wanda Panfil of Poland won the New York City Marathon.
(AP, 11/4/00)
1991 Foreign donors forced Daniel arap Moi to agree to multiparty politics as a condition to aid.
(SFC, 10/17/96, C2)
1991 Pres. Daniel Arap Moi altered the constitution to insure his being elected. The winner was required to take at least 25% of the vote in 5 of 8 provinces. Only a party with a national base could thus win.
(SFC, 6/18/97, p.A8)
1991 Thousands of Bantus fled Somalia for Kenya. In 1999 the US designated this group of people as persecuted and eligible for resettlement in the US.
(NW, 9/2/02, p.35)
1991-1995 In Kenya an estimated 1500 were killed and 300,000 forced from their homes in clashes between Pres. Daniel arap Moi’s Kalenjin ethnic group and the Kikuyu, Luo and Luhya tribes over this time.
(SFC, 6/19/97, p.A12)
1992 Apr 20, Defending champion Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya became the sixth three-time winner of the Boston Marathon, while Russia's Olga Markova won the women's division.
(AP, 4/20/97)
1992 In Kenya the Kakuma camp was founded for some 30,000 refugees from Sudan.
(WSJ, 10/23/02, p.B1)
1992 Daniel arap Moi was re-elected with 36% of the vote.
(SFC, 10/17/96, A8)
1992 The government stopped licensing any new parties that applied for registration.
(SFC, 10/17/96, C2)
1992 In Rift Valley province state security forces stood by as the Kalenjin and Kikuyu tribes battled each other prior to the presidential elections. Ethnic Kikuyus, Luhyas and Luos, who supported the opposition, were attacked by members of Moi’s home province Kalenjin group.
(WSJ, 12/10/96, p.A22)(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A10)
1992 Three Somali clans in the Wajir district -- the Ajuran, Ogaden and Degodia broke out into war after the elections. More than 2,000 people were killed.
(SFC,12/23/97, p.D2)
1993 Jul 10, Kenyan runner Yobes Ondieki became the first man to run 10,000 meters in less than 27 minutes.
(HN, 7/10/98)
1993 Paleontologist Richard Leakey lost his legs in a plane wreck.
(SFC, 9/1/04, p.A10)
1993-1995 Some 50,000 flamingos died in the area of Lake Nakuru.
(SFC, 3/20/00, p.A14)
1994 Apr 29, Ferry boat smashed into Mombasa Harbor, Kenya, and over 300 were killed.
(MC, 4/29/02)
1995 Jul, Paleontologist Richard Leakey began a new political party, Safina, as an alternative to KANU (Kenya African National Union) and FORD-Kenya (Forum for Restoration of Democracy).
(SFC, 10/17/96, A8)
1995 Ethnic riots continue for a second day in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, between the Luos and the Nubians.
(WSJ, 10/17/95, A-1)
1995 Pres. Daniel arap Moi defended the Nigerian government in the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa.
(SFC, 10/22/95, P.5) (WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A16)
1995 The three Somali clans in the Wajir district -- the Ajuran, Ogaden and Degodia settled their differences in a peace agreement that led to the formation of the Wajir Peace and Development Committee.
(SFC,12/23/97, p.D2)
1996 May 22, Amnesty International reported that Kenyan doctors were pressured to ignore evidence of torture.
(SFC, 5/22/96, p.A9)
1996 Aug, A new rite was instituted as an alternative to female circumcision. The “ntanira na mugambo” (circumcision through words) rite included a week-long counseling program capped by a “coming of age day.”
(SFC, 9/16/98, p.A23)
1996 Dec 9, Archaeologist and anthropologist Mary Leakey died in Nairobi, Kenya at age 83.
(SFC, 12/10/96, p.A6)(AP,12/9/97)
1996 Dec 18, Police killed 2 students who were protesting the killing of another student on the previous day.
(SFC, 12/19/96, p.C4)
1996 Wycliffe Olouch, head librarian in the Garissa District, began using camels to bring books to children in remote areas.
