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Kenya Information Dept.

Nairobi, Showing the Legislative Council Building

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Preface. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1

Chapter

I. Pre-colonial Background • • • • • • • • • • 4

II. The Nairobi Area. • • • • • • • • • • • • • 29

III. Nairobi from 1896-1919 •• • • • • • • • • • 50

IV. Interwar Nairobi: 1920-1939. • • • • • • • 74

V. War Time and Postwar Nairobi: 1940-1963 •• 110

VI. Independent Nairobi: 1964-1966 • • • • • • 144

Appendix • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 168

Bibliographical Note • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 179

Bibliography • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 182

iii
 PREFACE

Urbanization is the touchstone of civilization, the

dividing mark between raw independence and refined inter-

dependence. In an urbanized world, countries are apt to

be judged according to their degree of urbanization. A

glance at the map shows that the under-developed countries

are also, by and large, rural.

Cities have long existed in Africa, of course. From

the ancient trade and cultural centers of Carthage and

Alexandria to the mediaeval sultanates of East Africa,

urban life has long existed in some degree or another. Yet

none of these cities changed significantly the rural

character of the African hinterland. Today the city needs

to be more than the occasional market place, the seat of

political authority, and a haven for the literati. It

remains these of course, but it is much more. It must be

the industrial and economic wellspring of a large area,

perhaps of a nation. The city has become the concomitant

of industrialization and industrialization the concomitant

1
 2

of the revolution of rising expectations.

African cities today are largely the products of

colonial enterprise but are equally the measure of their

country's progress. The city is witness everywhere to the

acute personal, familial, and social upheavals of society

in the process of urbanization. It is a city in ferment,

where superstition and rural values rub shoulders with the

latest avant guarde idea: the city is performing its

ancient and hallowed function of rude purging and synthesis.

But there is the widest divergence between cities.

Some are sunk in the mire of past glory; some thrown to-

gether by war or chance; others strive to keep pace with

orderly development. Nairobi is an enlightened city. It

is home for a third of a million people of three of man-

kind's great social families. Certainly it is the pulse

of Kenya, but its horizon is even greater. Its experience

and lessons will not be lost upon a continent and a world

which is frequently so timid in matters of race. Nairobi

is eminently worth our investigation then, not only as an

aspect of Empire or as local history, but as an urban

center of rather unique character, a city of man.

Except for the first two chapters which are intro-

ductory in nature, this study follows an essentially

 3

chronologically order. There is one great difficulty in

writing of a city in the midst of change. Names and terms

of reference change. There are no longer any white high-

lands, for instance. Before Mau Mau, there was very

little news coverage of African affairs. The local news-

papers were geared to serving a European community. If

gaps or malproportions appear, it should be remembered

that Kenya has undergone a very sudden transition to in-

dependence and an entirely different national attitude.

Unfortunately, thought and modes of expression are slower

in their evolution. The author has, in all honesty, tried

to write with the times, but feels obligated at least to

indicate the problem at hand.

 CHAPTER I

PRE-COLONIAL BACKGROUND

The pre-colonial history of East Africa, while helpful

to an appreciation of modern day Kenya and her capital,

Nairobi, has little bearing on our subject, is readily

available, and is well told elsewhere. Suffice it to note

that Nairobi's present day influence extends over a large

area including Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania which is

geographically, ethnically and politically similar. All

of East Africa lies on an elevated plateau extending from

the Indian Ocean between Somalia and Mozambique to the

central great lakes region, stretching from Lake Victoria,

at the source of the Nile to the southern reaches of Lake

Nyasa. The basic racial stock is Bantu, with some admix-

ture of races in the area about Lake Victoria. Politically

all have been under British administration in modern times,

although Tanganiyika was German East Africa before the first

World War. All were, to some degree or another, influenced

but never subjugated by Arab traders and Islamic

4
 5

missionaries from the small coastal sultanates, the most

important of which was, of course, Zanzibar.

As will be seen, Nairobi, is the largest and most im-

portant urban centre of this area, which embraces 679,581

square miles and has a population of 25,526,000, and it

has become the headquarters for many inter-governmental

agencies and cooperative organizations, such as postal

and communication services.

Thus, we will here review pre-colonial developments

only as an orientation before according specific treatment

to Nairobi.

The first modern political boundary drawn in East

Africa resulted from the Anglo-German Agreement of 1886

and is today the borderline between Kenya and Tanzania. It

runs northwest in a straight line, from a point between

Mombasa and Zanzibar, circumvents Mt. Kilimanjaro, and

reaches the southeastern shore of Lake Victoria at 1° south

latitude. It originally divided the British and German

zones north and south of the line respectively. The

Germans gave up their claims to the territory about Witu,

a small sultanate north of Mombasa, in exchange for

Heligoland, the British-held naval base off the German

coast in the North Sea. The Sultan of Zanzibar's

 6

sovereignty was guaranteed along the entire coastal strip

up to ten miles inland. 1

In 1890, another Anglo-German Accord extended 1° south

latitude westward across Lake Victoria to King Leopold's

Congo Free State, placing Uganda definitely within the

British zone, after several years of uncertainty in the

face of German expansion into the area. At the same time,

the northeastern boundary was set at the Juba River north

to Abyssinia. A British protectorate was then declared

over the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the coastal strip pre-

2
viously demarcated, and the island of Zanzibar itself be-

came a separate protectorate at the same time.

In 1891, the Juba River boundary was confirmed with

the Italians who had taken control of Somaliland. The

Sultan's coastal dominions were leased from him for an

annual rent of 17,000, t~us effectively separating them

except nominally from the island protectorate. The coastal

strip was actually administered with the interior. In

1895, a Protectorate was declared by Britain over all the

lKenneth Ingham, History of East Africa (London:

Langmans, Green and Co., 1962), p. 137.

2Ibid., p. 148.
 7

territory between the Indian Ocean and Uganda, and the area

was named simply enough, "the British East African

Protectorate." 3

Since that time, there have been three boundary ad-

justments. In 1902, the Eastern Province of Uganda, the

scene of the Nandi tribal rebellion, was transferred to the

East African Protectorate and, in 1926, Uganda's Rudolph

Province was similarly acquired. In recent years, these

"lost provinces" of Uganda have provided local politicos

with campaign causes. Jubaland Province, the home of many

Somalis, on the other hand, was transferred from the Pro-

4
tectorate to Italian Somaliland in 1925.

In 1920, the dependency's name was changedto Kenya

Colony and Protectorate, the latter term referring, of

course, to the Sultan's nominal coastal dominions. The

Sultan relinquished his shadowy claims when, in 1963, Kenya

became independent. 5

Kenya today embraces an area of 224,960 square miles,

3 Ibid., p. 171-172.

4 Ibid., p. 308.

5vincent Herlow et al., ed., History of East Africa

(2 vols.) (Oxford: 1965), i, p. 672.
 8

5,000 of which are water, notably Lakes Victoria and

Rudolph. The northern two-thirds of the country is un-

fortunately arid and useless, and is but sparsely populated

by pastoral nomads and their scraggy flocks. Virtually all

of the economically productive enterprises are therefore

concentrated in the south, particularly in the highlands

and the regions about Lake Victoria. Nairobi developed

at the southeastern point of an economic triangle and be-

came the natural funnel for the most of the country's

goods and services going to and coming from the Indian

Ocean ports and the world market in general.

The Rift Valley is perhaps the most interesting geo-

graphic feature of the country. Beginning far to the north

in the Jordan River valley, it lies between two and three

thousand feet below the surrounding countryside and averages

thirty to forty miles wide. In Kenya, it extends from Lake

Rudolph southward through an area of smaller Lakes

(Baringo, Naivasha, Hannington, etc.) and on into Tanzania.

It is flanked on either side by forests; the valley itself

is characterized by thorn bush vegetation. Extinct

volcanoes are found on its floor, indicating some

 9
6
pre-historic upheaval which created the valley. Small

ranges, such as the Aberdare Mountains, (averaging 12 to

13,000 feet above sea level) are found in the highlands.

The tallest mountain is Mt. Kenya (17,058 feet), with Mt.

Elgon on the Uganda border (14,000 feet) standing second.

Kenya lies within the zone of savanna vegetation,

that is midway between the barren desert and the tropical

rainforest. Because the entire country, except for the

coast, is a plateau, the usual sultry savanna temperatures

are healthfully modified. Rainfall rarely exceeds forty

inches save in the few low lying areas about Lake Victoria

and the torrid Indian Ocean coastline. Alpine climate,

including heavy precipitation, and vegetation are found on

7
the higher mountains.

Kenya, today the home of 8,636,000, is overwhelmingly

African. The important minorities include: 180,000 Asians,

40,000 Europeans, and 37,000 "other non-Africans" such as

Arabs and Seychellois. 8

6 w. McGregor Ross, Kenya From Within (London: George

Allen and Unwin, 1927), pp. 26-28.
7 Richard Joel Russell, Culture Worlds (New York:
Macmillan, 1961), pp. 246-251.

Byearbook and Guide to East Africa, 1965, pp. 24-25.

