Kenya

• water pollution from urban and industrial wastes;
• degradation of water quality from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers;
• water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria;
• deforestation;
• soil erosion;
• desertification;
• poaching

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• the Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa;
• glaciers are found on Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak;
• unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value

at birth:

1.02 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.014 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.004 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.849 male(s)/female

total population:

1.004 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

malaria is a high risk in some locations

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis (2007)

noun:

Kenyan(s)

adjective:

Kenyan

conventional long form:

Republic of Kenya

conventional short form:

Kenya

local long form:

Republic of Kenya/Jamhuri y Kenya

local short form:

Kenya

former:

British East Africa

name:

Nairobi

geographic coordinates:

1 17 S, 36 49 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 12 December 1963;
• amended as a republic 1964;
• reissued with amendments 1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2001;
• note - a new draft constitution was defeated by popular referendum in 2005

• based on Kenyan statutory law, Kenyan and English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law;
• judicial review in High Court;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations;
• constitutional amendment of 1982 making Kenya a de jure one-party state repealed in 1991

chief of state:

• President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30 December 2002);
• Vice President Moody AWORI (since 25 September 2003);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30 December 2002); Vice President Moody AWORI (since 25 September 2003)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term);
• in addition to receiving the largest number of votes in absolute terms, the presidential candidate must also win 25% or more of the vote in at least five of Kenya's seven provinces and one area to avoid a runoff;
• election last held 27 December 2002 (next to be held in December 2007);
• vice president appointed by the president

election results:

President Mwai KIBAKI elected; percent of vote - Mwai KIBAKI 63%, Uhuru KENYATTA 30%

• Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya or FORD-Kenya [Musikari KOMBO or Soita SHITANDA, disputed];
• Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or FORD-People [Simeon NYACHAE];
• Kenya African National Union or KANU [Nicholas BIWOTT or Uhuru KENYATTA, disputed];
• National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya or NARC-K [Mwai KIBAKI, unofficially, since the break-up of KIBAKI's original coalition];
• Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya or ODM-Kenya [Raila ODINGA, unofficially]

• human rights groups;
• labor unions;
• Muslim organizations;
• National Convention Executive Council or NCEC, a proreform coalition of political parties and nongovernment organizations [Ndung'u WAINANA];
• Protestant National Council of Churches of Kenya or NCCK [Mutava MUSYIMI];
• Roman Catholic and other Christian churches;
• Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims or SUPKEM [Shaykh Abdul Gafur al-BUSAIDY]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Peter Rateng Oginga OGEGO

chancery:

2249 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 387-6101

FAX:

[1] (202) 462-3829

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles

chief of mission:

Ambassador Michael RANNEBERGER

embassy:

US Embassy, United Nations Avenue, Gigiri; P. O. Box 606 Village Market Nairobi

mailing address:

Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831

telephone:

[254] (20) 537-800

FAX:

[254] (20) 537-810

• three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green;
• the red band is edged in white;
• a large warrior's shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at the center

agriculture:

75%

industry and services:

25% (2003 est.)

lowest 10%:

2%

highest 10%:

37.2% (2000)

• small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, clothing, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products, horticulture, oil refining;
• aluminum, steel, lead;
• cement, commercial ship repair, tourism

general assessment:

• inadequate;
• fixed-line telephone system is small and inefficient;
• trunks are primarily microwave radio relay;
• business data commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system

domestic:

• no recent growth in fixed-line infrastructure and the sole provider, Telkom Kenya, is slated for privatization;
• multiple providers in the mobile-cellular segment of the market fostering a boom in mobile-cellular telephone usage

international:

country code - 254; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat

total:

2,778 km

narrow gauge:

2,778 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

total:

63,265 km (interurban roads)

paved:

8,933 km

unpaved:

54,332 km

note: there also are 100,000 km of rural roads and 14,500 km of urban roads for a national total of 177,765 km (2004)

total:

1 ship (1000 GRT or over) 3,737 GRT/5,558 DWT

by type:

petroleum tanker 1

registered in other countries:

5 (Bahamas 1, Comoros 1, St Vincent and The Grenadines 2, Tuvalu 1, unknown 1) (2007)

males age 18-49:

7,303,153

females age 18-49:

7,083,726 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

3,963,532

females age 18-49:

3,471,926 (2005 est.)

• Kenya served as an important mediator in brokering Sudan's north-south separation in February 2005;
• Kenya provides shelter to almost a quarter of a million refugees, including Ugandans who flee across the border periodically to seek protection from Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels;
• Kenya works hard to prevent the clan and militia fighting in Somalia from spreading across the border, which has long been open to nomadic pastoralists;
• the boundary that separates Kenya's and Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times

refugees (country of origin):

150,459 (Somalia), 76,646 (Sudan), 14,862 (Ethiopia)

IDPs:

431,150 (KANU attacks on opposition tribal groups in 1990s) (2006)

current situation:

• Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation;
• children are trafficked within the country for domestic servitude, street vending, agricultural labor, and sexual exploitation;
• men, women, and girls are trafficked to the Middle East, other African nations, Western Europe, and North America for domestic servitude, enslavement in massage parlors and brothels, and manual labor;
• Chinese women trafficked for sexual exploitation reportedly transit Nairobi and Bangladeshis may transit Kenya for forced labor in other countries

tier rating:

Tier 2 Watch List - Kenya is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List due to a lack of evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking

• widespread harvesting of small plots of marijuana;
• transit country for South Asian heroin destined for Europe and North America;
• Indian methaqualone also transits on way to South Africa;
• significant potential for money-laundering activity given the country's status as a regional financial center;
• massive corruption, and relatively high levels of narcotics-associated activities