(SFC, 12/9/98, p.B3)
1997 Jan 5, The Daily Nation reported that a man stole $1 million by impersonating a Citibank bank employee. The money had been shipped from NY to a Kenyan airport freight terminal at the Nairobi Int’l. Airport.
(SFC, 1/9/96, p.A12)
1997 Jan 25, It was reported that mass starvation was threatening after a widespread draught this season.
(SFC, 1/25/97, p.A18)
1997 Feb 22, Wadih el-Hage, a secretary to Osama bin Laden, returned to Kenya from Sudan.
(SFEC, 1/23/00, p.A24)
1997 Jun, The IMF froze $30 million in direct aid after the Moi administration dropped charges against a group of KANU businessmen accused of defrauding the state of about $500 million.
(SFC, 7/12/97, p.A11)
1997 Jun-Nov, A cholera epidemic in Kisumu and other towns around Lake Victoria killed 200 people over this period due to contaminated drinking water. The disease peaked in January after some 3,000 deaths across East Africa.
(SFEC,11/2/97, p.T14)(SFC, 1/22/98, p.E4)
1997 Jul 7, In Kenya 9 people died during protests for constitutional reform.
(SFC, 7/8/97, p.A8)(SFC, 7/12/97, p.A10)
1997 Jul 9, Armed police shut down the Univ. of Nairobi and clubbed students who demanded free and fair elections.
(SFC, 7/10/97, p.C2)
1997 Jul 14, Thousands of students fought riot police in Nairobi and demanded constitutional reforms. Nairobi Univ. and Jomo Kenyatta Univ. were closed indefinitely.
(SFC, 7/15/97, p.A10)
1997 Aug 8, A nationwide strike was called and declared illegal by the government. In Nairobi a crowd of some 2,000 gathered and killed Gilbert Simiyu, a plainclothes police officer. The strike turned into a riot with looting.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997 Aug 12, It was reported that the World Bank joined the IMF in withholding credit due to government corruption.
(SFC, 8/12/97, p.A1)
1997 Aug 14, Six officers and 7 civilians were killed in Mombasa when assailants burned down a police station.
(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A17)
1997 Aug 19, Some 300 kiosks were burned in Malindi.
(SFC, 8/21/97, p.A12)
1997 Aug 20, Police arrested 2 KANU politicians for instigating violence along the coastal region. Karisa Maitha and Omar Masumbuko lent credence that KANU officials were attempting to divert attention from the reformist movement.
(SFC, 8/21/97, p.A12)
1997 Aug 22, Armed marauders attacked a church filled with some 2,500 refugees and killed 2 refugees and wounded a police guard in Linkoni.
(SFC, 8/23/97, p.A12)
1997 Aug 29, Thousands fled from the Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast in fear of ethnic violence and attacks from government security forces.
(SFC, 8/30/97, p.A12)
1997 Aug, Kenyan police with US investigators raided the home of Wadih el-Hage and seized his papers and computer. Hage was arrested a year later for his ties to Osama bin Laden and terrorist conspiracy.
(SFEC, 1/23/00, p.A21)
1997 Sep 4, It was reported that the unemployment rate was 35%.
(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A10)
1997 Sep 11, The Parliament approved some constitutional reforms but opponents charged the measures were only meant to diffuse protests. Detention without trial was ended and greater media access to the opposition was to be established.
(WSJ, 9/12/97, p.A1)
1997 Oct 6, The government refused to legalize the Safina (Swahili for ark) Party led by Richard Leakey.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A18)
1997 Oct 10, Riot police beat up opposition members of parliament while Pres. Moi gave a speech on “Moi Day,” marking 19 years in power.
(SFC, 10/11/97, p.A10)
1997 Oct 13, Teachers ended a 12-day strike after the government agreed to a 200% raise. Their salaries had averaged $35 per month.
