VII. The Contemporary Period, 1945–2000 > I. Africa, 1941–2000 > 2. Regions > c. East Africa > 1961
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  The Encyclopedia of World History.  2001.
 
 
1961
 
Kenya African National Union (KANU) leader Jomo Kenyatta was released from detention.  1
 
1961–64
 
Independence of Tanganyika (1961); Uganda (1962); Kenya (1963); Malawi and Zambia (1964).  2
 
1990s
 
Widespread HIV virus in East and Southeast Africa. Over a quarter of the population was infected in several countries by the 1990s, including many pregnant women.  3
 
1998, June 21
 
A temporary cease-fire was called in the fifth year of Burundi's civil war, which again flared up as the death toll rose to over 200,000 by late in the year 2000 (See 1998, June 21). On Aug. 28 of that year, a peace accord, witnessed by South African president Nelson Mandela and U.S. president Bill Clinton, was signed by most of the major combatants, but Tutsi-Hutu conflicts resumed in late September.  4
 
Aug. 2
 
Rwanda and Uganda aided rebels in the civil war of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). Congo was aided by Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe in what some experts deemed as Africa's first world war (See 1998, Aug. 2).  5
 
Aug. 7
 
Bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (See Aug. 7) (See 1998, Aug. 7) killed 243 and 10, respectively, in what was thought to be an attack by the forces of Islamic terrorist and wealthy businessman Osama bin Laden.  6
 
Sept. 4
 
Former prime minister of Rwanda Jean Kambanda received a life sentence from a UN tribunal for his role between 1994 and 1999 in the Rwandan genocide that saw the death of over half a million people (See Sept. 4).  7
 
Nov. 6
 
Comoros president Muhammad Taki Abdoulkarim died in office and was replaced by interim president Tradjidine Ben Said Massoundi (See 1998, Nov. 6).  8
 
 
 
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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