Kenya

Republic of Kenya

The Republic of Kenya was originally inhabited by hunter-gatherers related to the Khoisan-speaking people of the modern era. These people were probably pushed out of the region by migrating people from the Horn of Africa speaking Cushitic languages. Around 500 BCE Nilotic-speaking pastoralists migrated from what is today the southern part of Sudan, followed in the 1st century CE by Bantu-speaking tribes who introduced metal working and advanced agriculture. During the first few centuries CE, both Arab and Persian traders also made contact and set up coastal trading settlements, which encouraged a more maritime-based economy focusing on trade and shipbuilding. Mombassa became a major port city during the Middle Ages, with slaves and ivory being major exports.

In the mid-19th century, Germany established a protectorate over the coastal regions of present-day Kenya, but these were later ceded to Britain following the arrival of the British East Africa Company. Between 1895 and 1905, the British worked to establish the Kenya-Ugandan railway, fending off local resistance from several indigenous tribes. Subsequent emigration by British and other Europeans saw widespread establishment of prosperous farms and plantations, notably for growing coffee and tea.

Under British law, many native Africans (in particular the Kikuyu) gradually became landless and were forced into labor merely to subsist. By the 1950s, widespread dissatisfaction with the unfairness of the laws and a general resistance to colonialism brought about a popular uprising known as the Mau-Mau Rebellion (1952-1956). The counter-insurgency war, which employed both British and African troops against the tribal guerillas, cost more than 10,000 African lives. Despite defeating the Mau-Mau, Britain eventually conceded to popular elections that ushered in a new government under the Kenya African National Union (KANU) of Jomo Kenyatta. In December 1963 Kenya achieved independence, and declared the new Republic of Kenya one year later, with Kenyatta as president.

In 1960, the British government had promised to unify all Somali-inhabited regions of its former colonial territories under a single administrative region; they failed to honor this promise when granting independence to British Somaliland but including the Northern Frontier District as part of Kenya. Ethnic Somalis and Muslim residents of the Northern Frontier District were unhappy and formed the Northern Province People's Progressive Party (NPPPP) as a means of pushing towards union with the new Somali Republic. When political means proved ineffective, several hundred ethnic Somalis took up arms, and in November 1963 launched a series of attacks against the Kenyan army and law enforcement. Labeled the Shifta War (from the Swahili word for "bandit"), a state of low-intensity war soon escalated to a state of emergency in northern-eastern Kenya, with the government employing heavy handed methods to quell violence and even resettling entire villages to prevent safe havens for insurgents. By 1964 Somali insurgents (shiftas) were receiving weapons directly from the (Soviet-backed) Somali government, leading Kenya to sign a mutual defense pact with neighboring Ethiopia, which had just entered a state of war with Somalia (the First Ogaden War). Britain also lent its assistance to the Kenyan government. The war continued to escalate in 1966, with shifta attacks moving to urban centers and increased uses of land mines to ambush Kenyan security forces. As native Kenyan officers assumed control over the armed forces and the police (from British advisors), traditional moderation of the British mindset gave way to a much more aggressive philosophy towards handling the insurgency, to the point that the Kenyan government considered preparing for full-scale war with Somalia. By mid-1967, the peace efforts of tribal elders and a series of amnesties began to affect the determinism of the shifta independence movement, which was further de-escalated by the efforts of Somalia itself to end the conflict. It took another two years for regional security to achieve a degree of stability in the northeastern part of the country.

The Kenyan Military Forces (KMF) was created in 1963 out of former units of the British King's African Rifles, specifically 3 KAR, 5 KAR, and 13 KAR, which became the basis for three units of the Kenya Rifles Regiment. The KMF retained some British officers to train and advise the KMF. Today known as the Kenyan Armed Forces (Majeshi ya Ulinzi ya Kenya) it is composed of the Kenyan Army, Kenyan Air Force, and the Kenyan Navy. The Army includes six battlions of infantry (Kenya Rifles), Armored, Artillery and Engineer Brigades, and a full compliment of support units and the 20th Parachute Battalion, 40th Ranger Regiment, and the 60th Army Special Battalion (all part of the Army Special Operations Brigade). The Navy has two units within its own Special Operations Squadron, and the Air Force maintains a Rapid Deployment Squadron (RDS).

