| 1895 |
Kenya became a British protectorate. |
| 1899 |
Land regulations enabled white settlers to expropriate much of the indigenous peoples' fertile land in the highlands. |
| 1915 |
The British colonial administration instituted policies thwarting Africans from owning land in the Rift Valley area. The creation of the "White Highlands" displaced thousands of African nomadic groups (the Kalenjin, Maasai, Samburu, and Turkana) who had lived in the area. While the colonial settlers ousted these pastoralists who were unfit for providing agricultural labor, they recruited cheap labor from the neighboring areas (now Central, Nyanza and Western Provinces). Thousands of Kikuyu, Kisii, Luhya, and Luo squatters were brought into the Rift Valley area in the early 1900s. |
| 1921 - 1930 |
European and Indian settlers made political claims. African political activity began to be organized, especially among the Kikuyu in Nairobi and among the Luo. |
| 1923 |
The British colonial administration attempted to curb European and Indian aspirations for internal self-government. |
| 1925 |
Local native councils were introduced. |
| 1929 |
Jomo Kenyatta, a leader of the Kikuyu Central Association, went to the Colonial Office in London to present the Kikuyu's land claims. He stayed there until 1947. |
| 1939 |
The colonial regime settled over 4,000 Kikuyu squatters on the areas (including Olenguruone, now in the Nakuru District) which had originally belonged to the Maasai. |
| 1944 |
For the first time, an African was appointed to a position in the Legislative Assembly. The Kikuyu-led Kenya African Union (KAU), the first nationalist movement, was established. The Kikuyu had been the most politically organized group for over 20 years. |
| 1947 |
Jomo Kenyatta returned to Kenya and became President of the KAU. Rising population, land shortages, erosion, urban unemployment, and increasing discontent with white settlers' "apartheid" attitude had led many Africans to increase anti-colonial nationalistic activities. |
| 1952 - 1956 |
A terrorist campaign was launched by the Mau Mau, a secret society consisting primarily of Kikuyu. It was both a civil war among the Kikuyu and a challenge to colonial authority. The British imposed a state of emergency and brutally suppressed the Mau Mau, killing about 13,000 Africans and relocating more than 100,000 Kikuyu under harsh conditions. |
| 1953 |
KAU was banned and Kenyatta jailed for his alleged involvement in the Mau Mau rebellion. |
| 1956 |
The Mau Mau uprising was defeated, but ultimately it helped bring about Kenyan independence in 1963. |
| 1957 |
Africans members were elected to the legislative council on a limited franchise. |
| 1960 |
The state of emergency imposed on 1952 was lifted. The British agreed to set a date for the transition to majority rule. The Kenya African National Union (KANU), a descendant of KAU, was formed. The KANU (led by Kenyatta, Oginga Odinga, and Tom Mboya) was formed by the country's two largest ethnic groups, the Kikuyu and Luo. |
| 1961 |
Kenyatta was released from detention. The British were forced to introduce a new policy which allowed Africans to buy and farm the White Highlands. Kenya's first pre-independence general elections were held. The KANU defeated the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU). The KADU (led by Masinde Muliro, Daniel arap Moi, and Ronald Ngala) represented smaller and less advantaged ethnic groups of the Great Rift Valley and coastal areas, including the Kalenjin. The KADU advocated Majimboism (regionalism in Swahili) which would create ethnic-based, semi-autonomous regions. |
| Dec 1963 |
The constitution set up a multi-party system. Three political parties, the KANU, KADU, and the African People's Party (APP), contested the second general elections. The KANU won and Majimboism was abandoned. |
| Dec 12, 1963 |
Kenya became independent. Kenyatta became Prime Minister and began to consolidate his broad coalition by recruiting members from diverse ethnic groups and ideological factions. |
| Dec 1964 |
The Republic of Kenya was declared and Kenyatta became President. He handpicked Oginga Odinga (from a radical faction of the KANU) as a Luo Vice President. A conflict within the KADU between Luhya and Kalenjin over the land in the Great Rift Valley took place. Kenyatta resolved the conflict in favor of the Kalenjin under the condition of the merger. Following the relatively voluntary dissolution of the KADU and the APP, the ruling KANU became the sole legal party and regional powers were abolished. The absorption of KADU reinforced the conservative faction in KANU. Between 1964 and 1978, President Kenyatta was twice re-elected and the Kikuyu disproportionally held political positions. The Kikuyu obtained large tracts of the fertile land in the process of the Africanization of the former White Highlands at the cost of other groups, including the Kalenjin. Many Kikuyu believed that they had suffered the most during the colonial period and therefore they should benefit the most from independence. In the meantime, the Kalenjin turned westward against the Luhya. Since independence, Kenya continued as a stable state and its economic growth rate was 6.2 percent in the decade 1964-1974. |
| 1966 |
The Kenya People's Union (KPU), led by Vice President Odinga (a Luo), was formed. The radical faction of KANU defected to the KPU. Subsequently, Daniel arap Moi, a Kalenjin and a former KADU leader, became Vice President. |
| 1968 |
The constitution was amended to make the Vice President acting president in case of the president's death. |
| 1969 |
Tom Mboya, the Luo secretary-general of KANU and the expected successor to Kenyatta, was assassinated. Ethnic violence between the Kikuyu and the Luo erupted. President Kenyatta banned the KPU and detained its leaders. Kenya became a de facto one-party state. Many Kenyans considered Kenyatta's repressive response as a means of consolidating the power of the KANU and the Kikuyu. Several Kikuyu political leaders were associated with a tribal organization called the Gikuyu/Kikuyu, Embu, Meru Association (GEMA) which was aiming to keep Kikuyu political hegemony. Despite the country's independence, land claims of communal pastoral groups such as the Maasai and Kalenjin who were evicted from the Rift Valley area during the colonial period were not accommodated. British settlers continued to own much of the fertile farmland. A land settlement scheme was established for those British settlers who wanted to sell their land. Encouraged and supported by Kenyatta, Kenyan squatter labor, particularly Kikuyu farmers, left the overpopulated Central Province and purchased land in the Rift Valley during the 1960s and 1970s. |
| 1970 |
Vice President Moi became the most visible non-Kikuyu politician. |
| 1976 - 1977 |
GEMA failed to introduce a constitutional amendment to prevent non-Kikuyu Vice President Moi from succeeding Kenyatta. |
| Aug 1978 |
President Kenyatta died. Moi was sworn in as acting president. He disbanded all ethnic organizations, including GEMA. |
| Nov 3, 1978 |
Moi declared the Preservation of Public Security Act without ratification by the Kenya parliament. It instituted a state of emergency and led to the arrest of hundreds of political dissidents including university professors, students, and journalists. |
| Jul 1 - Dec 31, 1979 |
Moi became President in an election where several established politicians were rejected by the electorate. Moi chose Mwai Kibaki (a Kikuyu) as Vice President. At first, Moi attracted support from some Kikuyu and many Luhya. However, Moi soon followed the footsteps of his predecessor by disproportionately appointing Kalenjin to positions of power in his regime and by granting economic advantages to the Kalenjin. Accordingly, Moi's support base narrowed significantly. |
| 1980 |
Moi's close friend, Charles Mugane Njonjo, Kenya's attorney general for 17 years, appointed himself minister of constitutional affairs. |
| 1981 - 1982 |
Moi banned trade and professional unions and suppressed strikes and protests by doctors, bank employees, industrial workers, and students. |
| Jun 17, 1982 |
Kenya officially became a one-party (the KANU) state through a constitutional amendment engineered by Njonjo. To be eligible to vote, citizens were forced to pay to register as KANU members. For the candidate to qualify for the election, he had to be a life member of the KANU. |
| Aug 1, 1982 |
There was a coup attempt by disaffected soldiers, allegedly supported by Odinga and other Luo and Kikuyu politicians. Over 1,000 members of the armed forces were court-martialed, hundreds more were detained without trial, and some 80 university students were arrested. |
| 1984 |
A land dispute led to ethnic clashes between the Nandi and Luhya ethnic groups at Kapkangani. |
| 1986 |
The Moi regime harassed family members of exiled politicians. After 1986, the country's political situation rapidly deteriorated. As political arrests continued, many university lecturers, journalists, students, and former parliament members went into exile. Moi accused a left-wing group, called Mwakenya (the Union of Nationalists to Liberate Kenya), of being run by fanatic socialists and, by 1987, arrested over 100 people connected to this movement. Mwakenya, allegedly consisted of Kikuyus and Luos, appeared to be an ethnic and ideological threat to Moi. |
| Jul 1986 |
Moi prohibited Kenyan journalists from reporting arrests and trials. |
| Jan 1 - Jun 30, 1988 |
Mwakenya was technically disbanded. |
| Jan 1, 1988 - Jun 30, 1989 |
Trials and imprisonments of alleged dissidents continued. Those associated with the clandestine opposition movement Mwakenya, and two other unpublicized groups, the KRM and the Kenya Patriotic Front (KPF) were among those target. |
| Feb 1988 |
As the sole KANU candidate, Moi began his third five-year term as President. |
| Mar 1, 1988 - Jun 30, 1989 |
Moi banned newspapers and magazines including Beyond, Financial Review, Development Agenda, and the Daily Nation. |
| Sep 1988 |
