[KenyanRoc]

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A chronology of key events:
1895 - Formation of British East African
Protectorate.

Early 1900s - White settlers move into highlands, railway built from Mombasa to Lake Victoria.

1920 - East African Protectorate becomes crown colony of Kenya - administered by a British governor.

Mau Mau
1944 - Kenyan African Union (KAU) formed to campaign for African independence. First African appointment to legislative council.

1947 - Jomo Kenyatta becomes KAU leader.

1952 - Secret Kikuyu guerrilla group known as Mau Mau begins violent campaign against white settlers. State of emergency declared. Kenyatta arrested.

1953 - Kenyatta charged with management of Mau Mau and jailed. KAU banned.

1956 - Mau Mau rebellion put down after thousands killed - mainly Africans.

1959 - Kenyatta released from jail but under house arrest.

1960 - State of emergency ends. Britain announces plans to prepare Kenya for majority African rule. Kenya African national Union (Kanu) formed by Tom Mboya and Oginga Odinga.
Independence

1961 - Kenyatta freed and assumes presidency of Kanu.

1963 - Kenya gains independence, with Kenyatta as prime minister.

1964 - Republic of Kenya formed. Kenyatta becomes president and Odinga vice-president.

1966 - Odinga, a Luo, leaves Kanu after ideological split, forms rival Kenya People's Union (KPU).

1969 - Assassination of government minister Tom Mboya sparks ethnic unrest. KPU banned and Odinga arrested. Kanu only party to contest elections.

1974 - Kenyatta re-elected.
Moi era begins

1978 - Kenyatta dies in office, succeeded by Vice-President Daniel arap Moi.

1982 June - Kenya officially declared a one party state by National Assembly.

1982 August - Army suppresses air force coup attempt. Private Hezekiah Ochuka rules country for about six hours.

1987 - Opposition groups suppressed. International criticism of political arrests and human rights abuses.

1989 - Political prisoners freed.

1990 - Death of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Dr Robert Ouko, in suspicious circumstances leads to increased dissent against government.
Multi-party elections

1991 August - Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (Ford) formed by six opposition leaders, including Oginga Odinga. Party outlawed and members arrested. Creditors suspend aid to Kenya amid fierce international condemnation.

1991 December - Special conference of Kanu agrees to introduce a multi-party political system.

1992 - Approximately 2,000 people killed in tribal conflict in the west of the country.

1992 August - Ford splits into two factions - Ford-Asili (led by ex-government minister Kenneth Matiba) and Ford-Kenya (led by Odinga).

1992 December - Moi re-elected in multi-party elections. Kanu wins strong majority.

1994 - Odinga dies. Opposition groups form coalition - the United National Democratic Alliance - but it is plagued by disagreements.

1995 - New opposition party - Safina - launched by palaeontologist Richard Leakey. Party refused official registration until November 1997.

1997 - Demonstrations calling for democratic reform. World Bank witholds disbursement of $5billion in structural adjustment credit.

1997 December - Moi wins further term in widely-criticized elections. Main opponents facing Moi are former vice-president Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, son of Oginga Odinga.
Embassy bomb

1998 August - Bomb explodes at US embassy in Nairobi, killing over 230 people and wounding thousands.

1999 - Moi appoints Richard Leakey to head government drive against corruption.

2000 - Severe drought in north-west.

2001 April - Leakey appears in court to face charges of abuse of power and perverting the course of justice.

2001 11 June - Moi reshuffles cabinet and appoints opposition party leader Raila Odinga as energy minister in the first coalition government in Kenya's history.

2001 June - Parliament passes law allowing the import and manufacture of cheap copies of drugs against AIDS.

2001 July - For the second time in two years Kenya closes its border with Somalia to curb arms smuggling.

2001 July - Opposition Democratic Party wins by-election in rural constituency of Taveta, where Moi had led a door-to-door campaign to ensure his party's victory.

2001 August - Recurring drought in central and northern Kenya leaves 3 million people short of adequate food supplies, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reports.

2001 August - Opening in Nairobi of The Peace Support Centre, which is to train an East African peace keeping force.

2001 August - Parliament throws out bill on formation of independent corruption watchdog, hampering chances of IMF resuming lending programme. Moi creates an anti-corruption police unit to try restore IMF confidence. The unit's first case comes to court in November.

2001 September - Tourism hit by attacks on US targets, worsening economy now facing worst recession since 1963.

2001 October - Moi appoints Kenyatta's son, Uhuru Kenyatta, to parliament and to a cabinet post in November, apparently to rejuvenate the KANU party leadership before the 2003 election.

2001 November - Replacement of finance minister Chris Okemo, whose assistant publically accused IMF of coercing Kenya into misguided economic policies.

2001 December - Circumcision of girls under 17 banned.

2001 - Ethnic tensions continue, culminating in several violent clashes. In December thousands flee and several people are killed in rent battles involving Nubian and Luo communities in Nairobi's Kibera slum district



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