Maps: Current and Colonial

Colonial Africa





Kenya Today

Works Cited

Background Note: Kenya. U.S. Department of State. Bureau of African Affairs. 28 Feb
<2008. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2962.htm>.


F. D. Lugard, The Rise of Our East African Empire, (Edinburgh, 1893), I.585-587, II.69-
75. Modern History Sourcebook. 26 Feb 2008.
.

Gascoigne, Bamber. "History of Kenya." HistoryWorld.com . 17 January 2008. (Feb 28 2008)

Gettleman, Jeffrey. “Kenya Kikuyus, Longs Dominant, Are Now Routed.” The New York
Times. 7 Jan 2008. 28 Feb 2008.
.

History of Kenya. 17 Jan. 2008. 28 Feb. 2008
.

Imperialism and Kenya. Ed. Richard Peck. 2008. 28 Feb. 2008
.


"Imperialism in Kenya." CasaHistoria.com. Feb 28 2008. (28 Feb 2008)

Invasions. 2002. 28 Feb. 2008 .

Kenya. 26 Feb. 2008. 28 Feb 2008.

“Kenya.” Map. Village-Sanctuary. 29 Feb. 2008. .



Kenya History. 2008. 28 Feb. 2008
.

"Kenyan History". Kenyaweb.com. 2001. (28 Feb 2008)

Kenyatta, Jomo. “The Kenya Africa Union is Not the Mau Mau, 1952.” F. D. Cornfield,
The Origins and Growth of Mau Mau, Sessional Paper No. 5 of 1959-
1960 (Nairobi: 1960), pp. 301-308. Modern History Sourcebook. 26 Feb 2008.
.


Maliti, Tom. “Kenyans Rival Politician Sign Deal.” Boston.com. 28 Feb. 2008. 28 Feb 2008.
.


“Mau Mau2.” Dec 2004. (28 Feb 2008)

“Thousands of Kikuyu were killed by the British in the 1950s.” BBC 2008. 24 Dec 1997.
(28 Feb 2008)

"Uganda Railway Poster." Image. CasaHistoria.com. Feb 28 2008. (28 Feb 2008)

Primary Documents

ttp://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1952kenyatta-kau1.html
This is an article written by one of the leaders of the Kenyan African Union 9 years before the country gained independence from Britain. In it, he emphasizes the need for the Africans of Kenya to unite in their pursuit of independence and the implementation of their own democracy. He notes that he does not mind the presence of the Europeans in Kenya, but rather, is frustrated by the fact that the Kenyans aren’t treated as equals in their own country, and that they don’t run their own government. He advises how to unite together in the pursuit of independence, and clarifies that the KAU is not a terrorist organization. Kenyans must pursue independence through diplomatic, peaceful, and sober means.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1893lugard.html
In this article, a British Captain explains that colonization is necessary for British progression. However, the Captain goes on to justify British the colonization of Africa, explaining that the implementation of British education, industry, and religion will improve the futures of those African countries, like Kenya, as well. Britain is portrayed as the hero, saving African colonies from poverty and anarchy, and providing them with the infrastructure that they would not be able to develop on their own. Thus, the Europeans are justified in their colonization and the superiority that they assume in those colonies.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1280/1252641808_8cb370643a_o.jpg
This political cartoon, printed in the United States in 1888, depicts John Bull as the "octopus of imperialism”. We can see from aristocratic style (the hat), he is meant to represent the ever consuming “beast” of imperialism. He has his tentacles on all of Africa, India and even Egypt. Though not specifically gobbling up Kenya Colony, this cartoon clearly shows the lack of regard for the place as a nation of peoples but rather another piece of profit and name on a laundry list of colonies. With all of this in mind, it is evident as to why imperialism deeply affected such places like Kenya Colony, because clearly the “octopus” doesn’t care about what he is grabbing, so on a larger scale, the British did not care about the demands of an underdeveloped and under industrialized nation.

Kenya Today

History since Independence....

In 1963, the year of Kenyan independence from the British, Jomo Kenyatta representing the Kenya African National Union (KANU) formed a government and in 1964 was elected president. During his presidency, Kenyatta was able to spark the economy and stabilize the politics of Kenya. However, when he died and Daniel arap Moi became president, Kenyatta’s major achievements were reversed. The economy suffered stagnation and politics a loss of democracy. For example, Moi ruled under the pretenses of a one-party constitution and a mlongo system of voting developed: a system in which voters line up behind the candidate they are voting for, and thus suffer a loss of political privacy. Also, under Moi, ethnic tensions flared, especially between the Kalenjin tribe (to which Moi belongs) and the Kikuyu tribe. Growing dissent, even from the international community, led to a movement for constitutional reform, especially for the abolishment of the one-party system. However, Moi was still able to dominate politics, even in multi-party elections, so in 2002, he was banned from running. Mwai Kibaki won the election of 2002, representing the democratic National Rainbow Coalition.