Seven months after being released from a six year prison term, Raila Odinga, the son of Oginga Odinga and the leader of the unpublicized Kenya Revolutionary Movement (KRM), was again detained. |
| Dec 1988 |
David Owak, a former associate of Oginga Odinga, was arrested. |
| Jun 1989 |
In response to international pressure, Moi released all political prisoners who were being detained without trial and offered amnesty to dissidents living in exile. |
| 1990 - 1989 |
Moi resisted growing demands for a multi-party system, threatening that multipartyism would revive inter-tribal violence. |
| Feb 13, 1990 |
The murder of Robert Ouko, a former foreign minister who had criticized the Moi regime, provoked widespread anti-government protests by students claiming that the government covered up the circumstances of his death. The government banned demonstrations. |
| Jul 1, 1990 |
Two leading opposition figures were arrested and 20 people died in subsequent protests. President Moi continued to oppose political reform. By 1990, most key positions in the government, the military, and state-owned companies were taken by the Kalenjin. Since Moi came to power, Kalenjin and Maasai politicians in KANU have advocated the introduction of the Majimbo (federalism) system (which was proposed at independence but abandoned by then-President Kenyatta, a Kikuyu), claiming that the Rift Valley was originally the land of the Kalenjin and other pastoral groups, including the Maasai, Turkana, and Samburu. These Majimboism proponents have called for the expulsion of all other ethnic groups from the Rift Valley. If implemented, Majimboism would expel millions of people (predominantly members from the Kikuyu, Luhya, and Luo) who have settled there since the 1920s and who had legally bought land since independence. The Rift Valley area is not only the country's most fertile farmland but also accounts for the largest number of seats in Parliament. Not surprisingly, ethnic groups that Majimboism proponents proposed to expel from the Rift Valley are those perceived to support the political opposition. |
| Jul 7, 1990 |
Security forces brutally dispersed the pro-multipartyism rally at Kamakunji, Nairobi, led by the Law Society of Kenya and the churches. It was attended by thousands of supporters and triggered three days of rioting known as the Saba Saba (meaning seven seven, i.e., July 7) uprising. |
| Jan 1 - Jun 30, 1991 |
The Majimbo rallies were held to oppose multipartyism and to call for "outsiders" in the Rift Valley Province to go back to their "motherland." |
| Aug 1991 |
Odinga and other opposition leaders established a coalition group called the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD), calling for greater political pluralism. The government broke up their demonstrations and arrested their leaders. |
| Sep 1991 |
Moi urges Kisii and Maasai to stop hostilities along their common border. Moi had mediated in a similar dispute in 1964. |
| Oct 29, 1991 |
Ethnic clashes erupt at Meteitei farm in Tinderet, Nandi District, on the border of Rift Valley, Nyanza, and Western Provinces, when Kalenjin warriors attacked the Luo community. Although the incident began as a land dispute, the fighting had escalated within days. The victims claimed that the attackers intended to expel non-Kalenjins and political opponents from the Rift Valley Province. After the violence broke out, leaflets signed by a group calling itself the Nandi Warriors, were distributed in the area calling on non-Kalenjins to leave the area by December 12 1991. |
| Nov 1991 |
The suspension of aid by the World Bank and bilateral donor nations pending economic and political reforms forced Moi to announce the introduction of a multi-party system in Kenya. |
| Nov 18, 1991 |
The government expelled 10 foreign diplomats, most of them from the United States, for supporting dissidents. The Kalenjin attacked hundreds of Luos residing in Nandi and Kericho Districts, looting and burning Luo homes. A Luo policemen trying to stop the attack killed a Kalenjin, resulting in further attacks by the Kalenjin. |
| Dec 1991 |
The Kenyan parliament repealed Section 2(A) of the Constitution which prohibited opposition parties. The tribal fighting spread to large parts of the Rift Valley, Western, and Nyanza areas. The Luhya, Kikuyu, and Kisii were greatly affected, but the Kalenjin were also victimized in retaliatory attacks by the Luhya, Luo and Kikuyu. |
| Dec 27, 1991 |
Ethnic clashes raged in the Nzoia, Kericho and Kisumu Districts as the Kalenjin warriors looted and burnt property of the Luo and other ethnic groups. The newly legalized political opposition parties blamed Moi and KANU for instigating the violence to destabilize and intimidate the areas with opposition support. |
| 1992 |
The violence continued in the Nandi and Kakamega Districts. |
| Feb 1992 |
Fighting escalated dramatically. In Kabose village of the Nandi District, one attack displaced one hundred people. |
| Mar 1992 |
Reports of ethnic violence become commonplace in the press. The Kalenjin Assistant Minister Kipkalia Kones declared Kericho District a KANU zone and stated that the Kalenjin youth in the area had declared war on the Luo community in retaliation for several Kalenjins killed in earlier violence. In the Chemichimi (the Bungoma District), the Kalenjin attacked the Luhya community. The brutal attack against non-Kalenjin ethnic groups caused retaliatory attacks against Kalenjins in many areas. Clashes also erupted on the border of the West Pokot and Trans Nzoia Districts which were long known for cattle-rustling between the Kalenjin and the Luo, Luhya and Kisii. The government accused the opposition parties of fueling the violence through Libyan-trained recruits and opposition leaders accused the government of orchestrating ethnic violence in order to weaken moves towards multipartyism. Moi prohibited all political rallies, citing the threat of tribal violence. |
| Apr 1992 |
New clashes broke out between the Kisii and the Maasai while fighting continued to rage in the Bungoma District between the Kalenjin and the Luhya. In the Bungoma District alone, 2,000 people were displaced and 60 killed. Victims in the Molo Division report seeing 4 government helicopters bringing arrows to Kalenjin attackers and that out of uniform soldiers are fighting along side the Kalenjin. |
| Jul 1992 |
Fighting exploded in a Kalenjin village (where 70% are Kalenjin, 20% Luhya, and 10% Teso), the Bungoma District, when the area was attacked by the Luhya. Ten Kalenjins were killed. 500 Kalenjins attacked the Kikuyu, Luhya, and Kisii in Olenguruone of the Nakuru District. |
| Sep 1992 |
According to a parliamentary committee report, senior government officials had been involved in training and arming Kalenjin warriors to attack villages and drive away non-Kalenjin ethnic groups from the Rift Valley, Western, and Nyanza Provinces. |
| Dec 3, 1992 |
Fighting occurred between the Kalenjin and the Kikuyu in the Burnt Forest area near Eldoret and Uasin Gishu Districts. 15,000 Kikuyus and Luhya fled the area as hundreds of Kalenjin warriors killed, looted and burnt their homes. In retaliation, Kikuyu youth stoned Kalenjins' cars. Throughout December the violence continued in the Uasin Gishu District. |
| Dec 29, 1992 |
Moi and the KANU retained power with only 36% of the popular vote in the country's first multi-party elections since independence. Division was apparent within the three major opposition parties, the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya (FORD-K), the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Asili (FORD-A), and the Democratic Party (DP). Ford-A and Ford-K were split from the original FORD coalition, contributing to the victory of the KANU. The opposition alleged the elections had been rigged and fraudulent. Thousands of Kenyans were unable to vote as a result of the displacement and destruction caused by the pre-election ethnic fighting. Majimbo rallies have continued since the election. Even after the election, the ethnic violence continued, mainly by Kalenjin warriors. The Kikuyu appeared to be most affected by the attacks. During the election, local government Minister William ole Ntimana from Enosupukia (Narok District), a Maasai, consistently called for the expulsion of "foreigners" from the Rift Valley, accusing the Kikuyu of having suppressed the Maasai and taken their land. During 1991-1992, political and ethnic violence erupted in the Rift Valley and Western Provinces of Western Kenya. Pro-government Kalenjin, armed with bows and arrows, were responsible for many attacks and little was done by the government to protect the victims, mostly Kikuyu, Luo, Luhya, and Kisii. The Maasai and the Turkana, traditionally nomadic groups, joined Kalenjin attackers. |
| 1993 |
The violence continued unabated throughout 1993. The Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Bungoma, and Nakuru Districts were the most affected. The fighting in the Burnt Forest area in Uasin Gishu predominantly hit the Kikuyu community by the Kalenjin during 1993. The Luhya living in the Trans Nzoia (Saboti) and Bungoma (Chwele) Districts were most affected by Kalenjin warriors. There has been strong Kalenjin (Saboat) nationalist sentiment in this area. The Saboat nationalists in the Mt. Elgon area have demanded the government redraw district boundaries to give the Saboat their own territory. About 2,000 Luhyas have lived in Kapkateny camp in the Bungoma District since they fled from the attack by the Kalenjin in April 1992. The fighting in the Nakuru District in the southwest of Rift Valley Province occurred intermittently since the violence began in February 1992. Most of the Kikuyu (over 40,000) left this area and settled the Elburgon or Kamwaura camps which are areas the government has not assisted. |
| Jan 4, 1993 |
Moi began his fourth successive term in office. Moi's Kalenjin group and that of Vice-President George Saitoti's Maasai dominated the 25 member cabinet while the Kikuyu and Luo have been given one representative each in the cabinet. |
| Mar 4, 1993 |