(SFC, 10/14/97, p.A12)
1997 Nov 2, John Kagwe of Kenya won the 28th New York City Marathon in two hours, 8 minutes and 12 second.
(WSJ, 11/3/97, p.A1)
1997 Nov 7, Pres. Daniel arap Moi signed a package of political and constitutional reforms that make Kenya a multiparty democracy and provide residents greater freedom of speech.
(SFC,11/8/97, p.A12)
1997 Nov 10, Pres. Moi dissolved parliament in preparation for general elections. The National Convention Assembly denounced the move as illegal.
(SFC,11/11/97, p.A12)
1997 Nov 26, The government lifted a ban on the liberal Safina party.
(SFC,11/27/97, p.B6)
1997 Dec 29, General elections were scheduled. The law required the winner to receive 25% of the vote. The elections were extended one day amid widespread delays and confusion at the polls. Two people were killed during a riot near Nairobi.
(SFC,11/13/97, p.B2)(SFC,12/26/97, p.B7)(WSJ, 12/30/97, p.A1)
1997 Dec 31, Projected counts indicated that Moi would win the elections with about 40% of the vote. Former vice-president Mwai Kibaki had about 30%.
(SFC, 1/1/98, p.A17)
1998 Jan 5, Daniel arap Moi was scheduled to be inaugurated as president after the elections gave him 40% or 2,445,801 votes.
(SFC, 1/5/98, p.A12)
1998 Jan 16, The WHO recommended that travelers take precautions against Rift Valley Fever, a mosquito born disease that has killed 300 people.
(SFC, 1/17/98, p.A10)
1998 Jan 28, It was reported that 77 people died in the month in attacks aimed at ethnic Kikuyus, who opposed Pres. Moi’s re-election.
(WSJ, 1/28/98, p.A1)
1998 Feb 5, Pres. Moi imposed a curfew on towns in the Rift Valley where over 100 people have died in ethnic and political violence. Jomo Kenyatta Univ. in Nairobi was closed following a protest against the violence.
(WSJ, 2/6/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 26, A fire at a school near Mombasa killed 25 teenage girls in their dormitory.
(WSJ, 3/26/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 20, Moses Tanui of Kenya won the 102nd Boston Marathon in 2 hrs, 7 min . and 43 sec.
(WSJ, 4/21/98, p.A1)
1998 May 15, Three African nations, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, announced plans for an economic, political and social union.
(SFC, 5/16/98, p.A11)
1998 Jul 8, It was reported that elephant poaching had increased in Kenya.
(SFC, 7/9/98, p.A11)
1998 Jul 23, John Msafari, head of the revenue collection authority, was ordered arrested along with 15 other officials and businessmen on charges of defrauding the government of some $3.9 million.
(SFC, 7/24/98, p.D2)
1998 Jul 29, John Harun Mwau, head of the anti-corruption authority, was suspended by Pres. Moi.
(SFC, 7/31/98, p.D2)
1998 Aug 7, Two powerful bombs exploded at the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. At least 147 [244-247] people were killed and over 4,800 were injured. 11 [12] of the dead were Americans. In Nairobi at least 53 buildings were damaged. The adjacent Ufundi Cooperative House was demolished and the 22-story Cooperative Bank House had all its windows shattered. Haroun Fazil of the Comoros Islands was later the 3rd bombing suspect to be charged in the Kenya bombing. In 2001 Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-‘Owhali (24) of Saudi Arabia, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed (27) of Tanzania, Wadi El-Hage (40) of Texas, and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh (36) of Jordan were convicted on 302 counts.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/18/98, p.A1)(AP, 8/7/99)(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A13)
1998 Aug 7, Catherine Bwire (25) was one of 25 people blinded by the bombing in Nairobi. She was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter on Oct 27.