 10

Human life in Kenya is very old, older indeed than in

most other areas of the world. According to the scientific

findings of Dr. L. S. B. Leakey, an anthropo'iogist who has

worked in Tanganyika's Olduvai Gorge for several decades,

East Africa appears to have been the original homeland of

homo sapiens. From 10,000 B.C., light skinned Hamitic

peoples lived in Kenya in a stone age culture. At the same

time, there were others, resembling the Negro, diminutive

Pygmies and Bushmen, who survive to this day. From these

two strains emerged the Nilotic and Bantu 9 races of con-

temporary Africa. 10

These early inhabitants were virtually isolated from

the advancing civilizations in the lower Nile Valley and

the Fertile Cresent of Mesopotamia by geographical factors,

the sudd (floating vegetation) of the upper Nile and the

deserts of North Africa and central Arabia, impenetrable

until the introduction of the camel. The first major

9"Bantu" is commonly applied to all black Africans,

south of the Sahara. Actually it is the name given to a
family of languages spoken by Africans below "the Bantu
line," and it is thus not coextensive with all sub-Saharan
Africans. The "Bantu line" runs roughly from the Cameroons
to Mombasa with a northern appendage to include Mt. Kenya
and Lake Victoria.
lOGillian Solly, Short History of Kenya from the Stone
Age to 1950, (Kampala: Eagle Press, 1953), p. 4.
 11

influence on these people came with the great Islamic ex-

pansion of the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. which

pushed 9outh into Ethiopia and set up a falling domino

reaction in East Africa. It forced the Nilotics about

Lake Victoria into closer contact with the Hamitic peoples

of the north and produced the Nilo-Hamitic racial strain

evident today in the Masai, Nandi and Turkana peoples. 11

Later migrations between the fourteenth and eighteenth

centuries stimulated in part, at least, by the increasing

aridityl2 of the area north of the Tana River and acceler-

ated by raids from the bellicose Galla herdsmen of

Ethiopia, brought two major Bantu groups into Kenya. The

Meru and Kikuyu arrived about the same time, and their

southward movement was still evident when Europeans arrived

on the scene near the close of the nineteenth century.

Later, the Galla, the animist Hamitics and their Moslem

Somali cousins themselves entered Kenya from the northeast,

llibid., pp. 4-6.

12one theory holds that Africa is in an interpluvial

period, currently subject to climatic dessication.
(Dudley Stamp, Africa: A Study in Tropical Development,
(New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1953), pp. 109-110.)
 12

consolidating their position by 1850. 13 Jubaland, an

integral part of Kenya until the 1925 cession, is inhabited

by the Somalis, who have many kinsmen living in eastern

Kenya today.

Migrating bands of Nilo-Hamitics such as the Mandi,

Kipsigi, and Masai entered Kenya by way of Mt. Elgon and

the Rift Valley and continued on to the region around Lake

Victoria between 600 and 1600. The Nilotic Luo appeared

in the same area about the same time and are today flanked
by the Nandi. 14

T~e Masai continued westward onto the Atbi Plains and

the region of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Scattered sections remained
in western Kenya, a few even taking up farming, an inferior

occupation in traditional Masai thought.

The native economic regimes at the time of the

European arrival can be broadly summarized as subsistence

agriculture and pastoral nomadism with only a few survivals

of primitive bunting and nut gathering among the Dorobo.

The agriculturists were, most notably, the Kikuyu,

Meru and Luo. There was no political organization

13solly, op. cit., pp. 10-18.

14 Ibid., pp. 13 -14.
 13
comparable to western states or nations. The most important

social unit of the tribe was the clan, originally an ex-

tended family living in a given area and cooperating in

farming and hunting. When the family grew too large for a

certain district to support, a section would go off and

found another settlement, but family-clan ties remained

firm and irrevocable despite separation effected by

distance and time. Rule was essentially a mixture of time

honored custom, interpreted and executed by the elders and

of democratic councils, composed of elders and outstanding

leaders and operative mainly in times of crisis.

Another consolidating aspect was the age grade system

by which all those born in the same year remained close

associates for life fortified by their common experience in

the rites de passage or entrance into adulthood.

Labor was delineated by sex. Married women tended the

gardens with the aid of their children, in-laws, and co-

wives. Men cleared new fields for agriculture, erected and

defended the village and hunted. There was no commerce ex-

cept to meet domestic needs as with marriage, which in-

volved a bride payment, or in obtaining the services of a

sorcerer. Barter was the order of the day.15

15Ingham, op. cit., pp. 53-56.

 14

The pastoralists of Kenya were part of the cattle

complex of economies which comprised most of east and south-

eastern Africa. Though agriculture did frequently exist

among these peoples, it was minimal. The Masai, on whose

lands Nairobi was founded, typify this culture. For the

Masai, cattle represent food, shelter, money, indices of

wealth and sptritual happiness. They believe that Ngai,

the high god, intended all the cattle in the world for

their use and enjoyment. In some groups, women are for-

bidden association with the herds. In all cases, boys are

brought up herding cattle. The latter are, of course,

limited geographically py the tsetse fly, the carrier of

sleeping sickness to man and equally fatal diseases to

domestic animals. Sleeping sickness is relatively rare in

Kenya because of the prevalent temperate climate. Con-

versely, it appears indigenous in Uganda to the west. 16

The Masai warrier does not settle down, marry and

raise a family until he is thirty. Until then he is the

esteemed knight, raiding for cattle and protecting his own

lands from encroachment by other pastoralists and by

16Melville J. Herskovits, "The Cattle Complex in East

Africa," American Anthropologist, :XXVIII, 1926, pp. 230-72,
361-80, 494-528, 633-34.
 15

agriculturists, notably the Kikuyu. Cattle raiding, however,

is viewed by the Masai more as a sport than as warfare.

These people are not true nomads in the sense of wandering

over great expanses although their density in relation to

their land is much lower than that of other Kenya tribes.

In the twentieth century, they have ceased to be

warriors. 17

The long arm of Masai power once covered most of

Kenya and a good part of upper Tanganyika. Other tribes

have been unable to imitate the "careless confidence and

insolent grace" of the Masai warrior. They reached the

peak of their power in the 1860's and then began a steady

decline, an outbreak of rinderpest attacking their cattle

and a smallpox epidemic decimating their numbers at the

close of the last century.1 8

In 1904, the Masai of the Rift Valley Province were

separated from their fellow tribesman to the south, being

moved further north to make way for white settlement.

Between 1910 and 1913, the entire tribe, in what can be

described as imperialism at its worst, was moved against

17Ingham, op. cit., pp. 38-51.

18solly, op. cit., pp. 14-17.

 16

its will to the barren lands between Nairobi and the

Tanganyika frontier, again because Europeans had cast

envious eyes upon their lands in the north. On the Masai

Reserve, they live today in a noble and quiet defiance of

the European, taking up western ways at their own dis-

cretion.19

The pacification of the British East Africa tribes

was largely uneventful. The Nandi provided the most

militant opposition and were not subjugated until 1902.

The Somali did not immediately halt their slave raids

against the Galla and armed enforcement of the law was

necessary in Jubaland. Otherwise, tribes such as the

Kikuyu and the Wakamba could not effectively oppose the

British because of internal disunity and a marked lack of

strong leaders. The Masai, cleverly enough, did not oppose

the British, but merely ignored them, and consequently re-

main the least Europeanized of all Kenya peoples. 2 1

Unlike the interior, the coast of Kenya has long been

known to the outside world. In pre-Christian times,

19Ross, op. cit., pp. 130-144.

20Ingham, op. cit., p. 41.

21Ibid., pp. 186-190.

 17

merchants from Arabia and India took advantage of the

seasonal monsoon winds and made annual trading trips along

Africa's Indian Ocean shoreline. By 150 A.D., Ptolemy was

able to chart the "Mountains of the Moon" (the Ruwenzori
Range) on his world map with information garnered from

travelers. 22
Only in the seventh century, however, did political

refugees from the Arabian state of Oman build permanent

residences on the East African Coast, known as Zinj, the

"land of the Blacks." Extensive intermarriage of the

immigrant Arabs and the local population ultimately pro-
duced a mixed people speaking a new hybrid language,

Swahili. Cities such as Sofala, Kilwa, Pemba, Mombasa,

Zanzibar, Witu and Mogadishu rose to support in luxury the

Arab aristocracy ruling each. Such physical opulence was

not, however, reflected in cultural achievments, nor was

any attention paid to the interior.23

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to set foot

in East Africa in modern times, and they stayed as con-

querors for two centuries. They arrived in 1498, coming up

22solly, op. cit., pp. 19-20.

23Ibid., pp. 20-23.
 18

from the Cape of Good Hope and, by 1513, had seized control

of the Arab towns from Mogadishu to Mozambique, making the

latter their headquarters. Slowly however, Arab resistance

toward the invader mounted with telling results, as the

Portuguese were busy def ending their Indian and Indonesian

holdings. In 1698, the fortress of Mombasa was reclaimed

by the Arabs and, in as short a time as it had taken to

establish themselves, the Portuguese were expelled from.

East Africa. By 1740, they controlled only their own city

of Mozambique. The most obvious remains marking the

Portuguese interlude are decaying fortresses, such as Fort

Jesus at Mombasa, and a few words assimilated by Swahili.
Their influence on the area was, however, much greater.

They introduced to East Africa the pineapple, banana,

cassava and maize, the latter today being a staple of the

African diet. They also imported civil servants and admin-

istrators from Goa, one of their Indian holdings. The

Goans remained after the collapse of Portuguese power,

retaining both their Christianity and their Portuguese

names. 24
The elimination of the Portuguese did not, however,

24Ibid., pp. 26-28.

 19

signal a return to mediaeval Arab serenity. The Portuguese

had broken Arab supremacy in the Indian Ocean, and en-

couraged the Arabs to go inland and engage in the lucrative

slave trade as a substitute for their lost commercial pre-

eminence. Now the Arabicized East Coast became involved

in the long Franco-British struggle for world power.

Simultaneously, the Om.ani family was universally respected

along the East African littoral for having driven out the

Portuguese. Both France and England realized that, for

either of them to force themselves upon the Coast, would

precipitate an Om.ani alliance with the other to oppose

them. Consequently both nations courted Om.ani good will

and eschewed power tactics during the eighteenth century.

