Essay Example on Colonial History Modern day Kenya was first colonized by the Imperial British

Colonial History Modern day Kenya was first colonized by the Imperial British East Africa Company as the British East Africa Protectorate on the 1st July 1895 Under British rule Kenya was subject to harsh social economic and political policies Racial discrimination protected under the law was also widespread Large amounts of land were set aside only for white Europeans and blacks were forced to work for minimal wages on poor settler farms However these conditions strengthened the Kenyan s desire for independence so the British colonial government produced constitutional proposals to let the Africans directly elect their representatives In the elections of 1957 the first election under this new constitution eight prominent African leaders including the future President Daniel Moi were elected They then formed an organization to fight for independence called the Kenya African National Union KANU Eventually due to massive pressure from KANU and the Kenyan people the British granted Kenya its independence on December 12 1963 Political Organization Kenya is a Representative Democracy and a Presidential Republic The nation has a multi party political system with three branches the legislative which consists of Parliament the judiciary which consist of the Presidential appointed seven member Supreme Court and the executive which consists of a President Uhuru Kenyatta a Deputy President William Ruto and a Presidential appointed Cabinet The National Assembly and the Senate are the two chambers that make up Kenya s Parliament the legislative branch of the country 

The National Assembly s 349 members plus the Speaker are each elected by the voters of single member constituencies Out of the total 349 members forty seven seats are reserved for women and twelve members are nominated to represent the disabled the young and the workers of the country The Senate consists of a total of sixty seven members plus the Speaker The Senate contains forty seven members each elected by the voters of the counties sixteen members who are nominated by political parties two members representing the young and two members representing the disabled Both Senators and members of the National Assembly serve five year terms The Chief Justice the Deputy Chief Justice and five other judges comprise the Supreme Court of Kenya which is the highest ranking court Kenya The Court has the ability to interpret or apply the Constitution of the country and may also give opinions on issues at the petition of the national government The President appoints the seven judges with the counsel of the Judicial Service Commission The executive branch is comprised of the President Deputy President and the Cabinet whose members are appointed by the President 

The President and Deputy President are elected for five year terms In order to win a candidate must win fifty percent of the votes and twenty five percent in half of the forty seven counties Shape and Boundary Kenya has a total of 3 457 kilometers of land boundaries plus a 536 kilometer long coastal border with the Indian Ocean It borders a total of five countries Tanzania for 775 km Ethiopia for 867 km Uganda for 814 km Somalia for 684 km and South Sudan for 317 km Kenya's national borders were mostly arbitrarily drawn by British colonialists However in certain places the border is defined by natural topography For example the border follows the Dawa River along Ethiopia for a few hundred kilometers Additionally the Tanzanian Kenyan border is also defined by a piece of topography Mount Kilimanjaro the highest peak in Africa of which the border is adjacent Kenya is divided into forty seven counties that are headed by governors These counties form the first order divisions of Kenya Constituencies are an electoral subdivision and the current second order division in Kenya There are a total of 349 Assembly constituencies and 67 Senate constituencies Kenyan local authorities mostly do not follow common division boundaries 

They are classified as either cities municipalities or towns Some local authorities divide their area further into wards International Trade Kenya is the 107th largest export economy in the world according to the Economic Complexity Index ECI The top exports of Kenya are Tea 1 15B Cut Flowers 653M Petroleum 389M Coffee 227M and Legumes 151M Its top imports are Refined Petroleum 2 18B Cars 517M Packaged Medicines 447M Video Displays 438M and Delivery Trucks 387M The top five export destinations are the United States 556M Uganda 534M the Netherlands 431M the United Kingdom 391M and Zambia 390M The top five import nations are China 5 92B India 3 18B Japan 892M Tanzania 793M and South Africa 604M International Organizations Some examples of international organizations that Kenya is a member state of is the African Union AU the East African Community EAC the United Nations UN the East African Development Bank EADB and the World Health Organization WHO