(SFC, 11/25/98, p.A16)
1998 Aug 7, In Pakistan Sadik Howaida (34), later named as Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, was detained at the Karachi airport. He reportedly confessed to participating in the bombing in Nairobi. He said that he and 2 coconspirators had left Nairobi and planned to enter Afghanistan a few days before the bombing. He acknowledged that the team was recruited and financed by Osama bin Laden who was ensconced in a fortress-style hideout in Kandahar. Odeh later refused to admit responsibility to American officials.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.A17)(SFC, 8/17/98, p.12,17)(SFC, 8/18/98, p.A6)
1998 Aug 7, In 2000 Ali Mohamed, a former US Army sergeant, pleaded guilty for his role in the bombing under the direction of Osama bin Laden.
(SFC, 10/21/00, p.A1)
1998 Aug 8, A group called the Liberation Arm of the Islamic Sanctuaries claimed responsibility and threatened more attacks. Israeli troops began to arrive to assist in rescue efforts.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A1)(SFC, 8/10/98, p.A13)
1998 Aug 18, FBI agents, acting on a tip from Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, raided The Hilltop Hotel in Nairobi and confiscated 175 pounds of TNT. The room was reported to have been occupied by 2 Palestinians, a Saudi and an Egyptian from Aug 3 to Aug 7.
(SFC, 8/19/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 7, In Kenya the Central Bank took closed the Reliance Bank due to insufficient deposits. Five businessmen and 4 officials were charged with fraud.
(WSJ, 9/21/98, p.A22)
1998 Sep 17, In Kenya the Central Bank took over the Trust Bank due to insufficient funds, the 2nd closure in 10 days.
(WSJ, 9/21/98, p.A22)
1998 Sep, Richard Leakey was asked by Pres. Moi to head Kenya’s wildlife services. In Oct. Leakey resigned from parliament to spend full time with the wildlife services.
(SFC, 10/28/98, p.A12)
1998 Oct 5, In Kenya teachers went on a nationwide strike over failed pay raises. 7 million students were idled.
(SFC, 10/6/98, p.A12)
1998 Nov 1, John Kagwe of Kenya won the NY Marathon in 2:8:45. Franca Fiacconi of Italy won among the women in 2:25:17.
(WSJ, 11/2/98, p.A1)
1999 Jan 19, From Kenya it was reported that Pres. Daniel arap Moi ordered the prohibition of new political parties.
(SFC, 1/19/99, p.A6)
1999 Feb 1, In Nairobi, Kenya students protested for a 3rd day against plans for construction in a virgin forest.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 3, It was reported that Kenyan fisherman were using toxic agricultural chemicals instead of nets to increase their catch and income from $8 to $240. The idea supposedly originated in Uganda. Some fishermen were arrested and beaches were closed.
(SFC, 2/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Feb 16, Turkish commandoes captured Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya.
(SFC, 2/17/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 24, In Kenya a train enroute to Mombasa derailed at high speed in Tsavo East National Park and at least 32 people were killed.
(SFC, 3/25/99, p.A9)
1999 Apr 14, The US pledged $37 million to help the Kenyan victims of the 1998 US Embassy bombing in Nairobi.
(SFC, 4/15/99, p.A15)
1999 Apr 19, The 103rd Boston Marathon was won by Joseph Chebet of Kenya in 2h:9m:52s. Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia won the women's category in 2:23:25.
(WSJ, 4/20/99, A1)
1999 May 29, It was reported that army worms had destroyed over 247,000 acres in Kenya alone and that Burundi and Rwanda were also infested.
(SFC, 5/29/99, p.A4)
1999 Jul, An estimated 3,000 members of the 28,000 member Mukurwe-ini Coffee Growers Cooperative took up arms in an effort to split and sell directly to bean millers due to alleged corruption. Farmers were lucky to see 6 cents per pound for beans that sold fort $1.06 to $1.16 per pound on the int'l. market.
(SFC, 11/26/99, p.B5)
1999 Sep 23, In Kenya police reported that 23 people in Embu were killed by methanol liquor disguised as whiskey.
(SFC, 9/24/99, p.A14)
1999 Sep 30, In Kenya Catholic bishops issued a pastoral letter that warned of civil arrest due to corruption, poverty and other problems. Pres. Moi was blamed for stalling constitutional reform.