At the state opening of Parliament, Maasai youths attacked those who supported opposition parties in the 1992 elections. |
| Apr 1993 |
The KANU Secretary-General Joseph Kamotho publicly admitted that the Maasai were part of a 3,000 strong youth squad recruited by the KANU to repress opposition supporters. Kamotho later recanted and denied the reports. |
| Aug 1993 |
About 300 Kalenjin warriors attacked the Molo area of the Nakuru District, displacing hundred of Kikuyus. The Kalenjin burnt more than 200 houses belong to Kikuyus, but the local police took no action. |
| Sep 1993 |
A group of Kikuyus called for the revival of the GEMA, a tribal organization that was disbanded by Moi in 1978. |
| Sep 2, 1993 |
The government declared Molo (Nakuru District), Burnt Forest (Uasin Gishu District), and Londiani (Kericho District) as security operation zones and sealed off the areas to prohibit individuals from outside the area from entering. |
| Oct 1993 |
An estimated 500 Maasai warriors attacked an area, Enosupukia (Narok District), south of the security operation zones, burning houses of Kikuyu farmers and uprooting 30,000 Kikuyus. Throughout 1993, hundreds of Kalenjin warriors attacked and occupied farms belonged to Kikuyus, Luhyas, or Luos without being arrested or charged for their actions. On a smaller scale, Kalenjin were attacked in retaliation. In late October, Maasai and Kikuyu, in separate incidents, raided police stations for arms. |
| Dec 1993 |
Three people were killed in clashes between coastal ethnic groups and the Luo in Mombassa. |
| 1994 |
New violence occurred in the Rift Valley area, destroying the property of some 4,000 persons. Ten people are reported killed. |
| Jan 17, 1994 |
A meeting of reconciliation between Kikuyu and Maasai was held, but there was no evidence that the meeting helped to curb violence between the two ethnicities. |
| Mar 19, 1994 |
Police deny a report of fresh violence in Molo Division, Rift Valley Province, in which 9 people were killed. Kisii were the reported victims in the fighting. |
| Apr 1994 |
At least 18 people have been killed in Rift Valley Province during late March and early April. In early 1994, some 10,000 Kikuyu were reportedly driven from their farms near Naivasha in the Rift valley Province by Maasai, allegedly with the backing of armed off-duty Maasai rangers. |
| May 1994 |
An estimated 2,000 people were forced to flee their homes and at least 8 died in violence near the coast. About 1000 local KANU officials in Elgeyo-Marakwet, a Kalenjin district, switched party loyalty to FORD-Kenya saying that Mukihisa Kituyi, a Luhya member of FORD-Kenya, would be the only MP authorized to speak in their name and represent them in parliament. The swing over is a strong indication of growing dissent within the Kalenjin group. Moi's loyalty comes from his own tribal group, the Tugen, and that of his strong-arm men, the Elgeyo. KANU cannot claim to represent all Kalenjin. |
| Aug 1, 1994 |
Poor rains in the East for the third straight year will bring hunger to the region bordering Somalia. During the past three years of fighting, food production has been disrupted because of the displacement of Kikuyu who were primarily farmers. |
| Sep 1, 1994 |
Of the 250,000-300,000 displaced from the Rift Valley Province since 1991, 175,000 remain displaced. |
| Dec 25, 1994 |
Local and foreign relief workers alleged that the Moi regime promised to resettle 3,000 displaced families from Enosupukia (mostly Kikuyu farmers) but instead dumped them on the roadside at what the government said was their "ancestral" home. In a dozen towns across the Rift Valley, Kalenjin and Maasai warriors burned houses, stole livestock, and killed people who had been settled there for over 30 years. As many as one million became homeless as a result of the ethnic clashes that erupted in 1991. More than 17,800 Kikuyus were reportedly internally displaced in Maela Camp, Kenya. |
| Jan 1, 1995 |
An Amnesty International report Attacks on Human Rights Through the Misuse of Criminal Charges was published. In it, Kenya was criticized for its human rights abuses and lack of commitment to democratic reform. The report states, "although opposition political parties operate openly and freely, opposition members of parliament, human rights activists, journalists and other government critics have been arrested in connection with peaceful demonstrations, speeches, publications or investigations into human rights abuses." A new development in Kenya was the government's decision to use capital criminal charges (which are not bailable) against people whose only offense is that they are non-violent critics of the Kenyan government. AI holds up the trial of Koigi Wamwere as a case in point. AI considers him and his fellow detainees to be prisoners of conscience arrested on trumped up charges and imprisoned for their non-violent beliefs. |
| Jan 13, 1995 |
In what appeared to be an incident of cattle rustling, a group of Maasai warriors attacked a farming settlement on the way to the Maasai Mara game park, burning huts and killing 11 Kikuyus. |
| Feb 1995 |
Violence was reported during by-election in the Rift Valley Province near Webuye. |
| Apr 5, 1995 |
Moi imposed a curfew over the Vasin Gisho District of Burnt Forest in the Rift Valley Province. Fighting killed at least 12 and 65 houses were burned during the past week in Burnt Forest. Non-Kalenjin was being systematically expelled from the region. |
| May 21, 1995 |
KANU youth attacked opposition supporters at a rally in Kisii. |
| Jun 20, 1995 |
Richard Leakey, a white paleontologist, registered a new opposition party, called the SAFINA, in order to forge a national alliance capable of challenging President Moi. Moi immediately went on the offensive against Leakey, denouncing him a foreigner, traitor, and atheist who would find it "extremely difficult to relate to God-fearing Kenyans" and vowing that "Kenya would never again be ruled by a white man." Leakey served as the Moi-appointed director at the Kenya Wildlife Service from 1989 to 1994. |
| Jul 1995 |
Human Rights Watch published Old Habits Die Hard Rights Abuses Follow Renewed Foreign Aid Commitments. HRW reported that since the renewal of aid commitments in 1994 ($800 million in aid was pledged to Kenya by foreign donors at a December 1994 meeting), human rights conditions in Kenya have deteriorated. The report found that resettlement of refugees in Kenya by the government and UNDP was failing; the government banned organizations and the media in 1995; there were attacks against human rights organizations and media offices; there were numerous complaints by opposition members that their meetings were disrupted by police or local authorities and that they were denied permits to hold meetings; and that from January-March 1995 there were arrests and/or detentions of about a dozen opposition MPs. In addition, the report states, "multipartyism has not been accompanied by the requisite institutional and legal reform essential to genuine democratization." |
| Jul 31, 1995 |
Moi announced the creation of a new district by splitting Kisii district, population 1.2 million. Six new districts have been created in 1995. Malaria has killed between 300-500 people in Kisii over the past two months. |
| Oct 19, 1995 |
Riots break out in Nairobi slums between Luo and Nubians. The Luo support the opposition FORD-Kenya while the Nubians support KANU. At least five people were killed. |
| Oct 29, 1995 |
The high profile trial of former official Koigi Wa Wamwere was seen by many diplomats as a sign that Moi was sliding back from his commitment to democratic reform towards the political harassment and violent tribal divisions and widespread corruption of the past. Wamwere was sentenced to four years imprisonment for robbery of a police station. Wamwere has a large following in the Rift Valley and opposition leaders protested his arrest and sentence. Leaders of Safina were arrested and some beat up in front of a Nairobi courthouse by members of KANU's youth wing as they were protesting Wamwere's trial. Wamwere is a Kikuyu aligned with Safina. |
| Dec 15, 1995 |
The ruling KANU party outlined a five-point strategy aimed at strengthening the party in preparation for the upcoming 1997 elections. It will launch a national youth development program to coordinate and mobilize youth while assisting them in project identification. Party spokesman Taikwen Kamotho issued a stern warning to leaders who engage in tribal talks saying the party will no longer tolerate leaders who engage in tribal comments. |
| Jan 1996 |
There were several reported incidents of ethnic violence. Violence was reported January 6 in Thessalia, a camp for displaced persons and January 11 in Longonot where 10 people were killed. In addition, displaced persons from Maela camp who were forcibly dispersed by the government in December 1994 were again forcibly moved by the district administrator. Those remaining in the camp were subjected to nightly attacks by administrative police. |
| Jan 28, 1996 |
More than 200 Maasai armed with clubs, spears and bows and arrows invaded a trading post in northern Kenya and attacked local residents. The unconfirmed reports from Kenyan newspapers said three were killed in Ngara-Ndare north of Mt. Kenya. The Maasai fought members of the Kikuyu, Embu and Boran tribes. |
| Feb 6, 1996 |
Six people may have been killed in violence sparked by conflict between the Kisii and Luo communities living on the Migori/Kisii district border. |
| Mar 1996 |