Kenya Now...
The progression of Kenya since its independence has been continually inhibited by corruption and a limited economy. Expectations for Kenya’s future were bright as the country set up a democratic republic 2002, holding open democratic elections and peacefully transferring power from the Kenya African Union, which had held power in the country since its independence, to the National Rainbow Coalition, which represented a coalition of political parties. Under the presidential rule of Mwai Kibaki, the country took esteemed steps towards a better economy and a more stable position in world politics and economics. Kibaki passed the Second Education Program, granting free education to Kenyan youth, and there grew a general consensus that the Kenyan people had gained greater freedom of speech and greater freedom of press under his rule, evidence of a true democracy. However, in 2006, two major incidents involving political corruption became public. The first led to the resignation of three Kenyan ministers, and the second, only a few months later, involved tax evasion and money laundering in the country’s banking system. No explanation was every given by the government, and no one was ever held accountable.

All of this progress came to a staggering halt with the December 2007 presidential elections. President Kubaki ran for re-election against the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate Raila Odinga. After a tight race, Kubaki came away with a win under substantiated claims by EU observers of poll rigging. The controversy set the country into massive outbreaks of violence, particularly along ethnic lines. The Kikuyu tribe had dominated Kenyan politics, through the Kenya African Union, and business since the country’s independence in 1963. Kubaki was also of Kikuyu descent, and when news came of the scandal revolving his re-election, and when he refused to resign from his position as president following it, mobs of other ethnic Kenyan tribes began attacking the Kikuyu in mass, virtually chasing the entire tribe out of the country. People have gone so far as to hunt down Kikuyu with bows and arrows, axes, etc., leading to a mass exodus of the tribe. For over two months the conflict remained unresolved, with thousands of Kikuyu camped out at police stations or stranded in neighboring countries, and more than 1,000 dead as a result of the continuing genocide. Kenya contains more than 40 ethnic tribes, and tribal conflict is nothing new to the country. However, since its colonization, much of this conflict had been subdued. The tension still existed, but under the surface of the country. However, the controversy surrounding the December 2007 elections brought all of that tension back to the surface, leading to more violence and chaos than anyone had predicted from the once promising new democracy. However, just recently on February 28, 2008, the Kenyan government finally announced a solution to end the violence. Kubaki will remain the President of Kenya, but his oppositional leader, Odinga, will become Prime Minister, with the power to “coordinate and supervise” the government. Only time will tell how this agreement will work out. Unfortunately, it is expected to be years before tribal tensions calm down again. The tensions between Kenya’s tribes far preceded the 2007 election, and the elections only served to reignite them. Therefore, it isn’t expected that a cultural truce will immediately follow the political one.

Economically, Kenya has continually battled poverty and food insecurity throughout its colonial era to the present. During its colonization, Kenya was essentially robed of control over all of its natural resources, leaving Kenya even after its independence with an economy primarily controlled by foreign investors. The people of Kenya were forced to rely heavily on agriculture for support and, even today, Kenyans are primarily concerned with internal consumption rather than export for profit, with the cash crop of the coffee bean being the sole exception. The violence following the 2007 election virtually paralyzed the country’s economy, but hopefully the new resolution to the political conflict will bring back hope to the Kenyan people regarding their country’s future.

Historical Background

Pre-Colonial History:
Before Kenya (or the area that is now known as Kenya) had any contact with the outside world, its culture already faced divides. The Masai tribe dominated society, however the Kikuyu tribe was actually the largest in numbers. So, when other powers arrived and other groups such as the Nilotic and Bantu migrated in the first millennium AD, the land was already rooted in what would be a long history of turmoil. In the first century AD, Arab traders made their first contact with the city-states along the Eastern coast of Africa. By the eight century AD, Arabs had actually settled the land. These initial contacts were, as most things in world history are, for the purposes of commerce and trade. The Arabs sought ivory and slaves from the Eastern coast of Africa that they could, as the middlemen of global-trading networks, sell for a profit.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish contact with the East Africa coast. In 1498, Vasco de Gamma stopped at Mombassa, a Swahili city-state, in his endeavor to find a route to India. In 1505, Don Francisco Alameida conquered Kilwa and other city-states, securing the Portuguese’s’ firm grip on eastern Africa. Control over this land was imperative to controlling the Indian Ocean Basin trade, as it bordered the western part of the Indian Ocean. Also, by controlling the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese would be able to bypass the Venetians and the Arabs en route to India, therefore reducing the cost of luxuries such as spices and cotton. Under Portuguese control, the Kenyan territory was still very much divided and contained into distinct city-states.

By 1730, however, a new force, the Omani Arabs were able to take kick out the Portuguese and take control of the Kenyan territory. The Omani were able to truly consolidate power and created a more unified territory. Their main industries were clove plantations (which used slaves) and slave trade itself. So, when the British outlawed slave trade in 1808, the Omani lost their biggest sources of revenue, and thus their control over the territory fell into shambles.


