At independence, the Government of Kenya identified illiteracy, disease, ignorance and poverty as the main problems to community development. Involvement of the community was identified as the best method of combating the vices. It entails mobilisation and participation of communities, groups and individuals in socio-economic activities.

The Government has helped communities through the Division of Community Development. lt empowers communities through community mobilisation, formation and registration of self-help groups.

So far, more than 650,000 self-help groups have been registered. The ministry plays an important role in community mobilisation for ministries, NGO’s and community-based organisations CBO’s.

Women, youth, men and special groups have been registered. They engage in income-generation, community and social welfare projects.

Entertainment operators in different regions of Kenya provide flexible and diversified entertainment services all year round taking advantage of tropical weather in order to meet the changing demands of fun-seekers in Kenya.

From family entertainment to culinary entertainment including restaurants and dinner cruises by dhow to sports entertainment with activities such as go-kart racing, mountain biking, windsurfing, white water rafting and other water sports to evening entertainment in clubs, pubs and discotheques – the options are endless and the fun just never stops.

By night, visitors can choose from restaurants offering diverse cuisine to gratify the cosmopolitan tastes of a multi-cultural society. Add to this a broad range of discos, heavy metal clubs, jazz bars and the “rave” scene and you will find there is something for everyone.

Entertainment in Nairobi

Here is a list of the major entertainment venues in Nairobi.

• Klub house  K1 Parklands Ojijo road
• Anchor Restaurant Westlands Arcade.
• Buffet park/Tamasha Hurlinghum
• Changes pub and restaurant
• Choma Zone (Meat Ventures) Mombasa road
• Cloud Nine Interaction.
• Club sound Mpaka Plaza
• Coco Jambo Chaka/Argwings Kodhek Road
• Crooked Q Westlands.
• Dolce The Club Koinange street
• Fiery peach/cheetahs Hurlinghum Plaza
• Florida  2000 Discotheque Moi avenue.
• New florida Night Club Koinange street.
• Galilleo lounge Westlands
• Jambo Grill Thika Road
• Club Vibro Nairobi West
• Legend Bar and Butchery Rongai
• Maggies Restaurant  Moi Avenue
• Mainstay Creations
• Mang Hotel Ronald Ngala
• Mwendas pub Utalii House
• Natural Heritage Ngummo
• Olive Gardens Hurlinghum Argwings Kodhek
• Psys Langata
• Sheebeen Upperhill
• Skylux lounge Soin Arcade
• Surf and Bytes Anniversary Towers
• Taidys Restaurant Nairobi West Maai Mahiu Road
• Tamasha Langata Road
• The Agenda Restaurant Ngong Rd opp Uchumi
• The Legend Lounge Baricho Road
• The princess Hotel Tom Mboya street.
• The Spree Club Moi avenue/Biashara Street
• Tononoka Fire works
• Wallet Bar and Restaurant Moi avenue
• Winkers Pub and Restaurant
• Meladen Club and Restaurant
• Black Diamond Mpaka Plaza
• Hotel Jaffers Tom Mboya /Ronald Ngara.
• Rafikiz Lounge Langata Road
• Peppers Restaurant Parklands/Westlands Road
• White house Bar and Restaurant Ngong Road
• UpperHill springs UpperHill Hospital Road
• Havana bar and restaurant Westlands
• Vineyard Bar and Restaurant Ngara
• Garden of Eden Restaurant  James Gichuru /Gitanga Road
• Vineyard Wine house,Restaurant and lounge  Rhapta road westlands
• Red Cube restaurant Total Petro station Karen/Langata Road
• K’P S restaurant and lounge Utalii House Ground floor
• Dream Village South B opp Mater Hospital
• Nerkwo Bar and restaurant Plains View South B
• Prime stuff Limited
• Berbers Oasis NHC House Harambee Avenue
• G-pot Arwings Kodhek/Chaka Road
• Zanze Bar Kenya cinema 5th floor
• Club N-tyce Tom Mboya /Ronald Ngara junction
• Simmers Restaurant Kenyatta Avenue
• Country Club Kinoo/Limuru Road
• Pots and Palms Kileleshwa Office park
• Alfajiri Restaurant

Entertainment in Mombasa

Here is a list of the major entertainment venues in Mombasa.

