December 12th

On this day – 12^th December 1963 – British East Africa (Kenya) becomes independent

Today, British East Africa is known as Kenya, but from 1885 and until 1963 was the area under foreign rule. In 1885, Germany established a protectorate over the sultan of Zanzibar. The British East-Africa company arrived in 1888 and in 1890 Germany handed its coastal holdings to Great Britain. Britain started working on the Kenya-Uganda railway, but met resistance most notably by the Nandi. The Nandi became the first ethnicity to be put in a native reserve to stop them from disrupting the work on the railroad. The railroad was still being built and 2498 workers died in the effort. In 1920 the East Africa protectorate was turned into a colony and renamed Kenya for the highest mountain. In 1952 to 1959 Kenya was in a state of emergency for the Mau Mau rebellion. During this rebellion Kenya held its first election for native Kenyans in 1957. It was the Kenyan African National Union (KANU) led by Jomo Kenyatta who won the election. In 1963 on this day the Kenyan protectorate and colony came to an end and Kenya led by Kenyatta.