Colonial History:

The origins of colonialism in Kenya, and most other countries in Africa, are linked to the Congress of Berlin in 1885. Under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck, the Europeans essentially “carved up” a map of Africa in order to restore the balance of power in Europe (see colonial map of Africa). Germany was given the East African territory, and thus demanded land from the Sultan who controlled the territory. However, as was common in the new age of communication and the telegraph, Britain quickly found out about this demand and suggested a compromise. The British drew a line at a latitude of one degree South: Britain got the land to the north of this line which today constitutes Kenya, and Germany to the south, which is modern day Tanzania, leaving the Sultan with only a ten mile strip of land. Although this may seem like an odd move on Britain’s part, it actually was in full accordance with the British motives for imperialism. Kenya itself did not have that much to offer in the eyes of the Europeans, rather colonialism was a manifestation of competition between European powers (see political cartoon). So, the more land in Africa a country had, the more powerful it seemed. Also, the eastern African land had a significant, yet indirect connection to India, which the British did view as a plentiful source of revenue. Lake Victoria, which is technically now in Uganda, was the source of the headwaters for the Nile, and the Nile was the link to Egypt, and Egypt was the threshold from the western world into the Indian Ocean (and thus India). So control over Lake Victoria in some ways secured the British control of India, or at least trade with India.

In 1888, the British established the British East Africa Company to oversee the development of the territory. Similar to the charter companies that Britain established to colonize the Americas, this company was not controlled by the government, rather by wealthy businessmen. The main achievement of this company was the construction of the Ugandan Railway, which ran parallel to the Nile and aided in mobilizing troops and goods between Egypt and Eastern Africa.




However, in the 1890’s, the British revoked the British East Africa Company’s charter. In the previous years, Britain had actually established the Ugandan protectorate over land contiguous to that of the British East Africa Company. With more at stake, the British felt it was necessary to cement their control over access to the sea (through East Africa), and thus revoked the charter in favor of a direct authority. So, in 1895, the British established the East Africa Protectorate. In 1920, the Protectorate became the Kenya colony, in which white settlers were able to elect a legislative council, although the colony was still mainly under the direct authority of the British Empire.

Kenya Colony:
Kenya was an official British colony from 1920-1963 when it achieved independence. Many historians consider Kenya to be a colony “created by a railway” because only once the Ugandan Railway was constructed, white settlers began paying much more attention to the colony. The need for production to make the railway actually profitable ignited a policy to entice settlers to the Kenyan “White” Highlands.



The image above, produced by the Uganda Railway Company, shows the techniques used to lure in settlers. The land was fertile and the British government offered it at very cheap rates. After much trial and error, two crops were found to be fertile in the highlands, tea and coffee. This success in the early 1900s and through the birth of the colony attracted more and more settlers who were drawn to both profit and often times the exotic word of “Lions and Love”, portrayed in much popular literature. This depiction of Kenya as an exotic paradise was hardly accurate. Interestingly, even for white settlers, life in Kenya Colony was not the paradise promised in advertisement, and was often very strenuous, these experiences however pail in comparison to those of the Natives. During the railroad construction and the later carving up of land, hundreds of thousands of native Africans; Masai, Kikuyu etc., were forced into “reservations” or were simply killed. Exploitation was rampant.




Although these natives (especially the Kikuyu) had control over virtually no land, they were burdened with harsh tax and labor laws. The gap between the races in terms of economic prosperity was so harsh that formally prosperous Africans were forced into deep poverty. Politically, both native Africans and the large population of Indians (imported for the building of the railroad) were grossly underrepresented and demanded rights as early as the 1920s. As early as 1921 African groups formed to fight for representation, one of which was the Young Kikuyu Movement (East Africa Movement). Although in 1925 this group was suppressed, it regrouped immediately as the Kikuyu Central organization and 3 years later Jomo Kenyatta became involved in the organization’s newspaper. During the 1930s Kenyatta campaigned peacefully for education, representation and respect for traditional customs; as native Africans continued to be mistreated and forced into reservations. Finally in 1944 one African gained a seat in colonial legislation and the number was then doubled in 1946, but years of brutality left the people angry. The result was in 1952 the emergence of the extremist group known as the Mau-Mau. A sudden outbreak of assassinations and violence emerged as a result of Mau-Mau’s birth and because of their Kikuyu origins; Kenyatta was arrested and imprisoned for 7 years. Meanwhile as many as 11,000 Africans were killed in encounters with the British, while only about 2000 British were killed.



The worst of the violence ended in 1956 but not until 1960 was the state of emergency considered over. In 1960 Africans were given a majority of seats in the legislative council and after Kenyatta’s release from prison he lead negations for independence which were won in 1963.