The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995 was released by the U.S. Congress. Its findings include-there is substantial evidence that high-level government officials were complicit in instigating and promoting the ethnic clashes of 1991-1994-ethnic violence continued in January 1995, but there were no other reported incidents for the rest of the year-government officials, particularly Rift Valley Province Minister Ntimama, continued to make threatening statements against non-Maasai living in the Rift Valley Province-the UNDP program to assist displaced clash victims came to a standstill in January 1995 due to lack of government support-the Moi government restricted the right to peaceful assembly by refusing to license meetings and by forcibly breaking up gatherings. FORD-K, FORD-A and the DP each estimated they had been denied permits for public meetings more than half a dozen times. -the government continued to discriminate against Kikuyu youth in the Rift Valley. They were denied national identity cards without which they cannot marry, attend university, obtain employment or register to vote. -a series of talks between Kikuyu and Kalenjin elders that focused on reconciliation and resettlement possibilities ended abruptly when the DP won the September by-election in the Kikuyu constituency of Kipipiri-in April 1995 opposition activist Ngengi Muigai brought charges against Local Government Minister William Ntimama, a Maasai, for allegedly having incited Maasai tribesmen during the 1991-94 clashes in Narok. Attorney General Amos Wako acted on his constitutional authority to quash the charges before the trial commenced. |
| Mar 27 - 28, 1996 |
About 40 local and international NGOs based in Kenya, individuals and religious bodies' representatives met to discuss the situation of peace in Kenya. The meeting was an outgrowth of Peace Net, founded in September 1993 as the Ethnic Clashes Network, as a response to ethnic violence. The leaders expressed their fear of renewed clashes, concern over the "culture of violence" taking over the country, and the need for "concerted effort to restore peace and stability to Kenya." They warned that the "level of violence-political and otherwise-appears to escalate as we approach the 1997 election year." |
| Apr 9, 1996 |
KANU parliamentarian Kipruto arap Kirwa, who launched a verbal attack against President Moi two weeks ago, has disappeared fueling suspicions that he has been arrested for his outspokenness. Kirwa had accused Moi of stifling alternative views in KANU and of being undemocratic. Dissatisfaction within the Kalenjin community has been most evident among the Nandi, the sub-group to which Kirwa belongs, but other members of the KANU alliance have also shown their impatience with Moi. |
| Apr 10, 1996 |
Police assaulted voters who turned out at a by-election in the Nairobi constituency of Starehe. The opposition claimed it was an attempt to intimidate supporters in an anti-KANU stronghold. |
| Apr 13, 1996 |
The FORD-K congress, called to sort out long-standing leadership problems, degenerated into squabbling and stone-throwing between two factions. Raila Odinga, son of the party's founder, leads a mainly Luo faction while Kijana Wamalawa leads a faction with broader national support including his own Luhya community and some Luo. |
| May 1996 |
Because the Moi government still refuses to willingly condemn the violence of 1991-4 and admit its past mistakes, Peace-Net has begun to stress the need for justice as well as reconciliation. The group endorsed a recommendation that justice-implying the prosecution of clash instigators as well as compensation and resettlement-be sought for survivors of the violence. |
| Jun 8, 1996 |
Present Moi is attempting to get Kikuyu and Luo to defect from the opposition to KANU. About a dozen Kikuyu MPs have rallied to KANU's ranks from FORD-K and the DP in Molo District, Rift Valley Province. The groundwork for "Operation Smile" was carried out in tight secrecy by Moi and Nicholas Biwott and a group of pro-government Kikuyu. The president's interest in persuading Kikuyu and Luo to defect has KANU officials from smaller Kenyan tribes worried as these have traditionally been privileged allies of the Kalenjin. |
| Jul 1, 1996 |
KANU party leaders from the Rift Valley allege in Kenyan newspapers that there is an opposition plot to oust President Moi. Moi himself later accuses FORD-K and FORD-A leaders Odinga and Kenneth Matiba of planning a civil disobedience campaign in the Rift Valley in the run-up to elections. |
| Sep 21, 1996 |
Moi is reportedly keeping tight political control over the national electoral commission. New identity cards have a space for "ancestral homeland" and the opposition fears this is a way of forcing electors to vote in their tribal homelands, not in regions where they currently live and work. Old identity cards will not be honored at the polls. |
| Sep 29, 1996 |
Opposition and religious leaders are calling for a new constitution that will change the electoral system. KANU officials flatly refused to consider changing the electoral rules, much less replacing the constitution. For the past 15 months, Moi has refused to register Safina as a political party. |
| Oct 30, 1996 |
From Kenya's daily newspapers (released, but not confirmed, by Reuters) U.S. Ambassador Prudence Bushnell says the United States is extremely disappointed with the way bilateral aid has been used so far and indicates a shift in American policy to the use of NGOs and private investment. An unconfirmed report states that 80,000 people in the Rift Valley Province are in danger of starving if the government does not provide famine relief between October and December. |
| Nov 24, 1996 |
Joseph Kamotho, secretary-general of the ruling KANU party confirmed that leading Kikuyu politicians, senior civil servants, and businessmen have been holding consultative meetings to chart the future political destiny of the Kikuyu community. |
| Dec 6, 1996 |
According to police spokesmen, more than 50 people were killed in northwestern Kenya when Samburu and Pokot tribesmen armed with rifles attacked Turkana settlements. |
| Jan 13, 1997 |
A group of ethnic Kikuyu politicians plans to revive the defunct pre-independence Kikuyu Central Association in an attempt to unite the Kikuyu community. |
| Jan 20, 1997 |
Moi told police to deal "swiftly and firmly" with criminal activities, especially the rampant armed robberies and cattle rustling currently troubling the nation. He urged police to be extra alert to avoid the kind of violence witnessed during the run-up to the 1992 elections. |
| Jan 26, 1997 |
Michael Kijana Wamalwa was elected leader of FORD-Kenya after Raila Odinga gave up the fight at the end of December. Wamalwa is from the Luhya tribe while Odinga is a Luo. |
| Jan 27, 1997 |
Nairobi's street children are being beaten and often killed by police. Some are imprisoned in terrible conditions. Many of the children, more then 10,000, are Kikuyu who became homeless in the aftermath of the 1991-94 ethnic fighting. |
| Feb 1997 |
The State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996 stated that, though the human rights situation improved slightly over 1995, Kenya is far from a champion of human rights. The government of Daniel arap Moi continued to harass and jail critics, including politicians, clergy, journalists and activists, of his government. It also continued to block access of the opposition to their supporters and the media. Though there were few reports of ethnic violence in 1996, the government had not yet addresses the root causes of the 1991-1994 violence in the Rift Valley Province and governmental discrimination against Kikuyus in the Province continued. The government has also warned white Kenyans against participating in political activities and it has singled out Somalis as the only group that must carry two identity cards to produce upon request. The continued presence of Somali refugees has increased the difficulties faced by Kenyan Somalis. There is also societal and official discrimination against Asian Kenyans. |
| Feb 18, 1997 |
Kenyan papers reported that leaders of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities will soon meet to discuss the possibility of the revival of peace talks between the two groups. |
| Mar 1, 1997 |
The Economist reported that elections scheduled for 1997 are not likely to be free and fair. Some reasons for concern are that the government controls the media, including all radio stations which provided most Kenyans with their information, opposition leaders continue to face harassment and imprisonment from the government, identity cards essential for voting are not being issued to opposition strongholds, and a law requiring a license for all public assemblies is frequently invoked to forbid political meetings. The public is also upset about the reappointment of two men to public office by President Moi. Judge Zachaes Chesoni was reappointed to head the electoral commission. Chesoni had been forced off the bench twice because of his debt problems, but Moi ordered the state-owned Kenya Commercial Bank to stop pursuing his debt. Nicholas Biwott was appointed to Minister of State in the president's office. He was sacked once after being accused of corruption and being implicated in the murder of Robert Ouko who was Foreign Minister at the time of his death. Moi is hoping his appointment will bring in the vote of rich Kikuyu businessmen to whom Biwott is connected. Moi is hoping to gain more than 50% of the vote in this year's election. To do this, he will need the vote of some members of the larger ethnic groups. In 1992, he had to make promises to smaller ethnic groups in order to win the election, which he did with only 37% of the total vote. |
| Mar 15, 1997 |
National Development Party (NDP) leader Raila Odinga was reelected to the Langata Constituency of Nairobi. He is a likely candidate in this year's presidential election. |
| Apr 8, 1997 |
FORD-Asili chairman Kenneth Matiba and NDP leader Odinga announced they would not participate in the presidential elections scheduled for this year unless a constitutional convention is held. They also repeated their threats to expel Asians from Kenya. |
| May 31, 1997 |
Moi sent riot police to crush a protest of about 1000. The protesters were repelled with tear gas and rubber bullets. The police response to the protest set off two days of looting and unrest in Nairobi. Similar clashes, which resulted in scored of injuries, took place in Nairobi on 3 May 1997. |
| Jun 11, 1997 |
