Kenyan African National Union
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Kenya African National Union
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|
|---|---|
 |
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| Chairman | Gideon Moi |
| Secretary-General | Nick Salat |
| Founder |
James Gichuru Oginga Odinga Tom Mboya |
| Founded | 14 May 1960 |
| Headquarters | Chania Avenue, off Ring Road, Kilimani, Nairobi |
| Ideology | Kenyan Nationalism Conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right to Right-wing |
| National affiliation | Amani Alliance |
| National Assembly |
6 / 349
|
| Senate |
3 / 67
|
| Website | |
| www |
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The Kenya African National Union, better known as 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) before being renamed on 14 May 1960.
From October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was under a state of emergency arising from the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonial rule. During this period, African participation in the political process increased rapidly.
The first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council took place in 1957.
The Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) was founded in 1960, to challenge KANU. KADU's aim was to defend the interests of the tribes so-called KAMATUSA (an acronym for Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana and Samburu), against the dominance of the larger Luo and Kĩkũyũ tribes that comprised the majority of KANU's membership (Kenyatta himself being a Kikuyu). KANU was in favour of centralism. Despite the numerical advantage lying with the numerically stronger KANU, a form of Federalism involving Kenya's 8 provinces was adopted in Kenya's independence. After independence KANU nonetheless decided to remove all provisions of a federal nature from the constitution.
The Kenya African Union was a political organization formed in 1944 to articulate Kenyan grievances against the British colonial administration. KASU, later renamed the Kenya African Union, attempted to be more inclusive than its successor Kikuyu Central Association by avoiding tribal politics. Kenya African Union was led by Jomo Kenyatta from 1947, until his incarceration for alleged involvement in Mau Mau in 1953, at which point the KAU fell became obsolete, and then again following his release in 1961. On 14 May 1960 KAU merged with Kenya Independence Movement and the National People's Convention Party to form the Kenya African National Union (KANU). From October 1952 to December 1960, Kenya was under a state of emergency arising from the "Mau Mau" rebellion against British colonial rule. Kikuyu, Embu and Meru political involvement was restricted heavily in this period in response to the insurrection (a restriction only lifted when the emergency ended in 1960 and national political parties were allowed.
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Wikipedia