History and Government in Kenya

The following article originally appeared in The Star.

Each year thousands of students in Kenya take the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education with the hopes of attending university or college. When the 2010 results came out late last month, a smart Kenyan sent me his version of the 2015 exam on History and Government. As his version shows, the last several years have only highlighted problems that have plagued Kenya for decades: corruption, tribalism, impunity, and political patronage. Let’s hope that one day our history lessons won’t be so dour.

2015 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education: History and Government Paper 1

1. Who won the 2007 elections in Kenya?

a) Raila Odinga b) Kalonzo Musyoka c) Martha Karua d) Mwai Kibaki

2. In which year did Kenya experience Post-Election Violence?

a) 2002 b) 2005 c) 1942 d) 2007

3. Who was the chief mediator following the PEV experience in Kenya?

a) Graca Machel b) Chinua Achebe c) Kofi Annan d) Thabo Mbeki

4. Expound on the historic handshake, where it happened, the circumstances leading to it and its major impact.

5. What happened to the coalition government in Kenya?

6. Who is an IDP? Using the example of Kenya, discuss the political, economic, social or cultural conditions in which an IDP is created.

7. “The police are issued with guns so that they can shoot.” Discuss this statement in the context of the 2009 report on Kenya by Philip Alston the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

8. In which year did the police raid the Standard Newspapers? What were they looking for and did they find it?

9. What is the name of the smart man who embarrassed the Presidential security detail? Where was this, in which year was it and what did the man want to tell the President?

10. In the USA there was a president who had a dream

a) What was his name?

b) What was his dream?

c) Which year was the dream?

d) Did the dream come true?

e) If so in which year?

11. Write an essay about Barrack Obama. Include details like when and where he was born, his parents names, where he grew up, his wife and children’s names and when they were each born, how many wives his father had and which year he married each of them, his fathers favorite food. Also write about his academic, economic, social, spiritual and emotional background

10. Kofi Annan is one of the greatest black men alive. Compare and contrast how Rwandans and Kenyans perceive him.

11. Write about the Kriegler Report, its findings, recommendations and impact. (20 Marks)

12. Write vividly about the Waki Report, its findings, recommendations and impact. (20 Marks)

13. Discuss the maize scandal. Give details of the year it happened, who the suspects behind it were, how much maize they stole, where they took the maize and how many were brought to book for it. (20Marks)

14. Who were Ababu Namwamba and Dr. Bonny Khalwale? Write everything you know about them (20 Marks).

15. Write vividly about the Artur brothers and their mission in Kenya. Also give all their nicknames. (20 Marks)

16. List KKK members

17. Is it true that MP’s ate flour and washed it down their throats with oil?

18. Write about the oil saga

19 a) How many districts are there in Kenya? (please approximate to the nearest 10).

b) Which one has Chemolingot as its headquarters?

c) Mr. Mutua travels from Kijabe to Malaba via Kaimosi. Describe the political, economic and administrative changes he encounters along the way (20 marks)

20) Expound on the following terminologies (20 Marks)

a) Mavi ya Kuku b) Nyefnyef c) Mkate Nusu d) Pumbavu

21: (a) When was Migingo Island sold to UG?

(b) Where was Mau Forest?

(c) When was the ship piracy business legalized

22. In 2011, several names were tabled in Kenya’s parliament as being drug lords. Who are they and which drugs were they accused of trafficking?

23. How many Kenyans voted “YES” in the 2010 constitutional referendum? Describe its essential features.

24. Who invited Sudan President Omar Bashir to the promulgation of the Kenyan constitution on August 27, 2010? Why?

25. Who were named by the International Criminal Court Prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo as those against whom he would seek summons by the Court? On which date did this happen? What public positions did they hold and exactly what were they accused of?