Calls for a constitutional convention have revitalized the middle class who are weary of the declining economy and rampant corruption within Moi's regime. The question for the country is whether the opposition can unite and turn this issue into the main issue of the upcoming presidential elections. Reformers have been pushing for an amendment which would require the winner to gain a majority of votes cast rather than the current system of a quarter of votes in only 5 of 8 districts. The opposition is also pushing for the constitution to allow for a coalition government instead of the current winner-take-all system. |
| Jul 7, 1997 |
Police cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators killing at least nine across the nation (other reports estimated up to 15 killed). The international response was muted. |
| Jul 11, 1997 |
Radical Kikuyu leaders were advocating armed insurrection to remove Moi from power following the recent violent repression of opposition protests. After the unrest, 300 GEMA members resolved to disrupt polls if the government does not bow to demands for political reform before this year's elections. GEMA was formed in 1969 by Kikuyu politicians intent on keeping power in their hands after the death of Jomo Kenyatta. It was banned by Moi in 1980. The Kikuyu remain the greatest threat to Moi's rule. |
| Jul 26, 1997 |
The National Convention Executive Committee (NCEC), a coalition of opposition groups which first made its appearance on the political scene in May, is demanding that electoral rules favoring the president be changed. They demand an independent electoral commission, a repeal of repressive laws, abolishing the requirement for the president to get 25% of the vote in 5 of 8 provinces replacing this with a requirement to get at least 50% of the national vote. |
| Jul 31, 1997 |
The IMF announced that it was suspending a $205 million loan to Kenya because of the government's failure to provide proper transparency and accountability. |
| Aug 12, 1997 |
Police have arrested 30 suspects in connection with the killing of two police officers during a strike called by the opposition 8 August 1997. |
| Aug 13, 1997 |
Violence in the Coastal region began with a raid on two police outposts in Likoni. Raiders stole 30 automatice weapons and 5000 rounds of ammunition, and killed 10 police officers. |
| Aug 21, 1997 |
Police have arrested 200 people so far, including a leading KANU member in Mombasa and the leader of the party's youth wing on the coast, in connection with the ethnic violence that has surfaced in the Mombasa region. Some 2500 people have been displaced by the fighting and are camping at Likoni Roman Catholic Church south of Mombasa. The Church is guarded by 40-50 police. The attacks began in mid-August with gangs of 200-500 people armed with guns, clubs, machetes and bows and arrows attacking villagers. Kikuyu, Luos and Luhya are the main targets of the attacks, just as they were in the Rift Valley in 1992. At least 70 people have been killed in the violence. |
| Aug 24, 1997 |
President Moi flew to Mombasa promising to end the ethnic killings in the region. Moi blames the opposition for the violence while the opposition blames the violence on KANU members. |
| Sep 1997 |
Mwakenya and FERA (February 18th Resistance Army) members were undergoing military training at a camp of the Rwandan army at Bugasira in western Rwanda. The majority of participants are Luo and had participated in the rebellion led by Laurent Kabila to oust Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire October 1996-May 1997. |
| Sep 5, 1997 |
Four people are dead in violence in Likoni, a suburb of Mombasa, in fighting between the Maasai and Kisii communities. Over the past few days, up to 100,000 people have fled Likoni by ferry. A recent raid on a police station in Likoni left ten police officers dead while the raiders got away with a large arms supply from the station. |
| Sep 11, 1997 |
Two people were killed in an attack on a coastal village south of Mombasa. About 60 men wielding automatic assault rifles were responsible for the attack. Sixty Kenyans have been killed and thousands made homeless since mid-August. Opposition members believe the attacks to be carried out by radical KANU members in an attempt to intimidate the opposition before upcoming elections. |
| Sep 13, 1997 |
Members of the February Eighteenth Resistance Army (FERA), headed by John Odongo, are reportedly undergoing military training in a Rwandan army camp at Bugasira in Western Rwanda. The majority of the FERA rebels are Luo and participated in the rebellion led by Laurent Kabila against Zaire's former president Mobutu Sese Seko. |
| Sep 20, 1997 |
The government announced it would mobilize up to 20,000 police in a crackdown in the Coastal region. Over the past five weeks, at least 62 people have died and 73 been injured in the violence. The violence is aimed mainly at "upcountry" people. Reports indicate that "marauding gangs" are perpetrating the violence, but there is no indication from which ethnic group they originate-only that they are "indigenous" coastal people. |
| Nov 20, 1997 |
Twelve people were killed and scores injured in ethnic clashes between Maasai and Kisii in Nyanga district. Thousands of Kisii are fleeing the area. Clashes have been taking place for about three months, and more than 30 people are reported to have died. District Commissioner of Kisii, Wilson Litole, said recent attacks are aimed at scaring Kisii from participating in KANU party nominations. Luo and Maasai in the area have lived in relative harmony since signing an agreement three years ago. |
| Dec 31, 1997 |
Since November 15, 12 people have been killed in election-related violence, including in Nyanza Province. In Kisii, Nayanza Province, more than 300 voters besieged a polling station which refused to allow them in. In Eldoret, normally a KANU stronghold, hundreds of opposition supporters took to the streets in protest at the handling of elections. Election results indicated that Moi won the presidency with about 40% of the vote. Kibaki of the Democratic Party gained 30% of the vote, and Odinga of FORD-Kenya received about 11%. KANU maintained a small majority in parliament with 106 of 210 seats. The DP won 39 seats, the National Development Party 21, and the Social Democratic Party 14. Most observers noted electoral violence and irregularities, including bribing and intimidation of voters, and bias of presiding and returning election officers. Opposition groups protested that outright fraud, including vote-rigging, took place. |
| Jan 8, 1998 |
DP chairman Mwai Kibaki said he would use the courts to challenge Moi's election victory. He said vote-rigging occurred throughout Kenya, but there were glaring violations in the Coast and northeastern provinces. |
| Jan 11, 1998 |
Violence in the Rift Valley Province began with an attack on a Pokot (sub-group of the Kalenjin) homestead by unknown raiders. This attack led to revenge attacks beginning 17 January against Kikuyu families living in Ol Moran, a village in Laikipia region. |
| Feb 7, 1998 |
Fifteen Kalenjin were killed in recent ethnic violence in the Njoro and Mau Narok areas. At least 80 people (one report suggests at least 150) have been killed in the region since early January. Pokot and Samburu, sub-groups of the Kalenjin, are thought to be the main perpetrators of the violence, and Kikuyu the main victims. A curfew was imposed in the Rift Valley Province's provincial capital of Nakuru on 5 February. Hundreds of families have fled their homes in Gishu District, and thousands of others have reportedly been displaced. |
| Mar 1998 |
Abagusii, Kipsigi, Kuria, Luo and Maasai MPs have been pushing for an end to ethnic violence in Kenya. Hundreds of families in the Njoro are have been evicted from their homes since January by ethnic violence. |
| Mar 24, 1998 |
DP legislator Mr. Mbitiru said Kikuyu were being arrested and detained by police for helping the displaced families camped at a church in Sipili Town. |
| Apr 28, 1998 |
Violence between Kikuyu and Kalenjin in Nakuru district has resulted in two deaths and dozens of injuries. Kikuyu reside in Ndeffo while the Kalenjin have recently established the settlement of Rikia. At least 127 people were killed in violence in January and February in Njoro and Laikipia areas. |
| May 30, 1998 |
Clashes have taken place between Pokot and Marakwet ethnic groups in the Rift Valley Province. Both are sub-groups of the Kalenjin and the Pokot are pro-Moi while the Marakwet are anti-Moi. Opposition rallies in Western Pokot to discuss the violence have been disrupted twice during May. On 9 May, police broke up a meeting, beating up members of the crowd and injuring 10 MPs. Armed supporters of KANU broke up the second rally in late May. On 28 May, 42 KANU and opposition MPs suspended their participation in constitutional reform measures in protest at the break-up of the rallies. Violence in the Rift Valley follows the pattern of 1991-1994. There is compelling evidence that initial attacks were organized from outside the communities. Recent attacks occurred only in areas where the Democratic Party won parliamentary seats. Violence began within days of KANU politicians visiting the area and verbally threatening DP supporters. |
| Jul 5, 1998 |
Kikuyu and Kisii remain displaced from the 1991-94 ethnic violence in the Rift Valley. Some of their land has been taken over by Kalenjin, yet some Kalenjin also remain landless. Violence has, since January, again been plaguing the Rift Valley. At least on hundred people have been killed and thousands forced to flee their homes in the wake of the violence. There have been reports of rapes and burning of villages as well as ethnic killings. |
| Jul 12, 1998 |
Cabinet Minister William ole Ntimama and 13 DP MPs yesterday held a rare political rally in which they urged the Maasai and Kikuyu communities to co-exist. Mr Ntimama, a self-appointed crusader for Maasai rights who has been accused of fomenting clashes in which tens of Kikuyus were killed and hundreds evicted in his Narok North Constituency, declared that the animosity between the two tribes was now history. Speaking to the DP MPs led by their patron Njenga Karume and hundreds of Maasai and Kikuyus attending the meeting, the Minister said the clashes were sparked off by a little misunderstanding about the water rights in Enoosupukia. (Africa News services Inc) |
