Kenya Information

Legal system: 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compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; constitutional amendment of 1982 making Kenya a de jure one-party state repealed in 1991

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: Chief of state: President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30 December 2002) and Vice President Moody Awori. Note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government. The Vice President is head of government business in Parliament

Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year 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 NA December 2007); vice president appointed by the president
election results: President Mwai KIBAKI elected; percent of vote - Mwai KIBAKI 63%, Uhuru KENYATTA 30%

Legislative branch: Unicameral National Assembly or Bunge (224 seats; 210 members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms, 12 so-called "nominated" members who are appointed by the president but selected by the parties in proportion to their parliamentary vote totals, 2 ex-officio members)
elections: last held 27 December 2002 (next to be held by early 2007)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NARC 125, KANU 64, FORD-P 14, other 7; ex-officio 2; seats appointed by the president - NARC 7, KANU 4, FORD-P 1

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the president); High Court

Political parties and leaders: Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or FORD-People [Kimani wa NYOIKE, chairman]; Kenya African National Union or KANU [Uhuru KENYATTA]; National Rainbow Coalition or NARC [Mwai KIBAKI] - the governing party

Political pressure groups and leaders: human rights groups; labour unions; Muslim organizations; National Convention Executive Council or NCEC, a pro-reform coalition of political parties and nongovernment organizations [Kivutha KIBWANA]; 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, chairman]

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, EADB, ECA, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Flag description: 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 centre

Economy - overview: Kenya, the regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa, is hampered by corruption and reliance upon several primary goods whose prices continue to decline. Following strong economic growth in 1995 and 1996, Kenya's economy has stagnated, with GDP growth failing to keep up with the rate of population growth. In 1997, the IMF suspended Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program due to the government's failure to maintain reforms and curb corruption. A severe drought from 1999 to 2000 compounded Kenya's problems, causing water and energy rationing and reducing agricultural output. As a result, GDP contracted by 0.3% in 2000. The IMF, which had resumed loans in 2000 to help Kenya through the drought, again halted lending in 2001 when the government failed to institute several anticorruption measures. Despite the return of strong rains in 2001, weak commodity prices, endemic corruption, and low investment limited Kenya's economic growth to 1%, and Kenya is unlikely to see growth above 2% in 2002. Substantial IMF and other foreign support is essential to prevent a further decline in real per capita output.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $31 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 24%
industry: 13%
services: 63% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 50% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: Lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 37% (2000)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.3% (2001 est.)

Labour force: 10 million (2001 est.)

Labour force: - by occupation: agriculture 75%-80%

Unemployment rate: 40% (2001 est.)

Budget: revenues: $2.91 billion
expenditures: $2.97 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) (2000 est.)

Industries: small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products processing; oil refining, cement; tourism

Industrial production growth rate: -0.7% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production: 4.616 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 22%
hydro: 70%
other: 8% (2000)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 4.433 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: coffee, tea, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables; dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs

Exports: $1.8 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.)

Exports - commodities: tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, cement

Exports - partners: UK 13.5%, Tanzania 12.5%, Uganda 12.0%, Germany 5.5% (2000)

Imports: $3.1 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and plastics

Imports - partners: UK 12%, UAE 9.8%, Japan 6.5%, India 4.4% (2000)

Debt - external: $8 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $457 million (1997) (1997)

Currency: Kenyan shilling (KES)

Currency code: KES

Exchange rates: Kenyan shillings per US dollar - 78.597 (January 2002), 78.563 (2001), 76.176 (2000), 70.326 (1999), 60.367 (1998), 58.732 (1997)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Telephones - main lines in use: 310,000 (2001)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 540,000 (2001)

Telephone system: domestic: trunks are primarily microwave radio relay; business data commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system
International: satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat

Radio broadcast stations: AM 24, FM 18, shortwave 6 (2001)

Radios: 3.07 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 8 (2002)

Televisions: 730,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .ke
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 65 (2001)

Internet users: 500,000 (2002)

Ports and harbours: Kisumu, Lamu, Mombasa

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force