Major events in Kenya and the World characterised the year 2023.
Running battles and water canons were the order of the day during the Azimio La Umoja anti-government protests in March and July this year.
Azimio leader Raila Odinga called upon Kenyans to join him in the anti-government protests across the country over the high cost of living.
Azimio supporters came out in hundreds to protest in solidarity with the Azimio coalition.
Several leaders from Nairobi and the Coast region were arrested for leading the protests.
Some protesters and journalists also sustained serious injuries and deaths were reported during the demonstrations.
The Azimio boss called off the demos paving the way for dialogue between the opposition and the government.
Floods wreak havoc
Residents in some counties were forced to flee and while others lost their valuables during the El Nino rains in October, stretching to December.
The most severely affected areas were in the North-Eastern, Eastern and Coast regions.
Some roads in the country were rendered impassable while others were cut off and residents were forced to seek alternative routes.
Mombasa was one of the counties that was engulfed in heavy flooding which rendered some families homeless.
Several pedestrians and passengers whose vehicles stalled following heavy downpour almost drowned as they attempted to wade through the rushing waters to safety.
The Meteorological Department had warned of more rains to be experienced in the country.
Africa Climate Summit
President William Ruto co-hosted the inaugural Africa Climate Summit together with the African Union.
The Summit provided a platform for policymakers, practitioners, businesses and civil society to exchange on climate solutions and barriers to overcome.
The Africa Climate Week considered four major systems-based tracks to provide region-focused contributions to inform the global stocktake.
Men marathon record holders
This year saw the country shined in athletics worldwide, bagging medals in various disciplines.
Kenya won 10 medals at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, finishing fifth.
Track queen Faith Kipyegon won two gold medals for Kenya in women's 5,000m and 1,500m races, and the Commonwealth Games.
Kipyegon also broke world records in 5,000m, 1,500m and mile races in the women's category.
In the 1,500m, the track queen set a new World Record clocking 3:49:11. She also smashed the women's 5,000m World Record with a blistering run of 14:05.20
In July, Kipyegon broke the women's mile World Record at Monaco Diamond League. She clocked 4:07.64 in the mile.
She is the current world's fastest 1, 500 and 5,000 metres race.
The 800m champion Mary Moraa added the 800m world title to her medal collection.
In October, Marathoner Kelvin Kiptum broke the marathon world record to win the Chicago Marathon in an unofficial 2 hours and 35 seconds.
Kiptum, 23, broke compatriot Eliud Kipchoge’s world record of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon.
The Royal visit
King Charles III and Queen Camilla made a four-day visit in Kenya making it the first state visit to a Commonwealth country as King and Queen.
The visit was full of symbolism as Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, learned that she had become UK monarch while visiting a game preserve in the East African nation in 1952.
The king and Queen Camilla touched down at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and were received by the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi and British High Commissioner to Kenya Neil Wigan.
They were later by President William Ruto at the State House.
Ruto and the royal couple planted trees and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and visited a tree planted at the spot in Uhuru Gardens where Kenya declared independence in December 1963.
The King expressed his "greatest sorrow and deepest regret" for the atrocities suffered by Kenyans during their struggle for independence from British colonial rule.
