A part of Eastern Africa, the territory of what is now Kenya has seen human habitation since the beginning of the Lower Paleolithic. The Bantu expansion from a West African centre of dispersal reached the area by the 1st millennium AD. With the borders of the modern state at the crossroads of the Bantu, Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic ethno-linguistic areas of Africa, Kenya is a truly multi-ethnic state.
The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 1944 to 1952.KAU was banned by the colonial government from 1952 to 1960.It was re-established by James Gichuru in 1960 and renamed to KANU on 14 May 1960 after a merger with Tom Mboya's Kenya Independence Movement.
The Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) was a political party in Kenya. It was founded in 1960 when several leading politicians refused to join Jomo Kenyatta's Kenya African National Union (KANU). It was led by Ronald Ngala who was joined by Moi's Kalenjin Political Alliance, the Masai United Front, the Kenya African Peoples Party, the Coast African Political Union,Masinde Muliro's Baluhya Political Union and the Somali National Front. The separate tribal organisations were to retain their identity and so, from the very start, KADU based its political approach on tribalism.. KADU's aim was to defend the interests of the so-called KAMATUSA as well as the British settlers, against the imagined future dominance of the larger Luo and Kikuyu that comprised the majority of KANU's membership, when it became inevitable that Kenya will achieve its independence. The KADU objective was to work towards a multiracial self government within the existing colonial political system. After release of Jomo Kenyatta,KADU was becoming increasingly popular with European settlers and, on the whole, repudiated Kenyatta's leadership. KADU's plan at Lancaster meetings was devised by European supporters, essentially to protect prevailing British settlers land rights.
The United Federal Party (UFP) was a political party in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
Rhodesia had limited democracy in the sense that it had the Westminster parliamentary system with multiple political parties contesting the seats in parliament, but as the voting was dominated by the White settler minority, and Black Africans only had a minority level of representation at that time, it was regarded internationally as a racist country.
The Southern Rhodesia general election of 1962 took place on 14 December 1962. Voters elected 65 members of the Legislative Assembly. The election was notable for bringing to power the Rhodesian Front, initially under Winston Field, which set the colony on the course for its eventual Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
Charles Mugane Njonjo is a former Attorney General of Kenya, and Minister of Constitutional Affairs. Charles Njonjo is also popularly referred to as "The Duke of Kabeteshire".
Bildad Mwaganu Kaggia was a Kenyan nationalist, activist, and politician. Kaggia was a member of the Mau Mau Central Committee. After independence he became a Member of Parliament. He established himself as a militant, fiery nationalist who wanted to serve the poor and landless people. Because of this he fell out irreconcilably with Jomo Kenyatta. Kaggia remained steadfast on his political principles till his death in 2005.
Sir Richard Gordon Turnbull, GCMG was a British colonial governor and the last governor of the British mandate of Tanganyika from 1958 to 1961. Following the country's independence, he was governor-general from 9 December 1961 to 9 December 1962.
General elections were held in Northern Rhodesia on 20 and 21 January 1964. There were two voter rolls for the Legislative Council, a main roll that elected 65 seats, and a reserved roll that elected 10. Africans elected the main roll, whilst Europeans elected the reserve roll. Other ethnicities were allowed to choose which roll to be part of. The United National Independence Party won the elections, taking 55 of the common roll seats. Its leader, Kenneth Kaunda became Prime Minister, leading the country to independence in October that year, at which point he became President. Voter turnout was 94.8% for the main roll and 74.1% for the reserved roll.
General elections were held in Northern Rhodesia on 30 October 1962, with by-elections for several seats held on 10 December. Although the United Federal Party won the most seats in the Legislative Council, and Northern Rhodesian African National Congress leader Harry Nkumbula had made a secret electoral pact with the UFP, Nkumbula decided to form a government with the United National Independence Party.
General elections were held in Kenya between 18 and 26 May 1963, the last before independence later in the year. The result was a victory for the Kenya African National Union (KANU), which won 120 of the 124 seats in the House of Representatives and 30 of the 38 seats in the Senate. Five seats in the House and three in the Senate remained unfilled due to a secessionist conflict on the border with Somalia.
General elections were held in Kenya between 25 September and 2 October 1956, with additional elections in March 1957 for eight African constituencies, the first in which Africans could be elected. The elections in 1956 were open to Europeans and Indians. In the European constituencies the results saw eight Independent Group members and six independents elected.
Sir Cecil Dennistoun Burney, 3rd Baronet was a British-Zambian businessman and politician.
The Central Africa Party was a multi-racial political party in Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Southern Rhodesia.
The New Kenya Party was a political party in Kenya.
Sir Michael Blundell was a Kenyan farmer and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Council from 1948 until 1963, and as Minister of Agriculture in two spells between 1955 and 1962.
The Capricorn Africa Society was a multiracial pressure group in British colonies in southern and eastern Africa in the 1950s and 1960s.
Michael Hill Blackwood (1917-2005) was a lawyer and politician who spent most of his working life in colonial Nyasaland and in Malawi in the early years of its independence. Although he represented the interests of European settlers before independence and opposed both the transfer of power to the African majority and the break-up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, after Malawi’s independence, he remained in the country as a member of its legislature until his retirement.