(SFC, 10/1/99, p.D4)
1999 Oct 2, It was reported that the flamingos of Lake Nakuru had migrated away to other locations. Environmental stress from industrial refuse and other wastes was blamed. Fluctuating salinity was also suspect in that flamingoes feed on the algae spirulina platensis, which blooms in saline waters. It was later reported that tens of thousands of flamingos on Lake Bogoria had died since July due to heavy metals. Flamingo deaths in 2000 were estimated at 600 per day.
(SFC, 10/2/99, p.A9)(SFC, 3/4/00, p.A8)(SFC, 3/20/00, p.A12)
1999 Oct 22, US Sec. of State Albright visited Kenya and discussed efforts to curb AIDS which was claiming 500 Kenyans a day.
(SFC, 10/23/99, p.A11)
1999 Oct 30, In Kenya it was reported that thousands of residents were feared to have been exposed to radiation from a thorium compound used in roadway construction materials in Msambweni
(SFC, 10/30/99, p.A8)
1999 The US designated the Somali Bantus in Kenya as persecuted and eligible for resettlement in the US.
(NW, 9/2/02, p.35)
2000 Jan 24, In Uganda members of the Karamojong tribe attacked and killed 14-100 herders from Kenya's Pokot tribe in the northern Moriat Hills.
(SFC, 1/28/00, p.A15)
2000 Jan 30, A Kenyan Airbus 310 crashed into the sea after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Kenya Airways Flight 431 carried 179 people and 10 survivors were pulled from the water.
(SFC, 1/31/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/31/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 18, It was reported that some 10,000 cattle, 25,000 camels and 20,000 goats had starved to death over the last 3 months. 2 million people face famine and 20 died in the last 2 weeks in the Wajir district.
(SFC, 3/18/00, p.C16)
2000 Mar 29, In Kenya at least 101 people were killed when a speeding bus collided with another bus in Kericho. The death toll was reduced to 74.
(SFC, 3/30/00, p.A18)(SFC, 3/31/00, p.E4)
2000 Apr 17, Elijah Lagat of Kenya won the 104th Boston Marathon. Catherine Ndereba of Kenya won the women’s race.
(WSJ, 4/18/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr, Nearly 200 lions were culled from the Aberdare National Park in an effort to protect the bongo antelope population from extinction.
(SFC, 4/29/00, p.A11)
2000 Jun 17, An ongoing drought was reported to have caused hungry baboons into villages in search of food. A crop failure for the 3rd consecutive year placed 22 million Kenyans on the brink of starvation.
(SFC, 6/17/00, p.D8)
2000 Jul 21, It was reported that the drought in Kenya had caused water and electricity rationing in Nairobi and an appeal to the UN for $88 million to feed 3.3 million people. 13 million people in 6 countries around the Horn of Africa were at risk of starvation.
(SFC, 7/21/00, p.B7)
2000 Aug 20, In Kenya 16 people were killed after 9 runaway train cars carrying liquefied gas derailed and exploded at the Athi River station. 9 of 37 injured died soon after.
(SFC, 8/21/00, p.A10)(SFC, 8/22/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 24, John Kaiser (67), an American priest of the Society of St. Joseph, was found shot to death near Naivasha, Kenya. Kaiser was critical of the government’s human rights record.
(SFC, 8/25/00, p.D7)(AP, 8/11/03)
2000 Sep 4, It was reported that Tiomin Resources, a Canadian mining firm, planned to build a $150 million strip mine at a 6,000-acre site at Kwale, 39 miles south of Mombasa. Some 5,000 small farmers were to be affected. Tiomin was offering deeded owners $115 an acre and $25 per year for use of the acre. A 20-year production run was planned to start in 2002.
(SFC, 9/4/00, p.A8)
2000 Sep 18, It was reported that Kenya was losing 50,000 ebony trees annually due to the thriving wood-carving industry. An estimated 80,000 carvers used the wood.
(SFC, 9/18/00, p.A8)
2000 Nov 16, Officials reported that 68 people had died over the last 2 days from home-brewed alcohol laced with high-octane fuel and mentholated spirit. The toll was raised to 113 a day later.