• Bob’s Sandwich Bar/Murphy’s Irish Pub
• Canton Malaysian Restaurant
• Casablanca Day & Night Club
• Club Lambada Mtwapa
• Florida Night Club & Casino
• Fresha Events Agency
• G10’s Disco
• Il Covo Pub & Restaurant
• La Veranda Restaurant
• Mamba Village
• Mombasa Go-Kart & Restaurant
• Nyali Cinemax
• Party Plot Restaurant
• Pitcher & Butch Pub
• Roberto’s
• Safari Inn International Meeting Point
• Stars & Garters Club
• Tembo Disco
• The Moorings Restaurant
• The New Big Tree Beach Resort
• Wild Waters Mombasa
• Ya’mas Beach Bar & Restaurant
• Bike The Coast
• Safari Inn Bar & Restaurant

Shopping Malls in Nairobi

1. The Sarit Centre -  Westlands
2. The YaYa Centre – Hurlingham
3. The Village Market – Gigiri
4. Westgate Shopping Mall – Westlands
5. ABC Place – Westlands
6. Junciton Shopping Centre – Ngong Road
7. Prestige Plaza – Ngong Road
8. Crossroads Shopping Centre – Karen
9.  T-Mall – Langata amoung others

Supermarkets in Kenya

The largest supermarket chains in Kenya with modern stores through-out the country include:

1. Nakumatt Supermarket
2. Uchumi Supermarket
3. Tuskys Supermarket
4. Naivas Supermarket

Open Markets in Kenya

City Market

In Nairobi city centre there is the large City Market, selling a great selection of produce, including fruit, vegetables, flowers, fruit, fish and meat. This colourful Market is an interesting place to visit, and a good place to find local handicrafts.

Kariakor Market

Kariakor Market, located just outside town off racecourse Road, is another excellent market for handicrafts, in particular for good and reasonable priced sisal basketwork. This very lively market, named after the Colonial ‘Carrier Corps’ (Karia-kor) who were once stationed here. Kariakor is renowned all over Nairobi as the best place to sample real traditional Kenyan food.

There are many small shops and eateries attached to the market selling a wide range of traditional cuisines. Nairobi city and the surrounding suburbs also have many shops selling traditional arts and crafts.

Other Shops in Kenya

In Biashara street, many shops deal in handicrafts and especially cloth from the coast, with good tailoring services available. Kenya is home to many unique boutique shops, modern art objects, paintings, clothing and jewelry.

The Great Rift Valley runs down from Lake Turkana down to the Kenyan coast. Many lakes dot the entire stretch of the valley where numerous volcanic mountains and escarpments form beautiful landscapes. Some of the Lakes include lakes Naivasha, Elementaita, Nakuru, Bogoria and Baringo. The Mountains include the dormant volcanic Longonot on the floor of rift valley.

The central highlands are the most fertile and border the Aberdare Ranges with temperatures of about 10-14 degrees and high of 22-28 degrees. The rainfall varies from 20 mm-200mm falling in March/June and Octomber/November. Main activity is farming due to the favorable climatic conditions.

The Kenyan Lake side in Western of Kenya is humid , dry and the rainfall spreads throughout the year. The Kakamega forest is in Western province and is a rich tropical forest with diverse types of birds in their natural habitat. It the heaven for bird watchers and photographers in Kenya. The main economic activity along the Kenyan lakeside is fishing.

The coastal region is mostly a tourist zone with large of it covered by the Tsavo national parks and reserves. It’s hot and humid all year with low rainfall. The cool sea breezes sweeps through the land lowering the temperatures. The temperatures usually range from 22-30 degrees all year. The region has the largest tourist establishments and the best in the country. The white sandy beaches are an attraction on their own.

To the Northern parts of Kenya, temperatures vary from 20-40 degrees and have poor rainfall. The area is very dry, bushy and dotted with deserts. The economic activity in this zone is rearing of sheep, cattle, camels which keep on being moved from one area to the other in search for fodder and water. It’s mostly inhabited by nomadic communities like the Samburu.

About the author

Paul Gitau is a Researcher and Reporter on Kenyan Tourism. For More Information on Tourism in Kenya, Visit His Site at xenopages.com – Kenya’s Online Tourist Guide.

The 2009 census released on August 31, 2010 put Kenya’s population at 38.6 million- 19.41 million women and 19.19 million men. The count of the population was done on the night of August 24 and 25 in 2009. The people were counted according to where they spent the reference night. The method used for data was through a questionnaire administered by pre-trained personnel.

The Kenya Government spent Sh8.4 billion ($105million) on the census and funded 95 per cent of the cost, with only 5 per cent coming from development partners. Of the money spent on census, Sh5 billion ($62.5million) was paid the 239,807 census personnel. Field personnel were 5,788 senior supervisors, 111,697 enumerators and 100,000 village elders. Twelve million questionnaires were used.

In matters religion, Kenya has 9.01 million Catholics, 18.3 million Protestants, and 4.5 million other Christians, 4.3 million Muslims, 53,393 Hindus and 635,352 traditionalists. People who profess other religion are 55, 7450, those who profess none are 922,128 and 61,000 responded that they did not know.