| Jul 14, 1998 |
Kenyan rights activists, lawyers and opposition politicians have described the recent banning of four publications as an attempt by the government to muzzle the country's independent press. (Inter Press News Services) |
| Jul 22, 1998 |
It was reported that more than 3600 Kenyans, the majority of whom were Kikuyu, were in exile in the neighboring countries including Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Sudan. The refugees feared returning to their homes because of a perceived threat of persecution from the state. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Jul 29, 1998 |
The Red Cross set up projects in Kenya to bring clean water to more than 30,000 families while at the same time reducing tension between farming and pastoral communities. When trouble erupted in the Rift Valley in January this year the ICRC, together with the Kenya Red Cross Society, launched an emergency operation to aid over 15,000 displaced victims of violence. The work was carried out in close cooperation with the National Council of Churches of Kenya and the Rift Valley Catholic Diocese. It soon became evident that competition for limited water resources was straining relations between farming and pastoral communities. One of many places in which water shortages had become a serious and recurring problem was the Samaki Dam area in El Moran where Kikuyu farmers were ousted by Samburu herdsmen. Some lives were lost in the dispute. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Aug 1, 1998 |
The Commissioner of Police was to discuss the long-standing rivalry between the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin which has led to serious violence in the past decade. ( Africa News Services Inc) |
| Aug 20, 1998 |
The District Commissioner announced that he thought clashes between the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin were instigated by certain being distributed. The leaflets, authored by Prof Wangari Maathai, urged the Kikuyu community to vote as a bloc for Presidential candidate Mwai Kibaki, were circulating in Nakuru in December. At the same time, the leaflets pledged that, should the Democratic Party win the Presidency, Kalenjin holding top civil service posts would be sacked. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Oct 6, 1998 |
Police and units of the GSU attacked teachers with tear gas, whips and clubs as the schools strike took hold yesterday. The strike paralyzed learning in most schools and many remained closed as armed policemen closed and guarded offices of the Kenya National Union of Teachers throughout the country with a view to preventing further demonstrations and strike action. ( Africa News Services Inc) |
| Oct 27, 1998 |
The Kikuyu have planned to avenge on the death of all Kikuyus killed by the Karlenjin during their ethnic clashes in Njoro earlier this year. An intelligence report stated that an armed vigilante hit squad was set up to kill Kalenjins. Former Nakuru District deputy security intelligence officer Supt Philomen Opiyo Owino told the Akiwumi Commission the hit squad was formed by Molo MP Mr Kihika Kimani and 40 elders. (Africa News Services Inc.) |
| Nov 2, 1998 |
The government ordered the exhumation of all the victims for an official–count of victims of the Wajir massacre. The official death toll was 142 but local leaders insisted as many as 300 people might have been killed by Oromo raiders in the incident. The raiders pounced on the villagers in the Wajir District and started opening fire on the people. ( Africa News Services Inc) |
| Nov 14, 1998 |
Peace meetings were convened in the Rift Valleys of Kenya. The peace meetings were aimed at reconciling members of the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin communities which have been involved in periods of ethnic conflict since 1991. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Nov 17, 1998 |
Twenty-eight Members of Parliament have formed a committee to address ethnic conflict countrywide. They are drawn from KANU and the Opposition. This was announced after a workshop organized by the National Council of Churches. The legislators said they would use the constitutional review process to bring about national integration in order to enhance peace. ( Africa News Services Inc) |
| Nov 23, 1998 |
Clandestine organizations are exhorting money from innocent Kenyans under the pretext of wanting to help them get compensated for the loss and destruction they incurred during instigated ethnic clashes. Thousands of victims, a majority of them still unsettled, have already paid money to the unscrupulous groups. Several of the displaced particularly from Mombasa in Coast Province, Nakuru and Eldoret in Rift Valley as well as Kapsokwony in Western Province, have paid cash to the tune of thousands of shillings to the clandestine groups hoping to be assisted with gaining compensation. ( Africa News Services Inc) |
| Dec 4, 1998 |
An administration policeman told the commission that a group of Kikuyu youths in Chepakundi, Olenguruone, had planned to kill him two days before clashes broke out in the area in 1992. Corporal Joseph Kirui said he was acting as assistant chief for Chepakundi sub-location at the time. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Dec 8, 1998 |
Kalenjins instigated the eviction of the Kikuyu from Burnt Forest in December 1992 because they did not want them to join the opposition, a witness told the Akiwumi Commission. Chief Inspector Oscar Wakhisi said the evictions benefitted the Kalenjin by preventing Kikuyus from casting votes in the area. ( Africa News Services Inc) |
| Dec 13, 1998 |
A cross-section of Kenyans have reacted with mixed feelings to allegations by businessman Kamlesh Pattni that Kabete MP Paul Muite, a Kikuyu, extorted Sh20 million from him in a 1993 deal. DP Chairman Mwai Kibaki yesterday said Mr. Muite should give a public statement on his alleged link with Mr. Pattni. But Juja MP Stephen Ndicho criticized members of his Kikuyu community for "failing to defend their sons at the hour of need" while the Nyeri Safina branch secretary James Gatama called for a party committee to probe the claims. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Feb 1, 1999 |
Over 30 students and civilians were injured when police, backed by the paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU), broke up a demonstration against the allocation of plots at Karura Forest in Nairobi. At least three police officers were injured during the fracas. Injured students were admitted to various city hospitals but were all said to be in stable condition. University of Nairobi students at the main campus demonstrated in the streets and engaged anti-riot police in fierce running battles most of the day. Their counterparts at the Kikuyu campus blocked the Nairobi- Kikuyu road and commandeered a Stage Coach bus as students at the Lower Kabete campus blocked the Lower Kabete Road and lit a bonfire in the middle of the road. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Feb 20, 1999 |
Political entrenchment, rather than better management of government affairs, seems to have been the motive behind the President's re-organization of the cabinet and the civil. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Feb 23, 1999 |
Two opposition party officials said moves to dissolve the Luo Council of Elders are under way because it has not lived up to the community's expectations. They said it was wrong for the council to work with National Development Party leaders as this would prevent the elders from strengthening communal values. It was said it was unfortunate that the team had reduced itself to a "mere political outfit that distorted cultural values of the Luo community". (Africa News) |
| Feb 26, 1999 |
The Luo Council of Elders vehemently reacted to the criticisms leveled against them that they were a political outfit and had sold out the community's culture for review to money-hungry organizations. The elders' chairman, Mr. Adala Otuko, said the council was the victim of political rivalry and was being targeted by "young and inexperienced politicians who are too shy to look their perceived enemies in the eye". (Africa News) |
| Mar 4, 1999 |
Armed Kipsigis youths hacked a Luo to death and evicted 200 others from tea estates in Kericho.(Africa News Services Inc) |
| Mar 9, 1999 |
It was testified before the Akiwumi Commission that a contingent of policemen and armed Kipsigis youths stood guard as a former Kericho district commissioner supervised the demolition of more than 600 houses belonging to members of the Luo community at Thessalia, Kericho District in 1993.(Africa News Services Inc) |
| Mar 17, 1999 |
The Akiwumi Commission was told of the killings and arson which took place in 1991 in Luo communites. According to the witness, three people were killed and 561 houses burnt when clashes erupted at Meteitei and other surrounding farms in Tinderet Division, Nandi District, in October 1991, the Akiwumi Commission heard yesterday.(Africa News Services Inc) |
| Mar 18, 1999 |
The commission of inquiry was told that the cause of the 1998 clashes between the Kikuyu and Samburu at Ol-Moran in Laikipia District was the illegal occupation of Kikuyu -owned land by Samburu and Pokot pastoralists. The Akiwumi Commission was told that the Kikuyu were bitter over the loss of their livestock and illegal grazing by the pastoralists. Mr. Soi, who was the area DO when the clashes broke out, said the Kikuyus were also bitter that they were buying milk from the pastoralist communities yet Mutukanio Farm where the Samburu and Pokot herdsmen were grazing their livestock belonged to them. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Apr 2, 1999 |
