Kenya

Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo Kenyatta led Kenya from independence in 1963 until his death in 1978, when President Daniel Toroitich arap Moi took power in a constitutional succession. The country was
a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. Moi acceded
to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. President Moi stepped down in December 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai Kibaki, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), defeated the KANU candidate and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform.

Population: 30,765,916

Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and
Tanzania

Climate and Environment: varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior

Religions: Protestant 38%, Roman Catholic 28%, indigenous beliefs 26%, Muslim 7%, other 1%

Economy: Kenya is well placed to serve as an engine of growth in East Africa, but its economy has been stagnating.
In 1993, the government of Kenya implemented a program of economic liberalization and reform that included
the removal of import licensing, price controls, and foreign exchange controls. The reforms led to a brief turnaround
in economic performance following a period of negative growth in the early 1990s. Kenya’s real GDP grew 5%
in 1995 and 4% in 1996, and inflation remained under control. Growth slowed after 1997, averaging only 1.5%
in 1997-2000. Long-term barriers to development include electricity shortages, inefficient government dominance
of key sectors, endemic corruption, and high population growth.
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS Information): Estimated adults with HIV, end of 2001 – 2,300,000 (fifteen percent) Kenya’s
Public Health Minister estimates the number of HIV/AIDS orphans as 1.1 million.

Find out how to sponsor a child today