Such policies worked well, although the rivalry was merely

suspended, rather than resolved. 25

In 1806, the young and efficient Iman Seyyid Said

ascended the Omani throne. He moved his capital to Zanzi-

bar city in 1840 and built it into the major port of East

Africa, exporting ivory, gum copal, and palm tree products,

as well as slaves. He promoted the important clove

industry to the island. Arab traders ranged far into the

25Ibid., pp. 29-30.

 20

interior of Africa, reaching Buganda, on the shores of

Lake Victoria in the 1840's. British consuls, resident in

Zanzibar since 1840, were able to induce the Sultan to

restrict the slave trade to his own East African dominions.26

It was during the orderly reign of Seyyid Said that

missionaries and explorers, under the protective glance of

Britain, began to penetrate the interior of his mainland

possessions. The German missionaries Krapf and Rebmann,

reached Mt. Kilimanjaro in 1847, reporting snow on its

summit to a skeptical Europe, and encountered the Kikuyu

and Wakamba. In 1856, Captains Burton and Speke, looking

for the Nile source, discovered Lake Victoria-Nyanza,

Ripon Falls and the Jinja Rapids, the actual source of the

river. 27

In 1883, Joseph Thomson was commissioned by the Royal

Geographical Society to open a new route to the lake region

through the northern highlands, previously avoided because

of the Masai. He pushed on to Mt. Kenya, across the Rift

Valley to Mt. Elgon, and then proceeded south to Buganda

26Roland Oliver and J. D. Fage, A Short History of

Africa, (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1964), pp. 171-176.

27solly, op. cit., pp. 42-49.

 21

and Lake Victoria. Be named the Aberdare Range after the

then President of t~e Royal Geographical Society.

Stanley had visited Buganda in 1875 and had appealed

for missionaries. Church Mission Society (CMS) agents

arrived in 1877 and French White Fathers two years later.

In 1884, Bannington was made Bishop of Equatorial Africa,

and he set out to build a chain of stations from the coast

to Buganda, largely along the most direct route through

Masai country, in the wake of Thomson's expedition.

Bannington began his episcopal sojourn in 1888, accidentally

turning aside and discovering the small highland lake that

bears his name. Ultimately, he reached Lake Victoria only

to meet death on the orders of the mercurial King Mwanga

of Buganda. Be reportedly exclaimed before his execution,

"Tell the king that I die for the Buganda, and that I

purchase the Road to Uganda with my life." 28

In 1887-1888, the Hungarian Count Teleki and the

Austrian Lieutenant von Hohnel embarked on an East African

big game safari. They climbed both Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt.

Kenya and then followed Thomson's route to Lake Baringo,

where they headed north, naming Lakes Rudolpf and Stephanie

28Ibid., pp. 49-50.

 22

after the Hapsburg Crown Prince and his wife. With this

exploration, the last lines of Kenyan geography had been

uncovered for an eager Europe. 29

There were several factors bringing the British to

the shores of Kenya at the close of the nineteenth century.

Their arrival was, in a general sense, a part of the

colonizing and imperialistic impetus sweeping Europe in the

wake of the heightened nationalism marking the age.

Several developments encouraged such overseas adven-

tures. The Industrial Revolution had taken firm root in

northern, western, and central Europe, and businessmen were
obliged to find new ways of investing surplus capital. In-

creasing quantities of raw materials, such as cotton, palm

oil, and rubber were needed by industry, and all were

found in the vast stretches of Africa and Asia. Finally,

medical progress made life possible, if not entirely com-

fortable, for Europeans in the tropics. 30

Specifically, however, the British entry into East

Africa was rooted in humanitarian goals. The slave trade

291bid., p. 50-51.
3
~orman Leys, Kenya (London: Hogarth Press, 1925),
pp. 71-72.
 23

continued to scourge much of the area, and Britain was

committed to halt it. The protection of missionaries was

a popular cause in England and could serve as a cover for

mercantile enterprises. Then too, Lord Salisbury, the

Conservative Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary (1886-

1892, 1895-1902) wished to increase the East African-Indian

trade as a means of bolstering Indian commerce. 3 1

The scramble for East Africa began in the late 1870's,

especially
'
after the establishment of Christian missions

in Buganda. Each European country or chartered colonial

corporation sent out explorers to reconnoiter the land and

to enter into treaties with local chiefs which placed their

tribes or areas under the protection of the metropolitan

country. Such treaties assured the tribal signatories of

outside assistance in local disputes and a steady supply

of trade goods. The "Wa-Inglezi" faced first the rivalry

of the "Wa-Franza" and then that of the Germans, headed by

Doctor Karl Peters, the agent of the German Colonization

Society. The Treaty of Berlin (1885) and subsequent agree-

ments, however, settled these rivalries as already noted.

 24

The French were mollified by receiving lands in West

Africa. 32

Although the British sphere included both Uganda and

British East Africa, all considered the former to be the

prize. Buganda (Uganda is a wider term including an area

much larger than Buganda) was small, relatively peaceful

with a monarchy, considered an advanced degree of political

organization, and quite amenable to Christian and western

ideas. British East Africa, on the other hand, was little

more than a vast wasteland, the chief importance of which

was that the road to Uganda passed through it.

Despite the dominant imperialism of the age, there

was considerable liberal opposition in Europe to becoming

involved in exotic African lands which, for all their

economic potential, would long be national liabilities in

terms of responsible pacification and administration. In

addition, there were philosophical arguments against

colonialism itself, apart from its cost. Thus, in 1888,

the British government gave complete powers of authority

and administration in its East African sphere to the

Imperial British East Africa Company, a chartered commercial

32Ibid., pp. 74-75.

 25

enterprise. The Company's duties were to pacify and to

administer the area and to keep protective surveillance

over the missions in Uganda, treated, for practical pur-

poses, as an independent territory.

Although the IBEAC was well organized and efficiently

operated, it was doomed to economic failure. Since an open

door trade policy had been decreed by the Treatr of Berlin,

its revenues were restricted to a small ad valorem duty on

export and import items. From this remuneration had to be

paid the annual rent to the Sultan of Zanzibar, holding

title to the ten mile coastal strip. Africans refused to

work on plantations set up by the Company and sought only

wage jobs. They had little of value to trade and could

not afford European imports. Trade caravans to Uganda

tended to be long, arduous and unprofitable, adding to the

Company's woes.33

In 1890, the Company dispatched Captain Frederick

Lugard to report on the East African situation. He signed

agreements with the Kabaka (King) of Buganda, according

him Company protection in return for trade privileges,

freedom of religion in the face of opposing Protestant-

33tbid., pp. 75-76.

 26

Catholic factions, and prohibition of trade in slaves and

arms. Lugard returned to England, convinced that the

British government should declare a protectorate over

Uganda in view of the Company's economic difficulties.

Despite missionary opposition and official indifference,

this was at length effected in 1894. 34

A year later, following the bankruptcy of the IBEAC,
the British East African Protectorate was proclaimed over

its old domain. 35 It was seen in large measure as an

adjunct to India, since most of its retail trade and local

commerce was conducted by Indians. Indian currency and

the Indian penal code were adopted. Sir John Kirk, the
British agent at the court of the Sultan of Zanzibar,

called the Protectorate "India's America." No one viewed

it as anything save the high road to Uganda and an outlet
for Indian commercial enterprise of the small, retail
general goods variety. 3 6

The decision to build a railroad to Uganda changed

this bleak prospect. It was something of an engineering

34Ingham, op. cit., pp. 151-169.

35Ibid., pp. 172-173.
36 -
.!!?.!.!·1 pp. 76-77.
 27

triumph in view of local topography, and the costly trans-

port of equipment and supplies, but it was dictated by

sound reasons. Such a route would help wipe out the slave

trade by facilitating troop movements over a five-hundred

mile expanse. Even more important, it would secure

Britain's position in Uganda as well as her base at the

Nile's source, always considered a geopolitically strategic

area. Egypt and the Sudan had already cast eager glances

upon the region. The railroad's financial viability was

doubted by some, but it was finally entrusted to the future

and construction began. 37

The railroad was begun in 1895 at Mombasa and reached

Port Florence, near Kisum.u, on the eastern shore of Lake

Victoria, in 1901. Thousands of Indian coolies were im-

ported to build it, since the recalcitrant Africans dis-

dained labor, and many remained afterwards to augment the

country's Indian population. In 1899, the line reached a

place called Nairobi, a Kasai waterhole, near a caravan-

serai established in 1896 by Sergeant Ellis of the Royal

Engineers, along the route to Uganda, and with that

37M. F. Hill, "White Settler's Role in Kenya," Foreign

Affairs, DCCVIII, July, 1960, p. 638.
 28

railroad yard, the history of the Kenyan capital, properly

speaking, began. 38

38J. W. .Gregory, "Expedition to Mt. Kenya," Fortnightly,

LXI, March, 1904.
 CHAPTER II

THE NAIROBI AREA

The Uganda Railroad had reached the meeting place of

two Kenyan topographies, the high escarpments in the west

and the relatively flat plateau to the east. It was also

near the tense border, dividing Kikuyu and Masai terri-

tories, though the latter people effectively controlled

the area called Nairobi.

