Colonial Rule in Kenya - Report Example

Colonial Rule in Kenya Covering about 581,309 square kilometres, the Republic of Kenya is an east African country on the equator, bordering the Indian Ocean to the southeast, Sudan to the north-west and Somalia to the northeast. Kenya also borders Uganda to the west, Ethiopia to the north and Tanzania to the south, and has a population of nearly 44 million people; Kenya’s capital and largest city is Nairobi, and it is famed for its rich wildlife-rich savannah grasslands that gravitate towards its capital. Bantus and Nilotic speakers, who together constitute nearly 97% of the country’s entire population, populate the country (Holmes 1997, p.79). The Arab and European populations have also been present in the country, especially at the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa, beginning from the early modern period. European exploration of the interior East African region in the 19th century led to a great interest in the country; the country’s colonial history dates back to the establishment of the German Protectorate over the Sultan of Zanzibar’s coastal territory in 1885 and the arrival of the Imperial British East Africa Company in 1885 (Imperato 2003, p.140). Following years of early imperial rivalry, the Germans surrendered their coastal holding to the British in 1890, thereby paving way for the construction of the Kenya-Uganda railway, which cuts through the country. The British Empire set up the East African Protectorate in 1895, which was later turned into a colony in 1920 and renamed Kenya, after the country’s greatest mountain (Brennan 2008, p.835); this paper explores the motivation for, and impact of colonial rule in Kenya. Britain colonized Kenya for a number of reasons, which were pretty much the same reasons it had for colonizing most of its African colonies; generally, Kenya was colonized by British for economic considerations, and for power. From the onset, the British saw Kenya to be a potential great source of economic power, thus British settlers came into the country largely because of its promise of plenty resources such as ivory and comfortable climates (Peterson 2006, p.343). Many regions, especially those around Mount Kenya had just the perfect soils and climate that were suitable for European settlement and farming, thereby making them economically viable to the British. In that respect, the interior central highlands of Kenya, which later became known as the white highlands, were settled by the British and other European farmers who established large tea and coffee plantations. In the early years of the British protectorate, white farmers of European origin were particularly encouraged to settle in Kenya’s temperate highlands, to provide revenue for the construction of the Mombasa-Kisumu railway in 1901; interestingly, a vast majority of the settlers were actually from South Africa and not from Britain. The British also colonized Kenya as a way of gaining more power to stamp and consolidate their authority and control of the East African region; in the context of the stiff competition between imperial powers then, Britain sought to gain competitive advantage over it imperial rivals by gaining Kenya as its colony. The British also wanted Kenya because it provided them with access to Uganda, a land-locked nation, which granted the British significant control of the Nile. Uganda was particularly of significant strategic importance to Britain not just because of the Nile, but also because it was important for Britain’s control of the Suez Canal and Egypt; for Britain, gaining control over Kenya granted them access to massive other opportunities in the east Africa region. Britain gained control over Kenya through the Imperial British East Africa Company, the official administrator of all of British East Africa; establishment of Kenya as a British Protectorate in 1895 granted the British complete power over the country. Following massive resistance to white settlement from the hostile native communities, the British officially declared Kenya a colony in 1920, posting its first governor, Sir Arthur Hardinge, who was mandated to form an official British administration. By the time the British East African Protectorate was being declared a British colony, the country was already dominated and overpowered by the Europeans; white settlers were now large plantation farmers in the Central highlands. With little power against the colonial forces, natives had to yield to the domineering force of the Europeans, which completely crushed them to breaking point. Colonization of Kenya had numerous impacts, whose legacy has persisted up to date in the post-colonial era; throughout its colonial history, the country has been subjected to punitive social, economic and political policies. The most obvious of such policies were the harsh legislations on land tenure, which shamelessly favoured the white settlers (Waller 2012, p.1); these new land policies officially dispossessed natives