Kipsigis leaders in Bomet District have criticised Trade Minister Joseph Kamotho's efforts to facilitate a political alliance between Kalenjins and Kikuyus. The bid is of no consequence, they said, adding that Mr Kamotho wanted to "put Kalenjins into a Kikuyu trap". The group, led by Bomet Mayor David Sang, said Mr Kamotho should have consulted all Kalenjin sub-tribes before engaging in his mission. They added that the country's leadership required the support of all the 42 Kenyan tribes, and cautioned Kalenjins that they stand to be isolated in future if they blindly accepted the alliance.(Africa News Services Inc) |
| Apr 14, 1999 |
Molo MP Kihika Kimani said yesterday he told intelligence officers that Kikuyus would retaliate for the killing f their people. The legislator confessed that he asked Kikuyus to form self-defense groups before ethnic clashes broke out last year. The MP, who was led in his evidence by lawyer Kiraitu Murungi, said the vigilante groups were intended to counter any attacks from Kalenjins.( Africa News Services Inc) |
| Apr 17, 1999 |
Six people were killed and more than 40 houses burnt when ethnic clashes flared in Londiani within Kericho District in 1992. Inspector Peter Ouma Ochola, who was at the Londiani police station then, told the Akiwumi Commission he, saw about 1,000 Kalenjin warriors who had painted their faces and were armed with bows and arrows heading towards Kivuno farm which was mainly occupied by the Kikuyu. He said that some of the victims were employees of a sawmill in Masaita Location who encountered the raiders on their way home from work. ( Africa News Services Inc) |
| Apr 18, 1999 |
National Development Party leader Raila Odinga yesterday challenged Ugenya MP James Orengo to try and disrupt the planned harambee in Ugunja "if he thinks he has grassroots support" in Nyanza Province. Speaking to the Sunday Nation from Malindi, Mr. Odinga said he will push ahead with the harambee scheduled for April 24, in which he has invited several KANU and Opposition MPs. Energy Minister Chris Okemo will be an honored chief guest. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Apr 23, 1999 |
The Akiwumi Commission heard that three Kisii men were killed and six others seriously injured after police officers helping them to track down stolen cattle surrendered to armed Maasai in Trans Mara District in 1997. A witness, Mr Joshua Moroko Onkomba, said the incident led to more clashes in which seven other Kisii were murdered and 18 houses burnt along the Gucha-Trans Mara border in 1997. He said 100 armed Maasai intercepted the three policemen who were leading a search party of Kisiis. After being threatened, the policemen surrendered their guns and took to their heels with hands in the air, the witness said.(Africa News News Services Inc) |
| May 9, 1999 |
A group of Kenyan Kikuyus is taking Uganda's ex-president Idi Amin to the United Nations tribunal at the end of this month over the murders and human rights abuses he directed in 1952 and 1953 when their country was under emergency laws during the Mau Mau rebellion. The Kikuyus operating under the Original Mau Mau Association are suing Idi Amin jointly with the British Government and are demanding three billion pounds in compensation on behalf of 90,000 Kikuyus who were imprisoned and tortured during the Mau Mau war. Led by Mr. Joseph Karami, the Kikuyus have been compiling evidence for 15 years and now they say their case is ready. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| May 10, 1999 |
Members of the Democratic Party reacted with anger and indignation to claims that they wanted to hound the Vice President Prof. Saitoti out of office. Chairman Mwai Kibaki was among the leaders who demonstrated their resentment of the allegation. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| May 27, 1999 |
Security personnel at the Coast were informed of the impending attacks on police stations and consequent clashes and burning of houses months before they occurred, the Akiwumi Commission heard yesterday. Reports produced before the Commission by assisting council Bernard Chunga indicated that security officers on the ground had alerted their seniors about plans for the impending attacks more than three months before the clashes erupted. However, the officers did not take any action to pre-empt the skirmishes until after August 13, 1997 when invaders raided the Likoni police station, killing policemen and stealing firearms. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| May 28, 1999 |
Cabinet Minister Nicholas Biwott and KANU politician Ezekiel Barng'etuny financed the killing and burning of houses in parts of Rift Valley during the 1991/92 clashes, a former Changamwe MP, Mr. Kennedy Kiliku, told the Commission. Quoting the Kiliku Report, the politician said the committee's 86th witness, who hailed from Shinyalu, told the team which he chaired that a warrior arrested and beaten up by wananchi had implicated the two politicians in the clashes. The warrior confessed to have been paid, together with other fighters, Sh10, 000 for each house burnt and Sh 1000 for each person killed. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Jun 6, 1999 |
Five Kisii MPs demanded the government guarantee security for and to stop harassment of former finance minister Simeon Nyachae. Legislators Henry Obwocha, Jimmy Angwenyi, Zephania Nyang'wara, Enock Magara, and Assistant Minister Zebedeo Opore said that should anything happen to Mr. Nyachae "due to his stand on national issues", the Kisii community would "hit back strongly in defense of its son". (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Jun 21, 1999 |
Police violently dispersed a political rally in Machakos Town, seriously injuring people. Seven legislators, among others, were forced to run for safety as riot police lobbed several teargas canisters into the crowd. Live bullets were also fired in the air to disperse the defiant crowd which insisted on being addressed by the leaders. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Jun 23, 1999 |
Two students of the closed Kahuho Uhuru High School in Kikuyu Division, Kiambu, were yesterday arrested in connection with burning the deputy headmaster's house. The students are alleged to have doused the house with paraffin. Kiambu police chief Jonathan Koskey confirmed the arrest and said more suspects were being sought. Before the closure of the school, the students had heckled the deputy headmaster, Mr. Mark Njagi Njue, after the 8 am assembly, protesting against manual labor and the dress of female teachers. Several teachers recorded statements at Kikuyu police station yesterday morning but none of them were being held. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Jun 26, 1999 |
Former Cabinet Minister Simeon Nyachae asked the KANU government to fulfill the pledges it made to Kenyans in the party's 1997 manifesto. He said the government has concentrated too much of its time in antagonizing and dividing Kenyan communities at the expense of making good its pledges. Mr. Nyachae said mistrust, dishonesty and hate campaigns had overshadowed the Kenyan politician and social spheres leaving little room for development initiatives. Mr. Nyachae challenged the KANU headquarters to call immediate elections to enable the party supporters to elect leaders of their choice. He advised his supporters to restrain from provocation by opponents within Kisii. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Sep 1, 1999 |
Fear and panic gripped Kisii town when two factions fought over who should be mayor. The KANU branch chairman was wrestled to the ground and beaten when he tried to stop the town clerk from acting on a court order blocking the mayoral elections. The poll had already been boycotted by one group of councilors, led by outgoing mayor Claire Omanga. But the elections went ahead and the new council team was hurriedly sworn in collectively, in anticipation of the impending High Court order blocking the poll. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Oct 8, 1999 |
President Moi called for an end to the raging wars in the coffee and tea growing areas in the Mt Kenya region even as a clash between security forces and farmers illegally occupying coffee factories in Nyeri appeared imminent. According to Moi, the wars, which had adversely affected the farming of the two major cash crops in the area and impoverished the farmers, were not serving the interests of farmers. The President asked grassroots leaders including village elders, councilors and MPs from the affected areas, to initiate peace moves to end the wrangling. (Africa News Services Inc) |
| Oct 21, 1999 |
Two Kikuyu were killed during clashes over a land dispute. Emmanuel Karisa Maitha, an MP for Democratic Party representing Kikuyu interests blamed the killings on local KANU politicians and a lobby group who accused him of giving land to Kikuyus in Kisauni. (Africa News Services). |
| Jan 28, 2004 |
Police arrested 45 suspected members of the Mungiki sect, including some leaders. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 1/28/2005, “Kenyan police arrest 45 members of outlawed sect in Nairobi”)
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| Feb 9, 2004 |
Six former Mungiki sect followers were arrested during a demonstration in which hundreds of former sect members protested the kidnapping of their Pastor Jacob Karanja. They also sought government protection, since defecting from the sect is grounds for being murdered. (Africa News, 2/9/2006, “Kenya; Six ‘Mungiki’ Defectors Arrested”) |
| Mar 2, 2004 |
Authorities arrested Maina Njenga, a Mungiki sect leader, and his wife for smuggling weapons. However, in police searches, no weapons were found. (Africa News, 3/4/2004, “Kenya; Sect Leader And Wife Held Over Firearms Claim”)
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| Apr 2004 |
Kalenjin-dominated areas of the Rift Valley, flyers were displayed threatening the forcible removal Kikuyus. (US Department of State. 2/28/2005. “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices— 2004: Kenya.” Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.)