"Nai" is a Masai prefix meaning "water," a potent word

in an area where cattle and men struggle for survival in an

arid land. Nairobi was the "place of sweet water" where

untold generations of Masai herdsmen had refreshed their

cattle and themselves. 1 It lay between Mombasa, 327 miles

east on the Indian Ocean, and Kisumu on Lake Victoria, 257

miles to the west, at an altitude of 5600 feet. 2 This

lL. G. Green, "Gateway to Sweet Water," Blackwells,

CCLXXXIX, January, 1961 •.
2Thornton White et al., Nairobi: Master Plan for a
Colonial Capital, (London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1948),
pp. 10-11.

29
 30
placed it on the eastern flank of the Rift Valley, on an

inclined plateau originating near the Athi River and ex-

tending to the Ngong Hills and Kikuyu escarpment in the

west, varying in elevation from 4800 to 6500 feet. 3 The

site is also on a diagonal line running southwest to

northeast separating the Kikuyu plateau to the north from

the Athi plains of the southwest. 4

Nairobi therefore occupies the last area of relatively

flat land before the steep rises leading to the summits of

the Kikuyu highlands and the sharp descent into the Rift

Valley. Railroad engineers saw it, in 1899, as the most

suitable place to build shunting yards and workshop head-

quarters before tackling the rough topography to the west.

And so it was the railroad which gave birth to the city of

Nairobi. 5

The Kikuyu Plateau, the foothills of the Aberdare

Range, is hilly and was well forested at that time. Rain-

fall there ranges from 39 to 52 inches per year. It was

3Ibid., p. 29.
4Ronald Wesley Walmsley, Nairobi: The Geography of a
New City, (Kampala: Eagle Press, 1957), pp. 13-17.

Suerbert K. Binks, African Rainbow, (London: Sidgwick

and Jackson, 1959), p. 49.
 31
the area of the Black and the White Highlands. The

resident Kikuyu grew mainly subsistence crops of maize and

bananas, but in recent times, cash crops of coffee and

wattle, an Australian tree which makes good fuel. The

larger European farms, emerging with settlement, produced

coffee, tea, and pyrethrum, an ingredient in insecticides,

as well as Indian corn and wheat for domestic use. 6

The Athi Plains to the southwest are flat and grassy

with less rainfall. Here, north of the railroad, appeared

sisal and dairy farms which supplied Nairobi with meat,

butter and milk. To the south of the Railroad live the

Masai on their reserve. Nairobi National Game Park was

ultimately created in the same area, for the Masai do not

hunt game except in defending their cattle. 7

The city, emerging in this advantageous area, reflected

a punctiliar position between plain and hill. The indus-

trial, commercial and African areas developed on the plain

flatlands, while Asian and European residential sections

appeared in the more comfortable hills. 8

6walmsley, op. cit., pp. 13-17.

7 Ibid.

8White, op. cit., p. 29.

 32

Much of the soil in the area is decomposed volcanic

magma, known as "black cotton." It becomes waterlogged in

the rainy seasons, creating pools of stagnant water where

malaria carrying larvae thrive and seriously impeding

early travel. It dries hard in the dry season, shrinking

and causing cracks up to four inches deep. 9 Buildings

10
consequently require deep foundations to secure them.

There are several "rivers," more properly called

streams, in the area, notably the Nairobi, Mathari,
Masongawi and Ngong. They cut valleys between 60 to 70

feet below the surrounding surface, but these are round in

form, rather than ravine like, and therefore have suffered

extensive soil erosion. 11

Poor drainage raises basic problems. Sewers, until

recently, were short-run and expensive to build. Popula-

tion density has been restricted thereby since each house

must stand upon a plot not less than one half acre, for
proper septic treatment. Low density increases distance
between home and work, making public transportation

9Binks, op. cit., p. 47.

lOwbite, op. cit., p. 27.

11 Ibid.
 33

imperative and expensive. In recent times sewers have been

installed with greater frequency because of rapid urban

development. 12

Despite its name, Nairobi's main problem through its

short history has been that of water supply. The city is

situated in a basically dry area, and the neighborhood

streams, which sufficed for wandering Masai needs, pale

before the requirements of a thriving industrial complex.

A water supply dam was built on the Nairobi River in

1905, and later, another was constructed upstream near St.

Austin's Mission. Springs near Kikuyu were likewise

tapped. Following a dry spell in 1926, marked by a series

of bad fires with insufficient water to combat them, a

weir was constructed on the Ruiru River. 13

Severe draught again struck in 1945-1946. City taps

were reduced to trickles and, in some areas of the city,

residents kept their taps running round the clock to col-

lect enough water for their needs. Firefighters were in-

structed at that time to use water only when human life

1 2walmsley, op. cit., pp. 48-49.

13East African Standard (Nairobi), Nov. 4, 1950.

(Hereafter: EAS)
 34
was imperilled. The city council passed ordinances

authorizing trespassing of private property to lay emer-

gency pipe lines. Still another dam was built on the

Nairobi River and alleviated, but by no means solved, the

water problem. A dam on the Ruiru River was completed in

1950 and an even larger dam on the Chania River was

commissioned. For the first time in several years

Nairobians could water their gardens and wash their cars

in clear conscience.14

Completion of the Sasumua-Chania River Scheme in 1956

increased the water supply from 5i to 13 million gallons

per day, an ample amount for the city's current and fore-
seeable needs. 15

Nairobi's continental tropical climate is character-

ized by small seasonal changes in temperature, but consider-
able daily ranges in temperature, and rainfall depending on

the sun's declination, which tends to be sporadic.

Monsoonal air currents modify the seasonal rainfall. 16

The mean monthly temperature has a variation only 6°F,

14 Ibid.

15walmsley, op. cit., pp. 45-46.

16white, op. cit., p. 23.
 35

from a low of 60.6°F in August to a high of 66.6°F in

March. Record known temperatures at the weather station in

17
nearby Kabete, have been 88.8°F and 44.0°F.

The annual average rainfall in Nairobi is 40 inches. 18

There are two rainy seasons: from March to May, and from

October to December. From June to September, the South-

east Monsoon prevails on the coast, and a cloudcap covers

the highlands. Rain in this period is light and f,alls

chiefly in the morning. The most uncomfortable period,

when there is but scant precipitation, warm temperatures

and high humidity, comes in late January and February,

before the onset of the March rains. July is the driest

month. 19

The sporadic nature of the rainfall is mirrored in all

government reports, such as one downpour of 2.1 inches in

a twenty-four hour period, 20 or six percent of the annual

17Ibid.
18 Ibid. The Atlas of Kenya gives the average annual
rainfall as 33.65 inches which is probably a more accurate
figure. The Atlas is based on readings covering a longer
period than that of White, including the drought years of
the mid 1940's which White excluded.
19 Ibid., p. 24.
2 0EAS, Oct. 25, 1950.
 36
rainfall at one fell swoop.

Humidity in Nairobi has a considerable daily range.

In February and March, it frequently reaches saturation

level in the morning and falls to ten percent by midday.

The mean yearly average is 65 percent, being lowest in

February (58) and highest in April (72). 21

Winds are generally mild, never exceeding lOi miles

per hour, and are a mitigated version of the coastal mon-

soon. A heavy percentage are from the northeast and south-

east. City planners, consequently, recommend that in-

dustrial sites be located in southern Nairobi. The South-

east Monsoon blows from May to September, but heavier winds

appear in the northeast monsoon, between October and ApriL22

Nairobi's boundaries, set in 1926, continue the same

today, embracing 32.4 square miles. Walmsley provides the

best survey of the areas within municipal boundaries.

Central Nairobi consists of the commercial area, where six

thoroughfares, Kenyatta (formerly Delamere) Avenue,

Government Road, Sadler Street, Victoria Street, Kingsway,

and Queensway, converge. In this area are found businesses

2lwhite, op. cit., pp. 25-26.

22Ibid., pp. 25-26.

 43

longer and live at lower standards than Europeans. While

most large construction firms are European, smaller con-

cerns are usually Asian. Skilled artisans, such as masons

and carpenters, have traditionally been Asians, though

some African competition is now provided. 38

The European community is mainly of British origin,

but there are also South Africans, Greeks, Italians,

Scandanavians, Frenchmen and Jews who have found their way

to Nairobi. Some came for adventure and many sought to

escape the alleged decline of personal freedom and the

socialism of their native lands, which partially explains

some of their political and racial viewpoints. The exclu-

sive use of English in their schools has united the Euro-

peans into a community more solid than either the Asian or

African. In Nairobi, they are government officials, busi-

nessmen, professionals, or retired civil servants. Up-

country, of course, they are farmers. An estimated 70 to

80 percent of European wives work since domestic help is

cheap and easily acquired. 39

There are small groups of Seychellois. Girls from

381bid., pp. 40-42.

391bid., p. 38.
 44

the Seychellois Archipelago are eagerly sought by Europeans

as nursemaids. Chinese, Somalis, and Arabs are also

found. 40
Most Africans work as unskilled manual laborers or

as domestic servants. Some are employed by the East

African Common Services Organization, the Kenya Government,

or the city administration in the fields of transport or

communications, notably for East African Railways and

Harbours, public works, hospitals and school projects. 41
Until recently, few African women worked except as

"ayahs" or nursemaids. They have always been few in

Nairobi because of the practice for the wife and children

to remain in the country while the husband sought work in

the city. Such disproportion of the sexes and its un-
fortunate consequences, is lessening, however, as it be-

comes more feasible for entire families to live in the city

in the new housing schemes which provide adequate schooling

for the children. 42

The question remains, how Nairobi came to grow into a

40wbite, op. cit., p. 21.

41walmsley, op. cit., pp. 40-44.

42Ibid., pp. 39-40. •

 45

great city, the most important in its part of the world.

The railway explains its origin but not its growth.

Several historical factors explain why the city progressed

beyond a rail depot.