(SFC, 11/17/00, p.D2)(SFC, 11/18/00, p.C16)
2001 Jan 15, In East Africa the presidents of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda formed a regional partnership, reviving one that collapsed in 1978.
(SFC, 1/16/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 6, In Kenya the 1st experimental AIDS vaccine, specifically designed for Africa, was administered.
(SFC, 3/7/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 26, A dorm fire at the Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos killed 58 youths. One of 2 doors was bolted shut and arson was suspected. The toll soon rose to 64 as more students died from burns.
(SFC, 3/27/01, p.F1)(SFC, 3/30/01, p.D4)
2001 Apr 1, A bus rammed a vehicle on a bridge and both plunged into the Sabaki River. At least 35 people were killed.
(SFC, 4/14/01, p.A10)
2001 Apr 16, Lee Bong Ju of South Korea won the men’s Boston Marathon in 2:09:43. Catherine Ndereba of Kenya won among the women in 2:23:53.
(WSJ, 4/17/01, p.A1)
2001 May 26, Sec. of State Colin Powell met with Pres. Daniel arap Moi of Kenya and urged to step aside for the 2002 elections.
(SSFC, 5/27/01, p.A12)
2001, Aug 25, It was reported that Eric Wainaina (27), singer, had a hit with his song “Nchi Ya Kitu Kidogo,” Kiswahili for “The Country of Something Small,” a reference to bribes and corruption.
(SFC, 8/25/01, p.A8)
2001 Nov 4, Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia won the NYC Marathon in record time, 2:07:43. Margaret Okayo of Kenya set a woman’s record of 2:24:21.
(WSJ, 11/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 10, In Kenya Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, an al Qaeda operative, was arrested in Mandera near the Somalia border for involvement in the Aug 7, 1998 US Embassy bombing.
(SFC, 12/11/01, p.A13)
2002 Mar 3, In Kenya the Taliban gang (Kikuyu) killed 2 members of the Mungiki gang (Luo). The violence in east Nairobi left at least 20 people dead.
(SFC, 3/5/02, p.A7)
2002 Apr, The government ended an air traffic controllers’ strike by firing them.
(SSFC, 4/21/02, p.C7)
2002 May 8, The parliament approved an Amended Books and Newspapers Act that made it illegal to sell publications that had not been submitted to the government for review.
(SFC, 5/10/02, p.A20)
2002 Jun, A Masai village donated 14 cows to the US after belatedly hearing of the Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.A15)
2002 Jul 13, Police in northern Kenya opened fire on protesters outside a U.N. refugee camp, killing three people.
(AP, 7/13/02)
2002 Jul 19, Kenyan police fired tear gas to disperse university students protesting in downtown Nairobi in a second day of rioting over the shooting death of a student.
(AP, 7/19/02)
2002 Jul 19, Britain's government said it would pay $7 million in compensation to more than 220 Kenyans who say they are victims of unexploded ammunition left behind by British troops.
(AP, 7/20/02)
2002 Oct 14, In Kenya Pres. Moi anointed Uhurru Kenyatta (41), the son of former 1st Pres. Jomo Kenyatta, as his successor. Tens of thousands gathered to protest his decision.
(SFC, 10/15/02, p.A9)
2002 Oct 24, In Kenya would-be carjackers shot and killed Esterlin Abdi Arush (45), a Somali human rights activist, at the gate of the house where she was staying in Nairobi.
(AP, 10/25/02)
2002 Oct 25, In Kenya Pres. Daniel arap Moi announced the end of his 24-year rule, dissolved parliament and kicked off the campaign for a new elections.
(SFC, 10/26/02, p.A6)
2002 Nov 3, The NYC marathon was won by Rodgers Rop of Kenya in 2:08:06; Joyce Cehpchumba of Kenya won the women’s title in 2:25:55.
