Editing History of Kenya (section)

===Kenyatta tenure (1963–1978)===
{{See also|Presidency of Jomo Kenyatta|Shifta War|Pio Gama Pinto|Kenya People's Union|Kisumu massacre}}
[[File:Kenya.ogv|thumb|1973 newsreel about Kenyatta's rule]] 
Once in power, Kenyatta swerved from radical nationalism to conservative bourgeois politics. The plantations formerly owned by white settlers were broken up and given to farmers, with the Kikuyu the favoured recipients, along with their allies the Embu and the Meru. By 1978, most of the country's wealth and power was in the hands of the organisation which grouped these three tribes: the Kikuyu-Embu-Meru Association (GEMA), together comprising 30% of the population. At the same time the Kikuyu, with Kenyatta's support, spread beyond their traditional territorial homelands and repossessed lands "stolen by the whites" – even when these had previously belonged to other groups. The other groups, a 70% majority, were outraged, setting up long-term ethnic animosities.<ref name="opendemocracy.net">{{cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/kenya_roots_of_crisis/|title=Kenya: roots of crisis|last=Prunier G|date=2008|website=[[openDemocracy]]|access-date=10 March 2019|archive-date=18 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718084613/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/kenya_roots_of_crisis/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The minority party, the [[Kenya African Democratic Union]] (KADU), representing a coalition of small tribes that had feared dominance by larger ones, dissolved itself voluntarily in 1964 and former members joined KANU. KANU was the only party 1964–66 when a faction broke away as the [[Kenya People's Union]] (KPU). It was led by [[Jaramogi Oginga Odinga]], a former vice-president and [[Luo (Kenya)|Luo]] elder. KPU advocated a more "scientific" route to socialism—criticising the slow progress in land redistribution and employment opportunities—as well as a realignment of foreign policy in favour of the [[Soviet Union]]. On 25 February 1965, [[Pio Gama Pinto]], a Kenyan of [[Goan]] descent and freedom fighter who was detained during the colonial period was assassinated in what is recognised as Kenya's first political assassination. He was also [[Oginga Odinga|Oginga Odinga's]] chief tactician and link to the eastern bloc.<ref>Report of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission 2013. Excerpts available from: http://www.goanvoice.org.uk/gvuk_files/Pio_Gama_Pinto_TRJC_2013.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020091213/http://www.goanvoice.org.uk/gvuk_files/Pio_Gama_Pinto_TRJC_2013.pdf |date=20 October 2021 }}</ref> His death dealt a severe blow to the Oginga Odinga's organisational efforts.<ref>Freedom and suffering. Chapter in: Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1963 – 2011 by Daniel Branch. Yale University Press. Nov 2011</ref>

The government used a variety of political and economic measures to harass the KPU and its prospective and actual members. KPU branches were unable to register, KPU meetings were prevented and civil servants and politicians suffered severe economic and political consequences for joining the KPU. A security Act was passed in Parliament in July 1966 and granted the government powers to carry out detention without trial, which was used against KPU members.<ref>K. Conboy. Detention without trial in Kenya. GEORGIA JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW Volume:8 Issue:2 Dated:(SPRING 1978) Pages:441-461M</ref> In a series of dawn raids in August 1966, several KPU party members were arrested and detained without trial. They included [[Ochola Ogaye Mak'Anyengo|Ochola Mak'Anyengo]] (the secretary general of the Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union), Oluande Koduol (Oginga Odinga's private secretary) and Peter Ooko (the general secretary of the East African Common Services Civil Servants Union).<ref>{{Cite news |date=1966-08-05 |title=5 opposition leaders seized |pages=1 |work=Pasadena Independent |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pasadena-independent-5-opposition-leader/15272844/ |access-date=2023-08-02 |archive-date=14 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514213423/https://www.newspapers.com/article/pasadena-independent-5-opposition-leader/15272844/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 1969, Tom Mboya, a Luo member of the government considered a potential successor to Kenyatta, was assassinated. Hostility between Kikuyu and Luo was heightened, and after riots broke out in Luo country the KPU was banned. The specific riots that led to the banning of the KPU resulted in the incident referred to as the [[Kisumu massacre]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-28 |title=Dark Saturday in 1969 when Jomo's visit to Kisumu turned bloody |url=https://nation.africa/kenya/news/dark-saturday-in-1969-when-jomo-s-visit-to-kisumu-turned-bloody-101870 |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=Nation |language=en |archive-date=11 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511074727/https://nation.africa/kenya/news/dark-saturday-in-1969-when-jomo-s-visit-to-kisumu-turned-bloody-101870 |url-status=live }}</ref> Kenya thereby became a one-party state under KANU.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Mueller SD|date=1984|title=Government and Opposition in Kenya, 1966-9|journal=[[The Journal of Modern African Studies|J. Mod. Afr. Stud.]]|volume=22|issue=3|pages=399–427|jstor=160453|doi=10.1017/S0022278X00055105|hdl=2144/39906|s2cid=154614480 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Ignoring his suppression of the opposition and continued factionalism within KANU the imposition of one-party rule allowed Mzee ("Old Man") Kenyatta, who had led the country since independence, to claim he had achieved "political stability." Underlying social tensions were evident, however. Kenya's very rapid population growth and considerable rural to urban migration were in larger part responsible for high unemployment and disorder in the cities. There also was much resentment by blacks at the privileged economic position held by Asians and Europeans in the country.

At Kenyatta's death (22 August 1978), Vice-president [[Daniel arap Moi]] became interim President. On 14 October, Moi formally became president after he was elected head of KANU and designated its sole nominee. In June 1982, the National Assembly amended the constitution, making Kenya officially a one-party state. On 1 August members of the [[Kenyan Air Force]] launched [[1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt|an attempted coup]], which was quickly suppressed by Loyalist forces led by the Army, the [[General Service Unit]] (GSU) – paramilitary wing of the police – and later the regular police, but not without civilian casualties.<ref name=":1" />

====Foreign policies====
Independent Kenya, although officially non-aligned, adopted a pro-Western stance.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Britain, Kenya and the Cold War: Imperial Defence, Colonial Security and Decolonisation|vauthors=Percox DA|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2004|isbn=9781850434603|location=London}}</ref> Kenya worked unsuccessfully for East African union; the proposal to unite Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda did not win approval. However, the three nations did form a loose East African Community (EAC) in 1967, that maintained the customs union and some common services that they had shared under British rule. The EAC collapsed in 1977 and was officially dissolved in 1984. Kenya's relations with Somalia deteriorated over the problem of Somalis in the North Eastern Province who tried to secede and were supported by Somalia. In 1968, however, Kenya and Somalia agreed to restore normal relations, and the Somali rebellion effectively ended.<ref name=":1" />