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| Apr 2, 2004 |
Authorities arrested 13 suspected Mungiki sect members for the January murders of ten people. (Africa News, 4/2/2004, “Kenya; Former Legislator in Fresh Murder Charge”)
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| Apr 15, 2004 |
Two suspected Mungiki leaders were arrested. In searches, police found more than 50 identity and voter cards suspected to belong to victims and a number of weapons. (Africa News, 4/16/2004, "Kenya; Police Arrest Mungiki Sect Leaders”) |
| Jun 6, 2004 |
Mungiki were suspected to be behind the beheading of Simon Ndabi Kamore, a former Mungiki adherent. (Africa News, 6/9/2004, “Kenya; Mungiki Defector Beheaded”)
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| Jun 14 - 17, 2004 |
Police arrested more than 100 suspected Mungiki members after attacks on a village in Nairobi killed a 13-year-old girl. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 6/17/2004, “Kenyan police arrest 100 suspected Mungiki sect members in Nairobi”) |
| Jun 18, 2004 |
Police raided the Mungiki sect’s brewery, one of its main sources of income. (Africa News, 6/20/2004, “Kenya; Police Raid Mungiki Brewery”)
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| Jul 1, 2004 |
Two witnesses who were supposed to testify against suspected Mungiki sect members were killed. (Africa News, 7/2/2004, “Kenya; Key Witnesses Fear to Testify in Mungiki Case”)
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| Jul 23, 2004 |
Police raided a Mungiki training camp, arresting three members and recovering fake documents and weapons. (Africa News, 7/23/2004, “Kenya; Police Smash Mungiki Base”)
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| Aug 2004 |
Kikuyu, Embu and Meru community members joined together to create a welfare organization called Mega— Mobilisation for Economic Growth in Africa. The goal of the group is to combine resources to end the cycle of poverty. (Africa news, 8/28/2005, “Kenya; Key Leaders Skip Mega Launch”)
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| Aug 10, 2004 |
About 300 suspected Mungiki sect members rioted at the Nairobi Law Courts after suspected members appeared before the court. (Africa News, 8/11/2004, “Kenya; Mungiki Members Battle Warders”)
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| Sep 11, 2004 |
Members of the Mungiki sect rallied outside at a press conference in Nairobi, condemning the government’s vow to eliminate the sect. Ten were arrested as others jumped a fence while police shot into the air. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 9/12/2004, “Kenya: Police disperse Mungiki sect news conference in Nairobi”)
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| Sep 12, 2004 |
A suspected Mungiki sect member was arrested for the murder of a teenage girl, whose body was found beheaded in Lari Division, Nakuru District. (Africa News, 9/14/2004, “Kenya; ‘Mungiki’ Suspect, 78, Held Over Girl’s Death”)
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| Sep 29, 2004 |
Six people were badly injured after a clash between Kikuyu and Kalenjin people over a land dispute. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 9/30/2004, “Six injured in central Kenyan district land dispute clashes”)
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| Jan 2005 |
About 30 people died and more than 2,000 Kikuyu were displaced after Maasai warriors destroyed a water pipe, causing drought near a Kikuyu farm and escalating a longstanding water rights conflict between the groups. (US Department of State. 03/08/2006. “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices— 2005: Kenya.” Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; ReliefWeb. 01/24/2005. “Thousands flee as death toll in Kenyan water clashes rise.” Agence France Presse; ReliefWeb. 01/31/2005. “Families flee new violence in central Kenya.” Agence France Presse.)
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| Feb 23, 2005 |
Fighting over water rights between Maasai and Kikuyu reignited, killing four and displacing many more. (ReliefWeb. 2/24/2005. “Four killed in renewed triabl fighting in Kenya.” Xinhua News Agency.)
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| Oct 6, 2005 |
Police arrested 18 suspected Mungiki sect members. Police found a suspected Mungiki base, filled with ritual items and identity cards. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 10/6/2005, “Kenyan police arrest suspected members of outlawed Mungiki sect”)
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| Dec 28, 2005 |
About 20 armed Mungikis took over a bus station in Nairobi, demanding money. Police arrested eight. (Africa News, 12/29/2005, “Kenya; Mungiki Gang Spreads Terror”) |
| Jan 19, 2006 |
After attacking four matatus, five suspected Mungiki sect members were beaten to death by villagers in Maragwa District. (Africa News, 1/20/2006, “Kenya; Villagers Lynch 5 Mungiki Men”)
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| Jan 26 - 29, 2006 |
Police burned down the homes of 4,000 people to prevent them from squatting in the Eburru forrest. The people returned, however, which contributed to the death of two men in an attack by Maasai warriors on Kikuyu squatters. (ReliefWeb. 01/26/2006. “Two men speared to death in Kenyan ethnic attack.” Reuters Foundation.) |
| Jan 28, 2006 |
Police arrested more than 200 suspected Mungiki sect members following a shoot-out. The members were thought to be planning to avenge the death of four sect members. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 1/28/2006, “Kenya: Police arrest 200 outlawed Mungiki sect members on revenge mission”)
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| Jan 30 - Feb 13, 2006 |
Five people were killed in tribal clashes in the Rift Valley thought to be between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin. Nine people were injured and 36 were arrested for arson and public disturbance. (ReliefWeb. 02/13/2006. “Kenya land clashes leave five dead.” Reuters Foundation)
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| Feb 2, 2006 |
Authorities arrested suspected Mungiki sect leader, Maina Njenga, along with nine others. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 2/2/2006, “Fugitive leader of banned Kenyan sect arrested”)
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| May 4, 2006 |
Police arrested Benson Mwai Chege, a Mungiki coordinator. 14 additional suspected Mungiki members were also detained. (Africa News, 5/4/2006, “Kenya; Mungiki Coordinator Held in Police Swoop”)
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| May 4, 2006 |
Two people were found mangled and murdered in Nairobi. The killings have been linked to the Mungiki sect. Police also shot and killed two suspected Mungiki members as they attempted a carjacking. (Africa News, 5/5/2006, “Kenya; Police Link Killings to Sect”)
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| Jul 28, 2006 |
An English-Gikuyu (Kikuyu) dictionary was published for the first time. (Africa News, 7/28/2006, “Africa; Scholar Publishes English-Gikuyu Dictionary”)
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| Sep 30 - Oct 1, 2006 |
Houses were burned down and police opened fire at a group of home guards in the Kaikiia District (whose main residents are Kikuyu, Meru and Samburu) in an attempt to get the people to vacate the district. People protested the shootings,saying the government has no right to kick out its citizens. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 10/1/2006, “Kenyan parliamentary Speaker leads anti-government protest over eviction order”)
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| Nov 5 - 8, 2006 |
Four people, thought to be victims of the Mungiki, were mutilated and killed in weekend violence in Mathare slums. Two more were shot dead by police in the subsequent mayhem that led to the displacement of hundreds. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 11/8/2006, “Kenya: Six killed in Nairobi slum violence”)
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| Dec 25, 2006 |
Police arrested more than 800 suspected Mungiki members for an alleged plot to attack a prominent politician at his estate in Nairobi in protest over the arrest of their leader Ndura Waruinge. (BBC Monitoring Africa, 12/28/2006, “Kenyan police arrest 800 sect members for ‘planning’ Nairobi raid”)
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