(WSJ, 11/4/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov 28, In Kenya 3 suicide bombers attacked an Israeli-owned hotel, killing 13 other people. At least two missiles were fired at, but missed, an Israeli airliner taking off from the Mombasa airport.
(AP, 11/28/02)(SFC, 11/29/02, p.A1)(SFC, 11/30/02, p.A1)
2002 Dec 5, Kenya’s Pres. Moi and Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi met at the White House with Pres. Bush to discuss terrorism as well as drought, AIDS and other problems facing Africa.
(AP, 12/6/02)
2002 Dec 27, In Kenya political veteran Mwai Kibaki (71), head of an opposition alliance that promised to fight corruption and revive Kenya's ailing economy, won the elections over Uhuru Kenyatta 62% to 31%. The opposition alliance won 125 of 210 elective seats in the National Assembly, breaking the ruling party's 39-year grip on power.
(AP, 12/28/02)(SFC, 12/28/02, p.A11)(AP, 12/31/02)(AP, 1/2/03)
2003 Jan 6, In Kenya 12 people were killed when members of the outlawed Mungiki sect attacked minibus operators over control of bus stops in Nakuru, 84 miles northwest of Nairobi. 38 people were soon arrested.
(AP, 1/7/03)
2003 Jan 17, In Kenya informer William Mwaura Munuhe (27) was found dead at his home in the affluent Nairobi suburb of Karen, two days after the U.S. Embassy and Kenyan police tried to trap genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga.
(AP, 1/21/03)
2003 Jan 24, A plane carrying members of Kenya's new government crashed, killing one minister, two pilots and injuring at least three other members of the government.
(AP, 1/24/03)
2003 Feb 25, In Kenya Pres. Mwai Kibaki ordered the release of 28 death row inmates and commuted the death sentences of another 195 inmates to life in prison, following his campaign pledge to reform Kenya’s prison system.
(AP, 2/25/03)
2003 Mar 3, In Kenya US diplomats opened a new embassy in Nairobi, replacing the one destroyed 4 ½ years ago when terrorists launched attacks.
(AP, 3/4/03)
2003 May 4, In Kenya floods caused by two weeks of heavy rain have washed out roads and submerged entire villages, killing at least 30 people and forcing thousands from their homes.
(AP, 5/5/03)
2003 May 15, Britain cancelled all flights to and from Kenya following US warnings of a possible terrorist attack.
(SFC, 5/16/03, p.A12)
2003 May 26, Thomas R. Odhiambo (72), the Kenyan scientist who founded an int'l insect research center renowned for giving African farmers low-cost solutions for pest control, died. He founded the African Academy of Sciences in 1985.
(AP, 5/28/03)
2003 Jun 3, Police in Nairobi, Kenya, said a landlord's thugs had hacked 9 people to death in a campaign to drive out shanty tenants and raise rents.
(WSJ, 6/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Jul 2, A group of 650 Kenyan women won the right to sue the British Ministry of Defense for rapes by British soldiers that took place over a 26 year period beginning in 1977.
(SFC, 7/3/03, p.A14)
2003 Jul 19, In Kenya a twin-engine plane carrying 12 American tourists and two South African crew members en route to a game reserve crashed into Mount Kenya, apparently killing everyone on board.
(AP, 7/20/03)
2003 Aug 1, In Kenya a terrorist suspect detonated a hand grenade as he was being arrested near Mombasa's central police station, killing himself and a policeman.
(AP, 8/1/03)
2003 Aug 19, It was reported that women in Kenya had begun rebelling against a traditional "cleansing" ritual whereby new widows were required to sleep with a designated "cleanser" in order to be inherited by male relatives and freed of haunting spirits.
(SFC, 8/19/03, p.A10)
2003 Aug 23, Michael Kijana Wamalwa (58), Kenya's 8th Vice President, died of an undisclosed illness after several months of treatment in a hospital near London.
(AP, 8/23/03)
2003 Aug, Odhiambo Mbai, Kenya political scientist, was assassinated. He was a key man in efforts to redraft the constitution.
