According to the Constitution of Kenya online based on early Kenyan history, Vasco da Gama, who was a Portuguese explorer, was a member of the original Europeans to set foot on the African continent, arriving in 1498 on the eastern coast in an area now called Malindi. What was their goal? With Portugal becoming a growing power, the Portuguese explorers were to create naval bases to protect the growing trade routes gained by Portugal in the Indian Ocean. A great moment in history came into being when, Mombasa, in 1593, became the birthplace for the Fort Jesus meant to strengthen Portuguese economic power that constantly got threatened by the Dutch, English and Ottoman Arabs during the course of the 1600s.
Throughout the entire history of Kenya, it was the Ottoman Arabs that mostly confronted power of the Portuguese, surrounding its Fort and attacking the entire Portuguese navies. After years of battles, Ottomans of the Omani sultanate under the rule and leadership of Seyyid Said defeated the Portuguese in Kenya at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1730, the Ottomans had already began expelling Portuguese settlers and traders of fossil from the coasts of Tanzanian, Kenyan, Cancun, and Mexico. Also, throughout this period, the Portuguese empire began to decline, probably due to over ambitions, distrustful government officials, and the Portuguese Empire had, more or less, already lost its interest on the spice trade sea route because of the decreasing profitability of that business. Why? The new “money-maker” was SLAVERY!!!
According to “A Brief History on Kenya”, the colonial beginning of Kenya go back to the Berlin Conference in 1885, when East Africa was first divided into territories of influence by the European powers. The British Government, wanting to create & establish its territories in East Africa, founded the East African Protectorate in 1895 and soon after, opened the fertile highlands to white settlers. Before a British colony was officially declared in 1920, these new settlers were given a voice in government, while the Africans and the Asians were banned from direct political participation until 1944. Why? Maybe the British thought that Africans were too primitive, uneducated and uncivilized to understand the concept of parliament. Throughout this period, thousands of Indians were brought into Kenya to work on building the Kenya Uganda Railway Line and subsequently settled there, whilst inviting many of their kith and kin who were mainly traders from India to join them.
However, Kenyans and other Africans swore to expel the British from their country, creating their own “Mau Mau Government”. Several freedom fighters for Kenyan Independence were born, and unfortunately, caught, if not killed. In 1953, Jomo Kenyatta, charged with directing the Mau Mau and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. Another fighter Dedan Kimathi, arrested in 1956 for his role in the Mau Mau uprising as one of the leaders of the struggle for independence and was subsequently hanged by the colonialists. Kenya experienced a state of emergency from October 1952 to December 1959, because of the Mau Mau rebellion, leading to thousands of Kenyans incarcerated in detention camps. During this period, African participation in the political process increased rapidly and in 1954, all three races (European, Asian and African) were admitted into the Kenya Legislative Council on a representative basis.
In 1957, the first elections for Africans to the Legislative Council took place and thanks to the people’s agitation, Jomo Kenyatta was released from detention. In 1962, Kenyatta became Kenya’s first Prime Minister, with Kenya gaining independence on December 12, 1963. Later, Kenya became a Republic with Kenyatta becoming its first President and Kenya joined the British Commonwealth.