The first of these was the transferral of government

headquarters to the town in 1900 from the previous center

at Machakos. Its elevation was suitable for European

settlement. As the are.a to the north and east, the White

Highlands, became productive farms, the city easily became

the center of local commerce as well as the warehousing

center for goods going to and coming from the coast.

Later, the size of the town itself became an attraction for

settlers and businessmen, despite its grievous lack of

coal and water. 43

Its selection as the capital contributed heavily to

growth. As administration grew more complex and more civil

servants arrived, their needs increased. Their salaries

were spent lar~ely in Nairobi, calling for the erection of

the usual panoply of urban goods and service centers.
Local processing manufacturing such as milling, brewing,

43Hickman and Dickens, The Lands and Peoples of East

Africa, (London: Longmans Green, Co. 1960),pp. 204-205.
 46

bottling of soft drinks, and soap, clothing, and furniture

production got underway and retail shops proliferated.

"Once a town starts growing, it tends to go on" is a

sociological truism.44 Nairobi admirably illustrates this.

As a communications center, Nairobi has prospered.

It is central to the three well-populated centers of

Nyanza, the Highlands and the Coast. Four major land

routes emanate from the city: to Mombasa; to Nakuru and

Uganda; to Nyeri and Mt. Kenya; and to Dar-es-Salaam along

the great north road. The first three have rail connec-
'
tions paralleling them. Nairobi is, however, not a good

center locally, because the land is poorer than that of

the highlands where, indeed, Nakuru is often called the

farmers' capita1. 45 In this context, Nairobi's suitability

in 1899 as a railyard, which Nakuru could not have been,

may have been the city's main reason for existence.

Nairobi is not on the direct air route from Europe to

South Africa nor does it have great hydroelectric potential,

as does for example, Kampala, in Uganda. On the other

hand, it has developed good airports and its commercial

44walmsley, op. cit., pp. 8-10.

45 Ibid.
 47

preeminence can overshadow industrial deficiencies. 46 In

this comparison, history was kind to Nairobi, for it had a

head-start on Kampala and the latter never caught up.

European settlement, which was contingent on the

factor of climate, government, and communications, was

itself another reason for Nairobi's growth. British

dominance in government and private business created an

atmosphere where European investors and industrialists

felt confident to invest their monies in branch factories

and stores. 47 From this point, progress becomes a circular

process, re-enforcing and pushing itself to new heights.

Implicit recognition of this European factor is evident in
the moderateness and appeals to fairness on the part of

post independence Kenyan leaders. That Nairobi would never

have grown beyond a provincial rail stop and government

outpost without Europeans and European capital is undeniab1e;

that it should serve as a political rallying point is

another question entirely.

A British visitor in 1960 praised the social amenities

of Nairobi. He applauded the good restaurants such as the

46Ibid., p. 11.

47 Ibid.
 48

Nairobi Club and the New Stanley Grill and the Donovan

Maule Theatre where The Chalk Garden was playing. He paid

supreme compliment, however, by concluding, "Nowhere in

the world have I found a small city which reminded me so

strongly of London!" 48 Robert Ruark described Nairobi

about the same time (in Uhuru, 1962) when independence was

imminent and segregation falling apart in social circles.

His comments were less flattering and he was barred from

Kenya.
Nairobi today is the commercial center of East Africa.

Virtually all Kenyan products pass through it. Its

economic influence extends even to Northern Tanganyika

where Koshi, a farming center, is closer to Nairobi than

Dar-es-Salaam. It is the center of the East African Common

Services Organization which coordinates the postal,

shipping and communications systems of Uganda, Tanzania

and Kenya. 49 Walmsley summarizes Kenya's spheres of influ-

ences as three concentric circles: the Highlands, Kenya,

and East Africa. 50

48Green, 02. cit., p. 25.

49 Ibid., pp. 20-21.

50walmsley, 02. cit., p. 7.

 49

Nairobi was contrasted in 1948 with other African

cities in an attempt, one supposes, to establish its

uniqueness, if not European character. "It has not the

skyscrapers of Johannesburg, the Parisian tenements of

Cairo, the austere symmetry of Khartoum, the tropical

homeliness of Kampala, or the native throngs of Kano. 11 51

In character and origin, Nairobi most closely resembles

Johannesburg; the latter is in South Africa and therein

lies the difference. The "native throngs of Kano" sounds

somewhat affected; all Nairobians are now citizens. Other-

wise, the comparison is revealing.

But Nairobi is not defined as a geographical place

name, as a conglomeration of peoples, or as the resultant

of certain economic forces; for, as Walmsley states, "Towns

are never self contained; they depend on the surrounding

country for support, and render services to it in exchange." 52

With this in mind, the history of Nairobi unfolds from its

fragile genesis in the midst of the Uganda Railroad yard

and Sergeant Ellis' caravanserai.

51White, op. cit., p. 23.

52walmsley, op. cit., p. 7.
 CHAPTER III

NAIROBI FROM 1896-1919

Fort Smith, one of the way stations of the IBEAC, was

the first European habitation built in the neighborhood of

Nairobi, about e!ght miles northwest.I

When the East African Protectorate was created in

1895, Captain (later Lord) Lugard suggested that a new

capital for the territory be erected, one which would be

more centrally located than the old IBEAC headquarters of

Mombasa. Simultaneously, the Foreign Office commissioned

Captain B. L. Sclater to extend a rough road from Kibwezi
to Kedong, the first such road in the area of Nairobi. It

ran through Pumwami, the old native location of Nairobi

and on to Kabete. 2

In 1896, Sergeant Ellis of the Royal Engineers

1James Smart, Jubilee History of Nairobi, (Nairobi:

East African Standard, 1950) p. 8.
21bid., pp. 8-9.

50
 51

established a transport depot with stores and stables for

oxen and mules at a point just northwest of Nairobi, on

Sclater's road. 3 Since his caravanserai was the place

near where the railroad yard located, Ellis is usually con-

sidered the "founder" and first resident of Nairobi.

Dr. H. S. Boedeker set up a vegetable farm near

Kikuyu, selling to the railroad staff. The diary of a

Rev. Fisher records that his party was entertained by

Sergeant Ellis at his camp, "Nairobe," in April, 1898. 4

Another early settler, described as the "first white

man to arrive at what is now Nairobi," was James llcQueen,

a Scotsman, who walked with his wife from Mombasa to

Kikuyuland (1896) and eventually began farming at Nyoro.

In 1898 he built the first European home on the site of the

later Nairobi. 5

Also, in 1898, the White Fathers, a Roman Catholic

missionary order, opened St. Austin's Mission to the north-

west of the city, incidentally, introducing coffee to Bast

Africa. 6 Thus, by 1898, there were already several white

3White, 02. cit., p. 1.

4smart, op. cit., p. 11.
5.rhe Times, April 2, 1943. (obituary)
&smart, 02. cit., p. 10.
 52

men in the vicinity of what became Nairobi; government

officials, farmers, and missionaries.

Meanwhile, the Uganda Railroad, begun in 1895, was

winding up the coast and toward Kikuyuland. The engineers

intended to push on to Kikuyu where a railroad workshop

would be established. Surveyors reported that gradients

in Kikuyu were steep and that the yards would better be

located at "Nyrobi," not far away. The advice was taken.

The site, of course, was chosen because it was on the last

stretch of flat land before the steep gradients of the

7
Kikuyu hills.

At the same time that the railroad reached Nairobi

(May, 1899), Ellis' road camp was dismantled. 8 It accord-

ingly seems right to consider Ellis the first inhabitant

and founder of Nairobi, though it was the railroad which

arrived there three years later which gave it permanence

and a degree of prominence.

Stores were soon established, catering to the needs of

railroad officials, workers and their families. Homes for

senior officers were built on the Hill. It was unsafe,

7
~., p. 10.
8Ibid., p. 7; pp. 10-11.
 53

however for these officials to walk from the yards home

because of game pits dug by Africans attracted to the area

by the railroad. Sir Frederick Jackson, Commissioner of

Uganda, complained that proper facilities were not being

provided for the railroad "camp followers." Smart inter-

prets this charge as the first of many rounds in the early

struggles between government officials and the railway. 9

The Uganda Railroad secured rights to the land for

one mile on either side of the track as a means of raising

revenue, by renting lots, for the still unproductive enter-

prise, and proceeded to build a model station at Nairobi.

The railway allocated part of its holdings along Victoria

Street for commercial development by Europeans. Two Asian

businessmen, Dr. Ribeiro and Gyan Singh, received similar

lots on Duke Street. Traders and Africans began to move

into the vicinity. These would normally be the responsi-

bility of the government but since they resided on railroad

property they were technically out of the government's

domain and the Uganda line officials were concerned only

with its own employees. The effects of this influx and

the uncertain status of the immigrants were two. The

9 Ibid., pp. 11-14.

 54

"center of gravity for good government" of Ukamba Province

was shifting away from its headquarters at Machakos, by-

passed completely by the railroad, to Nairobi; and the

government decided to organize the settlement in spite of

railroad rights.

Consequently, late in 1899, Colonel John Ainsworth,

the provincial administrator, moved his headquarters from

Machakos to the area just above the Nairobi swamp, near the

present Ainsworth Bridge, outside the Uganda line's juris-

diction. There were severe objections by railroad

officials who saw themselves and their work imperilled by

a rival administrative center in the neighborhood. 10

By 1900, there were then two components to Nairobi.

The railroad yards lay in the south, smart and efficient,

as did the fine residences of the Chief Engineer, Sir

John Whitehouse. To the north were a less imposing corru-

gated iron government center and a trading area presided

over by Ainsworth. The two sections were connected by a

road, alternately dusty and muddy, according to the season,

which eventually became Victoria Street. 11 The railroad

lOibid., p. 13.

lllbid., pp. 12-14.

