Madaraka Day – June 1, 2025

History of Madaraka Day

Kenya is an Eastern African territory with a history dating back millions of years. Archeologists and historians have discovered over two million-year-old fossils and evidence of human life in the region. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the Masai people — an indigenous group that inhabits Kenya to this day — took control of what is now known as Central Kenya and prohibited all trading. The Masai allowed two German missionaries to settle in a nearby region near the end of the 19th century. At the time, these were the only foreigners that could get past them.

Kenya became a German protectorate in 1885, and the Imperial British East Africa Company arrived in 1888. To avoid potential conflict and war, Germany handed over the coastal territory to Britain in 1890. During the World War, however, even with a truce, German militaries didn’t relent in their demand for total control of the land. The British Indian Army troops were deployed and regained control with the help of the 400,000 Africans who had been mobilized to fight in the war. It was in 1920 that Kenya officially gained its name and became a British colony.

For the first time since 1920, the country achieved internal self-rule in June 1963. This means that Kenya declared its independence from the United Kingdom through the Kenya Independence Act of 1963. However, it was not until December of the following year, 1964, that Kenya was officially declared a republic and given the name it still bears today, the Republic of Kenya. ‘Madaraka’ is a word in Swahili that translates to ‘authority,’ which is why June 1 was designated Madaraka Day.