(Econ, 10/11/03, p.50)
2003 Sep 15, In Kenya gunmen burst into the home of a senior delegate to a constitutional convention and shot him to death.
(AP, 9/15/03)
2003 Oct 6, Pres. Bush met with Kenya's Pres. Kibaki, who asked for help in stabilizing Somalia.
(WSJ, 10/7/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct, In Kenya Pres. Kibaki suspended half of the 12-man appeal court and 17 of the high court's 44 judges. 82 or the country's 254 magistrates were also sent home. An official inquiry revealed that some judges had specific charges for favorable verdicts. Replacements were chosen by members of the "Mount Kenya Mafia," a group of ministers and mates from the president's Kikuyu tribe.
(Econ, 11/29/03, p.44)
2003 Nov 4, Kenyan-born former physicist M.G. Vassanji was awarded this year's Giller Prize, Canada's most glamorous and lucrative literary award. He took home C$25,000 prize for his novel, "The In-Between World of Vikram Lall."
(AP, 11/5/03)
2003 Nov 11, It was reported that the 1st issue of Kwani (So What) magazine, edited by Binyavanga Wainaina (32), was launched as a quarterly journal of Kenyan creative writing.
(SFC, 11/11/03, p.D9)
2003 Dec 4, In Kisumu, Kenya, Tommy Thompson, US Sec. of Health and Human Services, dedicated a new $6.4 million field laboratory to be operated by the CDC. It was the largest of its kind in Africa. The local TB and malaria rates were among the highest in the world.
(SFC, 12/5/03, p.A5)
2004 Jan 8, In Kenya a new agreement, between the Ministry of Education and the country's largest and oldest orphanage for HIV-positive children, allowed a group of children infected with the virus that causes AIDS to attend public schools.
(AP, 1/10/04)
2004 Feb 7, In northern Kenya tribal fighting between cattle rustlers and herdsmen killed at least 13 people, including three children.
(AP, 2/11/04)
2004 Feb 19, In Kenya a fire raced through a Nairobi slum, destroying hundreds of ramshackle tin and timber houses and leaving 4,500 families homeless.
(AP, 2/20/04)
2004 Apr 19, In the Boston Marathon Timothy Cherigat of Kenya won for the men at 2:10:37; Catherine Ndereba of Kenya won for the women at 2:24:27.
(WSJ, 4/20/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr, Pres. Kibaki’s government announced that Kenya would no longer recognize Somali passports.
(Econ, 6/12/04, p.46)
2004 Aug 1, A Kenyan government spokesman said 7 truck drivers taken hostage in Iraq have been released.
(AP, 8/1/04)
2004 Sep 28, Kenya said it will push for an international ban on trade in lion trophies and skins, expressing concern that the African lion is "under threat."
(AP, 9/28/04)
2004 Oct 8, Wangari Maathai (64) of Kenya won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. During the 1980s and 1990s, she also campaigned against government oppression and founded Kenya's Green Party in 1987. She was repeatedly arrested and beaten for protesting former President Daniel arap Moi's environmental policies and human rights record. In 1991 Maathai won the Goldman Environmental Prize.
(AP, 10/8/04)(SFC, 10/9/04, p.A14)
2004 Nov 18, The UN Security Council opened an extraordinary two-day session in Nairobi, the first outside its New York headquarters in 14 years. Sudan topped the agenda. Great Lakes regional foreign ministers approved a pact for greater cross-border cooperation and confidence-building. It was due to be adopted at a summit in Dar es Salaam.
(AP, 11/18/04)(AP, 11/19/04)
2004 Nov 19, Rebel officials and the Sudanese government committed themselves to ending the 21-year civil war in southern Sudan before January, signing an agreement at a special meeting of the UN Security Council in Kenya.
(AP, 11/19/04)
2004 Nov 19, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged leaders of Africa's blood-soaked Great Lakes region to implement a peace plan that could herald a "new era" for millions of Africans.
(AP, 11/19/04)
No comments:
Post a Comment