Kenya Population Numbers in 2009

Kenya Population by Province

Nairobi Province – 3,138,369
Central Province – 4,383,743
Coast Province – 3,325,307
Eastern Province – 5,668,123
North Eastern Province – 2,310,757
Nyanza Province – 5,442,711
Rift Valley Province – 10,006,805
Western Province – 4,334,282

Kenya Population by Religious Affiliation

Catholic Population – 9,010,684
Protestant Population – 18,307,466
Other Christian Population - 4.559,584
Muslim Population – 4,304,798
Hindu Population - 53,393
Traditionalist Population - 635,352
Other Religion Population- 557,450
No Religion Population – 922,128
Don’t Know  – 61,233

Kenya Population by Ethnic Affiliation -  Main Tribes

Kikuyu tribe – 6,622,576

Luhya tribe - 5,338,666

Kalenjin tribe – 4,967,328

Luo tribe – 4,044,440

Kamba tribe – 3,893,157

Somali tribe – 2,385,572

Kisii tribe – 2,205,669

Mijikenda tribe – 1,960,574

Meru tribe -1,658,108

Turkana tribe – 988,592

Maasai tribe - 841,622

Teso tribe – 338,833

Embu tribe – 324,092

Taita tribe – 273,519

Kuria tribe – 260,401

Samburu tribe – 237,179

Tharaka tribe – 175,905

Mbeere – 168,155

Borana – 161,399

Basuba – 139,271

Swahili – 110,614

Gabra – 89,515

Orma – 66,275

Rendile – 60,437

Geography

Kenya’s Official Name:

Republic of Kenya

Kenya’s Location:

Eastern Africa, on the East Cost of Africa along the Indian Ocean at 1 00 N,38 00 E

Kenya’s Land Area:

582,646 sq. km

Kenya’s Capital City:

Nairobi

Kenya’s Climate:

Varies from tropical along coast to arid in the interior.

Kenya’s Time Zone:

GMT +3

Kenya’s Currency:

Kenya Shillings (KSh)

Demography

Kenya’s Population:

33,829,590 million.

Kenya’s Population Density

55 per sq. km.

Kenya’s Workforce Population:

11.85 million.

Kenya’s Literacy rate at age 15 and over:

85.1%.

Kenya’s GDP per capita:

$320 (at purchasing power parity, $1035).

Kenya’s Main Languages:

English (official), Kiswahili (National), numerous Ethnic tribes or languages.

Kenya’s Student Enrollment:

Primary – 7,384, 800.

Secondary- 912,624.

Universities – 91,541.

Kenya’s Political System:

Unitary state with multiparty democracy.

Kenya’s Government & Politics:

National Assembly with 210 members single-members constituency with, plus 12 members nominated by political parties on a proportional representation basis.

Kenya’s Head of State

President.

Kenya’s head of Government:

President.

Legal System in Kenya

Based on Kenya statutory Law, Kenyan And English common law, tribal raw and islamic law; judicial review in high courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations.

Local Connectivity in Kenya:

Fully Digital Network.

Fixed line Connectivity in Kenya:

500,000

Mobile Connectivity in Kenya:

6.5 million.

Internet Users in Kenya:

2 million.

Data Services in Kenya

Ken stream, Jambonet, ADSL services, Analogue leased lines(Kenline), Kenpac, Kensat, ISDN.

Satellite Services in Kenya:

International Broadcast, VSAT, Voicecast.

Global Connectivity in Kenya:

Satellite links.

Public holidays in Kenya include:

1. 1st January – New Years Day
2. Idd il Fitr *
3. March/April Good Friday**
4. March/April Easter Monday**
5. 1st May – Labour Day
6. 1st June – Madaraka Day
7. 20th – October Mashujaa Day (Kenyatta Day)
8. 12th December – Jamhuri Day
9. 25th December Christmas Day
10. 26th December Boxing Day

*The Muslim Festival of Idd il Fitr celebrates the end of Ramadhan. The date varies each year depending on the sighting of a new moon in Mecca.
** Dates for the Christian festival of Easter vary from year to year.

Muslims are about 10 percent of the Kenya population. Although Islam has spread throughout Kenya, the largest number of Muslims is found in the coastal region and North-Eastern Province.

Other parts of the country also have sizeable number of Muslims. Kadhi’s courts have legal jurisdiction over personal law for the Muslims marriage, divorce and inheritance.

Total area of Kenya: 580,367 sq km
Land: 569,140 sq km
Water: 11,227 sq km
Area – comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Nevada
Border countries: Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda
Coastline: 536 km