 55

was neither organized for nor interested in caring for the

non-railway people who lived on its land; and the govern-

ment did not approve of the former's land-lease policy and

felt that it could better provide the services a growing

community needed.

Fortunately, for the administration, the Commissioner

of British East Africa, Sir Charles Eliot (1901-04), was a

man determined to assert the dominance of the government

over the railroad. In 1901, the Uganda line, partly in

view of its improving finances and partly because of

Eliot's intractibility, relinquished to the government,

property it did not need, between the yards and the swamp.

In March of that year, Ainsworth moved his offices to the

present Government Road. 12

In addition to the Indian businesses, Mombasa firms,

such as George Stewart and Co., Hueber and Co. and Smith-
Makenzie and Co., general traders, were opening branches in

Nairobi. A majority of the 31,000 Indian coolies imported

to work on the railroad stayed after its completion and

Nairobi was an attraction to many of them. The Europeans
included the railway and government staffs, transport

12Ibid., pp. 14-18.

 56

agents, commercial men, big game hunters and military

personnel, many with their families. 13

An early report read, "The railroad has not been open

for much more than a year, but already the majority of the
people in England have recognized that a new field has been

opened to colonizing efforts. The town of Nairobi has been

established on the best part of the Highlands, a town

likely in the future to be a starting point for many a

settler.'' 14

In 1900, the Nairobi Municipal Regulations, published

under the authority of Sir Arthur Hardinge, the Commis-

sioner at Zanzibar, established local government. Herbert

Binks, an early settler, quoted a merchant who had this to

say about the town in 1900,

It has neither body to be kicked nor soul to be

damned; it has neither taxes nor rates nor restric-
tions, and is administered by Mr. John Ainsworth,
assisted by a governor.

Kerosene oil lamps afforded night lighting and wild animals

roamed the roads and lanes from dawn to dusk. 15

13White, op. cit., pp. 11-12.

14 ''What can Africa Do For the White Man?"
----
Journal of the African Society, II (1902-03), p. 55.
15u. K. Binks, African Rainbow, (London: Sidgwick &
Jackson, 1959), pp. 44-45.
 57

The area of Nairobi township was set to include land

within one and a half mile radius of the Office of the Sub

Commissioner. A municipal committee composed of two rail-

road officials, one Protectorate officer and three local

merchants, maintained order and enjoyed powers of annexa-

tion. It was, however, only an advisory body to the Pro-

tectorate Government which actually conducted municipal

business. 16 When councillors objected to this merely

ancillary status, they were accorded the right to make

by laws. At the same time, in 1901, they elected Mr. T.

A. Woods, a merchant, the first mayor. 17

The bazaar was organized so that businesses could be

pDoperly assessed to provide taxes needed for police pro-

tect ion, street lighting, and refuse collection. Unsanitary

shacks and shops were summarily condemned and burned.

The first municipal budget of 7,161 rupees (about

$1500) paid for the uniforms and salaries of eight Indian

and six Swahili policemen, two sweepers, and oil for street

lights. Street and drain cleaners, rubbish collectors, and

street lighters, were hired under the direction of

161fbite, op. cit., pp. 16-17.

1 7smart, op. cit., p. 17.

 58

Mr. Buddar Din for 150 rupees a month. 18

By 1906, seven distinct areas were serving seven dis-

tinct areas in Nairobi: the Railway center workshop area,

the Indian quarter, the European business and government

headquarters, the railway workers' quarters, the Dhobi

(native) section, the European residential suburbs and the

military barracks, just outside of town. 19

Orderly growth was hampered by the dirty, rat infested

bazaar which required constant municipal attention. Faulty

land ordinances permitted speculators to buy up land and

construct haphazard structures in attempts to improve the

value of the unused portions, causing severe overcrowding

in sections. 20

In 1907 Nairobi became capital of the entire Pro-

tectorate and the new Legislative Council came to meet
there. The municipal council still chafed under the

authority of the sub-commissioner who appointed its

members and controlled its finances. 21

18 Ibid., pp. 17-18.

191fhite, 02. cit., p. 15.

20 Ibid., p. 16.

21 smart, 02. cit., p. 25-30.

 59

At length, in 1919, Nairobi was raised to the status

of a municipality and was accorded the autonomy that had

long been sought. The number of councilmen was set at

sixteen and divided socially between Europeans and Indians.

The latter, who outnumbered the former, received but four

seats and boycotted the Council until 1924. 22 Council

chairman automatically became Mayor, and the first selected

under this system was H. E. Henderson. 23

Public health and sanitation constituted a crucial

problem in Nairobi in its early days. The soil was poor

for drainage, pit latrines often overflowed, and the small

Nairobi River, polluted by cattle and people, contained

bilharzia organisms, a disease of the lower intestinal

tract. Plague often broke out in the Indian Bazaar. An

early health officer, J. w. Pringle commented, " • • • as

a station sight the level ground commends itself to the

engineer. As a site for the future Capital of Bast Africa

and for permanent buildings for Europeans, the sanitary

engineer and the health officer condemn it."24

22Frederick Masnaghetti, The Indian Problem in Kenya

Between 1919 and 1925. (Ohio State University, unpublished
Master's Thesis, 1950)
23White, op. cit., pp. 16-17.
24walmsley, op. cit., pp. 19-20.
 60

During the dry season, water was supplied partially by

rainwater gutted on roofs and stored in tanks. The rail-

road brought in its own water from outside the city and

made its stand pipe available to the general citizenry.

Waste material was collected in buckets, placed in bullock

carts and then were dumped into the river every night "when
a lion didn't take the bullock." 25

Two serious bubonic plagues ravaged the township in

1902 and 1904. The first caused the medical officer

literally to burn out a large section of the town as the

only effective remedy. It cost the government 50,000,

half of its total revenue. 26

The second outbreak induced a plea from medical

officials that the town be removed to a healthier site.

But the East African Standard, the railroad, and the citi-
zenry at large opposed the idea. A commission, appointed

to study the question, concluded that such a move would be

impractical, given the firm establishment of the town, and

27
the matter was dropped.

25sinks, op. cit., p. 50.

26Blspeth Huxley, White Man's Country: Lord Delamere
and the Making Kenya (London: Macmillan, 1935), p. 87.
27 Smart, op. cit., pp. 22-23.
 61

Plague continued to break out periodically in the

crowded bazaar and in 1913, a sanitation expert, Professor

Simpson was appointed by the government to examine the

situation. He recommended the removal of the bazaar to

the area of Colonel Ainsworth's old settlement north of

the Nairobi River and segregation of the town by race.

But wholesale removal of the expanding collllllerce center was

practically as unpopular and impractical as the earlier

suggestion to move the town and, again, no action was

tak.en. 28

Lesser problems of early Nairobi involved the number

of Africans who had become enamored with the city through

some temporary railroad job and who chose to stay there

without really having anything to do. There were also so

called prospective settlers from Europe, who had to be con-

fined to the municipal camping area to prevent them from

establishing squatting claims. Such individuals arrived

regularly on the twice-monthly train from the coast and

headed for the land office,hoping for cheap land which

frequently was not available. 29

28Ibid., pp. 32-33.

29 Ibid., p. 20.
 62
The tax assessment of 1902 showed a variety of busi-

nesses, including contractors, general merchants, tailors,

and bankers. The famous Boma Trading Company sent caravans

as far away as Ethiopia. Ali Khan opened a livery estab-

lishm.ent in 1904, replete with every form of animal drawn

vehicle. The safari business was beginning to cater to

the adventurousness of wealthy and aristocratic European

visitors. The Norfolk Hotel, built in 1904, played host

to such illustrious travelers, and was the center of the

town's social life. A school was opened in the Railway

Institute for officials' and settlers' children. Roman

Catholics opened a school of their own. Even so, sentry

boxes still stood in Government Road to guard against
30
wild animals at night.

Much of the town's food and manufactures was imported

but some needs were met locally. Lord Delamere's dairy

farm at Hjoro provided it with milk and butter. Delamere

also founded a local milling industry. By 1910, electric

lighting had been installed but insulators were frequently

destroyed by rowdy sharpshooters and, in the dry season,

the hydroplant failed periodically. 3 1

30Ibid., pp. 19-27.

31Ibid., pp. 26-32.
 63

Space was reserved in the settlement for a town hall,

a library, a museum, a slaughterhouse, and a showyard for

agricultural and sporting events. A disastrous fire in

1905 which destroyed many businesses, including the

recently opened Stanley Hotel proved a temporary setback

to progress. Obviously a fire brigade was badly needed

but firefighting remained in volunteer force hands until

the 1920's. 32

But residents could also indulge in quiet pride when

they compared such rigors of frontier existence with the

comparative ease of relatives and friends in Britain.

Letters from home were indeed a welcome diversion for early

Nairobians. An ingenious system of variously colored flags

kept the populace informed of the mails' progress from

Europe. A blue banner over the Post Office on Sixth Street

indicated that a ship had left Aden for Mombasa; red meant
that the overseas post had been received; white (or an arc

lamp at night) signified that it was ready for distributicn. 33

In 1911, Kr. Jivanjie, a local Indian contractor and

philanthropist, presented the town with land and facilities

32Ibid., pp. 23-25.

33Ibid., p. 32.
 64

for a natural history museum. It was later (1929) rebuilt

and named the Coryndon Museum after a recent governor.

