History and Politics

Early History, Colonial Rule and Independence

25 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 25 questions

  1. On which date did Kenya gain independence from Britain?
  2. Who was the first Prime Minister of independent Kenya and later its first President?
  3. The railway from Mombasa to Lake Victoria was built by the British in the 1890s. What was it called?
  4. Which city grew from a railway depot founded in 1899 and became the capital?
  5. What does the national slogan Harambee mean in Swahili?
  6. Which uprising against British rule, mostly among the Kikuyu, led to a state of emergency in 1952?
  7. Which European explorer visited Malindi in 1498 and found a friendly ruler?
  8. Which fortress in Mombasa was built by the Portuguese at the end of the 16th century?
  9. Which two parties competed in the elections just before independence?
  10. What name did the British give to the territory of Kenya from 1920?
  11. Which woman founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004?
  12. Who led the Mau Mau forces in the Aberdare forests until his capture and execution in 1957?
  13. Which day marks the date in 1963 when Kenya achieved internal self-government?
  14. Which trade unionist and minister, a leader of the independence movement, was assassinated in Nairobi in 1969?
  15. Until independence, the Kenyan coastal strip was nominally under the sovereignty of which ruler?
  16. Who succeeded Jomo Kenyatta as President in 1978?
  17. On which date was the current constitution of Kenya promulgated?
  18. Who was the king or leader of the Nandi who resisted the railway and was killed in 1905?
  19. The Imperial British East Africa Company was given a charter in 1888. What did it do?
  20. Kenya became a republic one year after independence. In which year did that happen?
  21. In which year was multi-party politics restored after the repeal of Section 2A of the constitution?
  22. How many years passed between 1963 independence and the promulgation of the 2010 constitution?
  23. Which Kikuyu political leader founded the East African Association in 1921 and was arrested in 1922?
  24. Which sequence correctly orders these events: the Mau Mau emergency, independence, the republic?
  25. Which Maasai laibon (spiritual leader) cooperated with the British in the 1890s and signed treaties with them?

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