This paper deals with the growth rate in Kenya, examining its statistical properties and investigating the factors that may explain the slow growth rates observed during the last 50 years. The results show that Kenyan growth rate is unstable with non‐linearities and long range dependence structures. We also investigate what might explain these features. In this regard, we conclude that the development of anomalous political institutions in Kenya in the decades after independence is the root cause that has led to subsequent weak economic institutions and macroeconomic mismanagement and the vulnerability of the Kenyan economy to domestic and external shocks.

Complete paper.