Further enlarged in the mid 50's, it has become one of

the most important museums in central Africa, containing

botanical, zoological, and a paleontological collection

amassed by Dr. L. S. B. Leakey, the anthropologist. 34

Nairobi was visited by the important and the official,

some of whom described the town. One early traveler noted
that land in town was impossible to buy since it was held

by speculators who would lease, but not sell, envisaging

future land values, and the surrounding hills would make

lovely suburbs. Most of the buildings were of corrugated

iron in the bungalow style. Important landowners, like

Lord Delamere and William McMillan had town houses in the

city. "Nairobi is well supplied with all the requirements

of the new civilization, and has a large and very inter-

esting native bazaar, branches of the Bank of India, and

plenty of stores for the supply of agricultural implements

and all other necessaries of frontier life." 35

34 "Growth of East Africa's First Museum,"

Times British Colonies Review, (Winter, 1953), p. 20.
35n. Estes, "Mombasa and East Africa," Independent,
LXVI (24 June 1909).
 65

Former President Theodore Roosevelt, the most famous

visitor at that time was equally enthusiastic:

Nairobi is a very attractive town, and most

interesting with its large native quarter, and
its Indian colony. One of the streets consists
of little except Indian shops and bazaars.
Outside the business portion, the town is spread
over much territory, the houses standing isolated,
each by itself, and each usually bowered in trees,
with vines shading the verandas, and pretty
flower-gardens round about. Not only do I firmly
believe in the future of East Africa for settle-
ment as a white man's country, but I feel that
it is an ideal playground alike for sportsmen
and for travelers who wish to live in health
and comfort, and yet to see what is beautiful
and unusual.36

On the other hand, Roosevelt tells of a family

awakened by a leopard on the roof, of lions wandering

through the residential section, and of guests carrying

spears and rifles on their way to and from parties. One

unsuspecting young lady, "on a bicycle, wheeling down to
a rehearsal of Trial by Jurx had been run into and upset

by a herd of frightened zebras." 37

Nairobi drew the gamut of adventurers and eccentrics

associated with any frontier town but, since it required

36Theodore Roosevelt, African Game Trails, (New York:

Scribners, 1910), p. 173.
37Ibid., pp. 379-380.
 66

money and initiative to get to East Africa, they were an

unusually able lot. Those who arrived by train were

greeted by Ali Khan who had a monopoly on all Nairobi

transport and took his passengers to the Norfolk Hote1. 38

Twice a year, at Christmas and in July, all the

Europeans who could possibly do so flocked to Nairobi for

the race week, and everyone joined in for a welcome respite

from ordinary labors. There were rickshaw races down Sixth

Avenue and Government Road, target shooting at lamp posts

from the verandahs of the Norfolk Hotel and amateur

theatricals. Race weeks were not only times for relaxa-

tion, but provided opportunity for informal politicking

and an exchange of ideas between settlers and officials. 39

True·to their aristocratic pretentions, upper class

British Nairobians engaged in the hunt. A pack of hounds

was kenneled near the town and the quarry was either jackal

or duiker, a small antelope. The contests were held at

half-dawn for the scent lay on the ground only while the
grass was wet. Nairobi was also the center for big game

safaris, including the famous firm of Newland Tarlton which

38Huxley, op. cit., p. 248.

39 Ibid., p. 251.
 67

provided President Roosevelt with 500 porters, each laden

with sixty pounds of gear and supplies. 40

The railroad itself was yet another form of popular

amusement. Twice a month virtually the entire population

turned out to meet the bedraggled passengers and to wel-

come them. 41

Eccentricity was sanctioned by the leading settler

Lord Delamare himself •42 This worthy let his hair grow

long, thinking that it would protect him from the sun, 43

and figured in many of the brawls at the Norfolk, including,

on one occasion, locking the manager in the meat safe and

organizing rugby matches in the bar. There was also the

nameless woman who rode into the Norfolk bar, and, after
drinking, rode out again shooting up the ceiling. Tradi-

tion says that she eventually eloped with the town clerk

4°'1uxley, op. cit., pp. 250-257.

41 Ibid., p. 86.

42 Delamere, who settled in Kenya in 1903, was the city's

most colorful character and the protectorate's most out-
spoken critic. He gave himself and his fortune to agricul-
ture experimentation and to the encouragement of European
settlement until his death in 1931. His story is well told
in Elspeth Huxley's biography.
4 3L. G. Green, "Gateway to Sweet Water," Blackwells,
CCLXXXIX (January, 1961).
 68

of Kisum.u and was shot to death in New York's Bowery

district. 44

The Europeans going out to Kenya as settlers rather

than as administrators and missionaries became both the

lifeblood of the Protectorate and its greatest problem.

As noted earlier, 45 native ideas of land ownership were

entirely foreign to those of the Europeans. In East

Africa, no land was owned by individuals, but rather by

clan or tribal units. Further, agricultural practices of

the time permitted great stretches of land to lie fallow
for several years at a time and thus appear "unoccupied."

Most significantly, however, a combination of drought and

disease had forced many of the Kikuyu of the highlands

temporarily to vacate their lands in the 1890's, a not un-

usual event. Many died; others moved into adjacent areas.

These factors plus the area's pleasant climate led visitors

to envisage European settlement from the beginning. When

the Kikuyu returned to their homeland in the early years

of the century, they found much of it occupied by white

farmers.

44Huxley, op. cit., p. 256 •

45see Chapter I.
 69

Sir Charles Eliot, Commissioner from 1901 to 1904,

was the staunchest advocate of white immigration. He

wanted prosperous farms so that the Protectorate could

provide for itself. Further, an affluent colony could

pay off the Uganda Railroad. To encourage settlement,

schemes were devised simplifying land acquisition and ad-

vertisements were sent to prospective immigrants in Europe

and South Africa. 46 The latter already had long experience

in frontier African farming.

ff Joseph Chamberlain's suggestion of turning Bast

Africa into a Jewish homeland had been taken seriously,

other settlers might have gone out to Kenya. As it was,

Eliot and many government people opposed the idea on

grounds that the Jews would make poor farmers and compete

with Indian merchants. To relief .olf the British government

the Zionist Congress of 1905 rejected the dubious "Uganda

47
offer."
A policy of land alienation, most vividly seen in the

Masai removal previously mentioned, was initiated. Vast

tracts passed into European hands, and by the end of the

46Leys, op. cit., pp. 140-142.

47 Harlow, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 260-270.

 70
First World War, an area of approximately 14,000 square

miles of good land was restricted to Europeans, and known

as the White Highlands. The farmers held plots either as

freeholds or as leases running from 99 to 999 years. 48

Eliot's successors, Sir Donald Stewart and Sir James

Sadler, were not as enthusiastic about overseas immigration,

perhaps seeing future complications. However, Sir Percy

Girouard, who was Roosevelt's host in 1909, encouraged

settlement and Sir Edward Northey continued the policy
after 1918. 49

Though most of the imJiigrants came from the British

Isles, a sizeable minority were Boers from South Africa,

weary of the political strife in their native land. They

settled mainly on the Uasin-Gishu plateau, towards the

Uganda border. Interest in Africa generally rose in

England after her victory in the South African Boer war;

and some of this popular sentiment, encouraging the

civilizing of Africa, doubtlessly spurred developments in

British Bast Africa. 50

48Ibid., pp. 140-142.

49 Ibid., p. 77.

50smart, op. cit., pp. 20-21.

 71

The effect of white settlement on the African is per-

haps not entirely pertinent at this point. Suffice it to

say that it was not only the Kikuyu who felt the impact of

the European influx. Although few other tribes lost sig-

nificant amounts of land to the settlers, there was a

general awareness that the area was destined to become

white man's country, based upon a European farming economy.

Because of this, many native peoples were not encouraged

to develop their own land, but were allowed to expend

their energies paying the hut tax and working for Eurb-
51
peans. This, essentially, is the negative side of

European involvement. While the latter undeniably brought

great capital investment and progress to the Protectorate,

their presence tended to obviate and obscure native economic

development. Thus East Africans were at least a generation

behind their West African brothers who were not confronted

with European competition in their locales.

Theodore Roosevelt summarized the attitude of many

when he compared the Bast African settlers to the ranchers

and farmers of the old American West and asserted that "No

51Bethwell A. Ogot, "British Administration in the

Central Nyanza District of Kenya," Journal of African
History, (March, 1963) pp. 252-255.
 72

alien race should be permitted to come into competition

with the settlers." 52 The principal need was not for

capital to exploit the land but, rather, for settlers to

53
erect homes there.
The dual questions of land and white settlement are

not directly a part of Nairobi's history but their ramifica-

tions are inseparable from its fortunes.

The First World War found Nairobi and its lifeline,

the railroad, practically on the border of German East

Africa, where it would be easy for enemy saboteurs to

destroy. Settlers eagerly signed up for duty and the East

African Mounted Rifles (EAMR) came into being. There was

likewise created the Nairobi Defense Force, composed mostly

of local merchants, but also including Sir Jacob Bartle,

the Chief Justice. A war council was formed by the govern-

ment to coordinate its interests with those of the army and

settlers. Conscription followed in March, 1916, largely

the result of settlers' complaints that not enough

52Although Africans were hardly "aliens," Roosevelt

doubtlessly was ref erring to them as well as to the Protec-
torate's ambitious Indian minority.
53Theodore Roosevelt, European and African Addresses,
(New York: G. P. Putnam's, 1910), pp. 161-162.
 73

government employees and civilians were volunteering for

service. 54
During the War exports were restricted to items of

"primary production," such as copra, hides, and wattle

bark. Coffee rotted in warehouses when England ceased its

importation in 1917. Imports, including much needed farm

machinery and equipment for Nairobi's hydroelectric system,

were similarly curtailed. There was progress in other

directions, however, witnessed by the appointment in

Nairobi of a municipal inspector of native housing and,

later, the establishment of an advisory Council for African

Affairs. 55

No military action took place in the Nairobi area and

the threat was short-lived, as the theatre of war shifted

to German East Africa. When the conflict ended, the British

took control in "German Bast," then renamed Tanganyika and

converted into a League of Nations mandate. Nairobians

returned to their normal pursuits but the war had closed the
era of haphazard frontier growth and opened a new age of
steady progress.

