Political Developments and Challenges

Kenya got independence in 1963 from Britain, with the country becoming a republic in 1964 led by an elected president as head of state and government

Political Developments

The British granted the will of Kenyan people of independence in 1963.
At that time, there were two main political parties in the country, KANU and KADU.
KADU dissolved itself and joined KANU to form a unitary government under President Jomo Kenyatta as the first executive president.
The first post-independence party, Kenya People's Union (KPU), was formed in 1966 by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
The first president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, ruled until 1978 when he died.
His successor was President Daniel arap Moi who ruled the country until 2002.
There was an attempted coup in 1982 that led Kenya to being made a one party state by law.
In 1987, the electoral constituencies were increased from 158 to 188.
In 1988, queuing system (famously known as the mlolongo system) of voting was introduced in the general election In 1990, the queuing system of voting was abolished and secret ballot system introduced.
In 1991, Section 2(A) of the constitution was repealed and multi-party legalized.

Political Challenges

• In 1965, Pio Gama Pinto an elected KANU member of Asian origin was murdered.
• In 1969, Thomas Joseph Mboya, the then MP for Bahati constituency and minister for economic planning and development was assassinated which caused riots in major towns in Kenya.
• In 1975, Josiah Mwangi Kariuki popularly known as J.M. was brutally murdered. His murder caused major riots by the university students and other members of the public.
• In 1978, Kenya faced a major political challenge when the first president of the republic of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta died.
• In 1982, there was an attempted coup in the government by the Kenya Air force soldiers. This led to looting, loss of lives and destruction of property.
• In 1990, Dr. Robert Ouko, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation was brutally murdered. This led to riots throughout the country especially the university students.
• In 1991, some parts of Kenya mainly in the Rift Valley, Nyanza, Coast and Western provinces were hit by ethnic clashes. As a result many people died and others were displaced.

Land in Kenya

Land policy was revised with the promulgation of the constitution
Land in Kenya is held, used and managed in a manner that is equitable, efficient, productive and sustainable.
All land in Kenya belongs to the people of Kenya collectively as a nation, as communities and as individuals.
Land in Kenya is classified as public, communal or private.

Public Land

This is also referred to as government land that can be described as follows;

• Land that is used or occupied by a state organ
• All minerals and mineral oils belong to public land
• Unclaimed land by an individual or a community
• Land transferred to the state by the way of sale revision or by way of surrender
• Government forests, game reserves, water catchment areas, national parks
• All rivers, lakes and other water bodies
• Any land not classified as private or community

Aberdare Ranges which is Public Land

Community Land

Community land is land held by communities identified on the basis of ethnicities, culture and similar community of interest.
It is Land lawfully registered in the name of group representatives.
It is Land lawfully transferred to a specific community by any process of law.
It is Land that is lawfully managed or used by specific community as forests, grazing areas or shrines.
It is Ancestral lands and lands traditionally occupied by hunter gatherer community lawfully held as trust land by the county governments.

Private Land

It is Registered land held by any person under any freehold tenure.
It is Land held by any person under lease of tenure.
It is Land declared private under an act of Parliament.

Holding by Non-Citizens

Several factors determine the conditions in which a non-citizen can hold land in Kenya as follows;

• A person who is not a Kenyan citizen may hold land on the basis of leasehold tenure which shall not exceed 99 years
• A body corporate shall be regarded as a citizen only if the body corporate is wholly owned by one or more citizens
• Property held in trust shall be regarded as being held by a citizen only if all of the beneficial interest of the trust is held by persons who are citizens

Land Policies

Land policies are guidelines set by the government which regulate the ownership, acquisition or distribution, and utilization of land om Kenya.
Examples of land policies in kenya include;

• Settlement and resettlement
• Land consolidation
• Agricultural development corporation
• Diversification of agriculture
• Irrigation schemes
• Conservation of the environment
• Mechanization

Challenges of Land Policies Since Independence

• Population pressure
• Conflicts arising from issues of land ownership and use
• Massive corruption eg. Land grabbing
• Inappropriate methods of establishing settlement schemes
• Inadequate funds to complete the process of land demarcation and adjudication
• Inaccurate and incomplete records of land in the Ministry of land and Settlement making it difficult to verify land ownership records and allocation

Education Developments

The following are some of the education developments in Kenya since independence;

• 1963 - racial schools were abolished and the government started supplementing missionary schools with teachers.
• 1964 - Kenya Institute of Education was established to conduct research and prepare the curriculum for pre-primary to secondary school.
• 1964 - The Ominde commission was formed to look into education matters. Other commissions formed along the way to handle pressing education matters include Gachathi Commission in 1976, Mackay Commission in 1981, Kamunge Commission in 1988, and Koech Commission in 2002.
• 1966 - Cambridge Overseas Secondary Certificate was awarded to Form 4 up to this year, the same year that KAPE ended at primary level.
• 1967 - Teachers Service Commission was created to manage the teaching profession.
• 1967 - KAPE was replaced with CPE at Standard 7.
• 1967 - Cambridge oversees school certificate was replaced with EACE up to 1977 when it became KCE, currently this exam is KCSE (8-4-4) since 1989.
• 1970 - KJSE introduced at Form II in Harambee Schools has been abolished together with KACE at Form VI after the introduction of the 8-4-4 system.
• 1974 - Free primary education was introduced but failed along the way, only to be reintroduced by the NARC government in 2002, and extended to secondary level inb 2006.
• 1977 - KNEC was formed to replace E.A.E.C., which used to administer national exams until the collapse of East African Community.
• Names of national examinations have changed over the years as follows: In primary up to 1966 students sat for KAPE at Std. In 1967 KAPE was replaced with CPE at Std 7. In 1985 CPE was replaced with KCPE at Std 8.
• University education has expanded greatly with establishment of many public and private universities. Among public universities in Kenya include; Kenyatta University, University of Nairobi, and Moi University, among others

Challenges Facing Education in Kenya

Some of the challenges in education sector include;

• Inadequate funds to finance the education.
• Inadequate facilities like classrooms books etc.
• Inadequate personnel i.e. qualified teachers.
• Teacher-student ratio is very high.
• Low salaries leading to strikes from teachers and lecturers.
• Frequent riots from schools, polytechnics and public universities.
• Academic theoretical oriented education.
• Few higher education institutions eg. Public universities.
• Brain drain from qualified personnel in higher learning institutions.
• Due to high poverty levels and early pregnancies many children are dropping out of school.
• Mismanagement of learning institutions and embezzlement of funds.
• Gender inequality in the education system.