Today Kenya is a country that has experienced pain and is agonizing over its failures.

Reportedly the cradle of humanity, it is located at the centre of the world with the Equator splitting it into roughly two halves.

A country of promise, it has beautiful mountains, deserts, lakes, beaches, animals and vegetation that are the envy of many.

Its people are vibrant, resilient, resourceful and productive. Yet it nearly committed national suicide, was subjected to "strange wars", and is not the "free" country envisioned by the departed founders of the Republic. Something changed, and the change is not pleasant.

There was a time, not too long ago, when Kenya was an inspiration to other African countries still under the colonial yoke. Nelson Mandela testified to that when he, in 1990, asserted that he would have been honoured to meet General China and Dedan Kimathi's widow because Kenya had shown South Africans how to liberate themselves.

In various meetings where independent African countries were locked in ideological confrontations, they would reportedly turn to Kenya to reduce tensions. This was supposedly in line with its reputation as a politically pragmatic country.

After independence, it had engaged in ideological debates regarding the then popular concept of socialism. Given its revolutionary past, the issue was whether it should pursue the revolutionary line associated with the Mau Mau War and embrace socialism, or not.

The compromise on the word socialism came in its 1965 Sessional Paper Number 10 on African Socialism and Its Application to Planning in Kenya.

Kenyan capitalism

In that lasting document, it was made clear that Kenya's version of "socialism" would have little to do with "scientific socialism". "African Socialism" would be capitalism with a Kenyan twist.

It was a kind of ideological "dynamic compromise" to end the debate and allow the country to move on.

In part, the document was accepted because it was pushed by popular people and converged with the interests of the master states. Kenyatta, as president, had "revolutionary" credentials stretching back to the 1930s; few other Africans anywhere could claim that.

When he said that the debate on socialism was settled by the Sessional Paper, many people accepted it.

Those who demurred had to contend with the cunning debating skills and brilliance of Tom Mboya whose reputation was second only to Kenyatta's. In Parliament, Mboya made the document sound beautiful. Although the master states were happy, it was Kenyan.

Mwai Kibaki was one of the architects of that enduring document, but his ideals and the interests of the master states have diverged. Sounding almost revolutionary, he revived the economy, reduced the level of dependency on "donors", and restored pride in being Kenyan by taking independent decisions on crucial debates.

While some countries admired the new achievements, others like the master states, were not amused. Subsequently the international climate turned hostile, his idealism of acting independently became irrelevant in a world of enforced international conformity.

Hard to control domestic and international forces were unleashed and he was caught in a whirlwind that appeared determined to fix him.

Their aim was to tame Kenya into compliance with the wishes of the master states. The plunge into near abyss seemingly did the trick; Kenya now is relatively "donor" compliant and receptive to "advice."

Munene is a professor of history and international relations at USIU.