The Kenya Police Service (KPS) is a national law enforcement agency with over 100,000 personnel, including an Air Wing, Maritime Unit, Presidential Escort Unit, and the General Service Unit (GSU). The GSU (also called the Police Field Force) traces its history to the colonial and has internal security as its primary responsibility. The Kenya Wildlife Service (Game Rangers) is responsible for conservation efforts in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, and includes a large number of armed anti-poaching Security Service personnel. Kenya Forest Service has a similar responsibility to preserve and protect the country's natural forests and prevent illegal logging.

Kenyan Camouflage Patterns

• Formed in 1965, the 20th Parachute Battalion evolved from the original 1st Parachute Company that was trained in [[United Kingdom|Britain) and was the first special operations unit of the Kenyan Army. During its formative years, the Battalion wore a Denison smock in a brushstroke camouflage pattern copied from the original British 1959 pattern. The original smocks were produced in the United Kingdom, and later contracted from Asian factories. The use of camouflage Denison and windproof smocks extended to conventional personnel beginning in the 1970s.

• Kenya's first national camouflage pattern was a copy of the British DPM pattern made for export by a British company. Variations of this design have been retained since, but with many color differences.

• Different versions of British DPM pattern have been worn by Kenyan forces since the 1980s. Obtained through outside manufacturers or produced locally from imported fabrics, there has been tremendous variety in colors and shades as well as fabric types over the years. It remains the standard combat pattern of the Kenyan Army, and is also worn by some National Police and Wildlife Service anti-poaching units.

• A camouflage design similar to the Portuguese m63 "vertical lizard" pattern has been issued to elements of Kenyan Police Service (including the General Service Unit - GSU) since at least 2003. Although undoubtedly influenced by the Portuguese design, the Kenyan pattern does not appear to match the original exactly. The shapes do not appear to be in much larger proportion. This pattern would be replaced by standard DPM in the short-term, until a new design was introduced in 2023.

• The brushstroke design seen below, obviously copied from the 1959 era Denison brushstroke pattern, has been worn by Kenyan Army armored crews.

• Introduced in the early 2000s, a variant DPM pattern with black, olive green and orange disruptive shapes on a dark lavender background is worn by the Kenyan Air Force. There have been at least two color variations noted, although more may exist.

• Also introduced in the early 2000s, the Kenyan Navy wear a different DPM variant, incorporating purple, violet and pea green disruptive shapes on a pale blue background.

• Some elements of the Kenyan Police as well as Wildlife Service personnel, have worn a copy of the US m81 woodland camouflage pattern. Use of woodland by the latter was observed until around late 2006.

• The Kenya National Youth Service (NYS) was established in 1964 to train young people in paramilitary style disciple as well as provide technical and vocational training in various skills and trades. Volunteers commit to six months of national service, which may include construction, traffic control, agriculture, public safety, and rebuilding community projects. Since 2015, the NYS has issued a digital camouflage design to distinguish it from other national programs, incorporating forest green, medium brown, and sparse black patches on a khaki background.

• A four-color desert DPM pattern has been documented in use by the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) Guards since at least 2015. This appears to be the standard working and operating uniform of the service.

• Units of the Kenya Police Service with field operational duties adopted a distinctive camouflage design in 2022, replacing it's earlier DPM pattern smock worn with plain, olive green trousers. The new camouflage design retains a similar color palette to "classic" DPM (chocolate brown, black, and khaki) but with a considerably brighter, almost neon, green element. A vertically oriented design, the shapes that makes up the pattern vary from large blotches to smaller spots and even specks, with a stippling similar to that found in DPM. This design has been worn both by units at home, as well as those deployed abroad, such as to Haiti in 2024.