of their lands and confined them in the reservation areas (Parsons 2011, p.491). Consequently, one of the greatest impacts of colonialism in the country was the subsequent interference and reconstruction of the country’s indigenous systems and way of life of the natives. Following the restriction of ownership of fertile lands to white settlers, the British authorities forced natives off their lands and subdivided the country into independent districts, thereby separating native and settler lands (Parsons 2012, p.65). A British Governor who was assisted by native chiefs allied to the colonial government administered the country; these colonial chiefs had massive administrative, executive and judicial powers over their subjects. Having surrendered their fertile lands to the white settlers, the natives had nowhere else to go but to move further deep into the dry areas around the Rift Valley; the white settlers completely fenced off the lands that had previously been owned by the natives creating large white plantations (Harbeson 2012, p.15). After the alienation of vast tracts of fertile native land for white settlement, tough labour policies were also implemented, forcing the natives to work for meagre wages on the white plantations. These punitive policies led to the complete suppression and marginalization of the local communities, which were completely denied opportunities for upwards social mobility and forced to be squatters on their own lands, with no viable means of livelihood (Parsons 2011, p.491). The British authorities further instituted other punitive administration systems and structures that required natives to carry identification cards and to pay taxes to the colonial government, thereby making life in the country extremely difficult for the natives. Politically, the natives had no say beyond local administration, which was headed by the chiefs (Willis 2013, p.450); only the white settlers were privileged to elect members to the legislative council, despite the demands by other communities for the same rights. The Indian’s success in gaining the right to five representative posts in the legislative council in 1927 prompted the natives to demand similar rights, thereby leading to the establishment of the Young Kikuyu Association outfit, whose aim was to assert African rights. In response to years of suppression by the British colonial rule, an organized peasant unrest that came to be known as the Mau Mau uprising broke out from 1952 to 1960, when Britain began its plans to make Kenya a majority African rule, consequently paving way to the country’s independence in 1963 (Branch 2007, p.291). The long term impact of colonization in Kenya is undoubtedly the country’s delayed independent growth as a country, due to interference by the British who tapped its vast resources while suppressing the natives. Most of the systems of colonial British administration and institutional structures have persisted in the country even many years after independence (Harbeson 2012, p.17); for instance, the country’s education system was, for so many years, based on the British model. Overall, colonization of Kenya has had significant impacts on nearly every aspect of life and national development in the country, and its legacy persists up to date, despite it having already gained its independence from the British many years ago. It may not be obvious where Kenya would be today, had the British not colonized it, but what is clear is that colonial rule inevitably arrested the country’s potential for independent growth and development. References Branch, D., 2007. The Enemy Within: Loyalists and the War against Mau Mau in Kenya. Journal of African History, 48(2), Pp. 291. Brennan, J. R., 2008. Lowering the sultans flag: Sovereignty and decolonization in coastal kenya. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 50(4), 831-861. Harbeson, J. W., 2012. Land and the quest for a democratic state in kenya: Bringing citizens back in. African Studies Review,55(1), 15-30.  Holmes, J.T. 1997. Contested kinship and the dispute of customary law in colonial kenya musanda region: Luo ugenya kager clan]. Anthropologica, 39(1), 79.  Imperato, P.J., 2003. Colony to Nation: British Administration In Kenya, 1940-1963. African Studies Review, 46(3), Pp. 139-141. Parsons, T., 2011. Local responses to the ethnic geography of colonialism in the gusii highlands of british-ruled kenya. Ethnohistory, 58(3), 491.  Parsons, T., 2012. Being kikuyu in Meru: Challenging the tribal geography of colonial Kenya. Journal of African History, 53(1), 65-86.  Peterson, D.R., 2006. Wild Animals and Political Conflict in Colonial Kenya. Journal of African History, 47(2), pp. 343-345. Waller, R., 2012. Pastoral Production in Colonial Kenya: Lessons from the Past? African Studies Review, 55(2), Pp. 1-27. Willis, J., & Gona, G., 2013. Tradition, tribe, and state in kenya: The mijikenda union, 1945-1980. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 55(2), 448-473.  Read More