54smart, op. cit., pp. 37-39.

55~., pp. 38-40.
 CHAPTER IV

THE INTBRWAR PERIOD: 1920-1940

The holocaust of the First World War brought all the

hopes of nineteenth century idealism and belief in progress

to a crashing halt. Dynasties, nations, and ideas crumbled

easily as the civilized nations groped to regain balance.

But, in the far flung reaches of the British Empire, a

pleasant reprieve was granted before the old irretrievably

passed away.

The inter-war period was the British Empire's golden

afternoon. • • • In that sunlight Kenya was founded
and established as an old-fashioned enclave of
Victorian imperialism, where an Englishman, divorced
from the annoyances of political theory, might lead
the good life of the gentleman farmer.l

In 1920, the greater part of the Bast African Pro-

tectorate was converted into Kenya Crown Colony. This

step legalized British control and gave residents British

citizenship on British soil. It also facilitated the

lA. P. Thornton, "Decolonization," International

Journal (Winter 1963-64), pp. 7-29.

74
 75

floating of loans in Europe for internal improvements,

such as railway and harbour projects. The hot coastal

lands which formed part of the Sultanate of Zanzibar were

not annexed but now became Kenya Protectorate. While

separate political entities, the Colony and the Protec-

torate were jointly administered. 2

Unfortunately, the Colony was still so poor that

anticipated developmental assistance from the public

market was not forthcoming, 3 and only Winston Churchill's

urging, as Colonial Secretary, led to a £ 5,000,000

Colonial Office loan late in 1921. This money was employed

in improving Kilindini (Mombasa) Harbor and in building

rail extensions to the Uasin Gishu Plateau, Nakuru, and

Thika, all of which, it was hoped, would actively stimulate

the economy. 4

There were, at the time, 9,600 Europeans and 25,000

Indians in the Colony, about two-thirds of the former being

male. 5 Some 2,000 of the Europeans were farmers, while

2The Times (London), July 9, 1920.

3The Times, Jan. 28, 1921.

4The Times, November 7, 1921.

5 Ibid.
 76

3,000 lived in Nairobi. 6

The most ambitious plan to attract Europeans to Kenya

was the Soldier-Settler Scheme whereby war veterans sent

out with one-way tickets, would receive small land grants

which would become freeholds when properly developed. Un-

happily, the scheme failed. 7 Many of the men going out

were city-dwellers and turned out to be poor farmers.

Others were victimized by "Nairobi profiteers" who charged

excessively for transportation of equipment and supplies

being shipped out to the grants. Government allotments

proved inadequate to the inflated prices of the land. Some

of the newcomers simply were not plucky enough and spent

too much time in Nairobi while their grants languished

under haphazard tenant operation. Others ended up in the

employ of established farmers and some returned home

greatly embittered. 8 However, over 700 farms out of 1,000

granted to ex-combatants were being worked by 1924.

Later population schemes sought government backing to

encourage cattle and sheep ranches and wheat and maize

6 Leys, op. cit., p. 140.

7 The Times, op. cit.

&rhe Times, May 24, 1921.

 77

farms which were not dependent upon African labour and

9
which might prove more attractive to the white farmer.
Growth of the European population remained steady but there

were frequent laments from settlers that it was too slow.

The dominant factor behind the drive to increase

European population was the land problem. It has already

been noted that a series of animal and human diseases

coupled with protracted drought caused unusual migrations

among the native Africans in the 1890's, at the very time

that Europeans were first surveying the country. The cool,

fertile highlands had practically emptied of inhabitants

and there was no effective native occupation. Europeans

consequently began to carve out extensive holdings for

themselves.
In 1898, an Order in Council gave Protectorate

authorities the right to acquire but not to alienate land

needed for public buildings, roads and the railroad. No

compensation w.as involved--indeed, to whom would it be

paid? In 1901, another Order directed that "all lands

subject to the control of Her Majesty" be viewed as Crown

Lands and that the Commissioner might dispose of them as

9The Times, November 1, 1926.

 78
he saw fit. In effect, the entire East African Protectorate

was now crown land; no mention was made of native property

rights. A year later, a further Order provided that up to

6,000 more square miles of land be made available to

European immigrants through lease or sale by 1915. 1 0

By that time, a total or 7,500 square miles of land

had been distributed for European usage. The Crown Land

Ordinance of 1915 defined such as "all land occupied by

native tribes of the Protectorate." This was, of course,

after the alienation of the choice Highland Areas. 11 By

1925, a total of 10,000 square miles had been granted. 12

Later, it reached 14,000 square miles including munici-

palities.13

There is abundant testimony justifying this takeover

on grounds ranging from the land's apparent availability

to the conundrums of the British civilizing mission.

Dissenters were rare, at least at the time of land assign-

ment. Colin Leys, a British doctor with twenty years

lOLeys, op. cit., pp. 77-78.

lllbid., p. 78.
12lbid., p. 67.

13Kenya Statistical Abstract (1962), p. 4.

 79

experience in East Africa, is perhaps the aost articulate.

He observes, quite rightly, that the lack of native opposi-

tion to European occupation was the main encouraging

factor; effective objection would have stirred the British

consciences. 14 The point of aisunderstanding lay in the

inability of Africans to "sell" land which belonged to the

abari, or extended faaily, and which could not be parted

with except after a general group consultation, an un-

precedented, unthinkable thing. 15

Leys contends that, unlike West Africa, where British

power extended naturally with the growth of trade, that

East Africa was imaediate, total, and without an econoaic

base, stiaulated as it was through coapetition with rival

Geraany and France. There was no tinge of legality in

the British presence in the first place and the "title of

Protectorate corresponded with nothing whatever in fact or
law. ul6

14Leys, op. cit., pp. 79-80.

1 5M. L. Kilson, Jr., "Land and Politics in Kenya;
An Analysis of African Politics in a Plural Society,"
Western Political Quarterly, Vol. X, (Septeaber, 1957),
pp. 564-68.
161..eys, op. cit., pp. 81-82.
 80

Such a land policy was especially unfortunate because

it made the West African system of indirect government im-

possible for East Africa. The European farmers demanded

native labor and a direct tax was placed upon Africans,

seriously undermining tribal autonomy and authority. 17

Some maintain that British occupation prevented un-

scrupulous Negro leaders from selling land foolishly or

cheaply to Europeans, but Leys retorts that laws to monitor

such deals could have been enacted and that total aliena-

tion was a defeatis~ remedy in any event. 18

On a larger context,

Bythat policy every vestige of legal right in

land, whether belonging to tribe, chief, or individual
tribesman, was obliterated. It allowed successive
governors • • • to dispose as they thought fit the
whole of the country and its inhabitants irrespective
of their equitable rights or of their wishes. And it
has resulted in the abandonment of Imperial traditions
which were the growth of centuries.19

The British takeover was further stained by dis-

crepancies in the laws together with chicanery. Officials

in Mombasa received land free. The minimum price in some

17 Ibid., pp. 82-83.

18 Ibid., pp. 83-84.

19 Ibid., p. so.
 81

areas in 1924 was 200 per acre and greenhorns frequently

paid far more than their land was worth. In April, 1919,

in the Bast African Standard, an early settler, Kr. Robert

Chamberlain, bitterly attacked Mr. "A" 20 for introducing

the "art of the dummy applicant" into Kenya, whereby land

was cheaply acquired in vast acreage. The unfortunate

effect of this was to build up a rural aristocracy by

preventing the growth of a body of small farmers. Leys

co~ld only recall John Bright's comment that overseas

colonies tended to become a "gigantic storehouse of outdoor

relief for the aristocracy." 21

If land alienation was assailed on one hand as being

clearly illegal, it was condemned on another as being un-

democratic. Salvadori who had farmed in the Highlands

envisaged white Kenya as an essentially feudal structure,

propped up by government subsidies and native subordination.

European.farmers ought be allowed only if they could

operate independently. He asserts that, generally, the

European in Kenya could only be a "lord" since climate

20Leys further describes "A" as, "the leader of the

landowners of the Colony." Lord Delamere was presumably
the individual in mind.
21 Leys, op. cit., pp. 157-58.
 82

prevented him from doing the day to day labour of farming;

and that no man has the right to demand of others what he

himself cannot ordinarily do. Further, Africans ought be

permitted to buy land in the white highlands; for they,

after all, were preeminently tillers. Interestingly,

Salvadori rejects the argument that the white highlands

were obtained "illegally"; for this reason his contentions

attain greater significance. 22

But the British takeover was a fait accompli by the

time its most serious critics found their tongues. In

1932, the Morris-Carter Commission recommended some ad-

justments in the Kikuyu Reserve with compensatory payments

to members of the native councils, apparently on the advice

of Lord Swinton, the Secretary of State for Colonial

Affairs, that the white highlands be kept "inviolate." 23

Land and highland segregation was never a closed question,

and led directly to the catastrophic events of the 1950's.

The Indian minority in Kenya has already been referred

to. The political reorganization of 1923 provided that
eleven Europeans, five Indian and one Arab sit in the

22-. W. Salvadori, "Back from Kenya," Contemporary,

CLI, (June 1937).
23Kilson, in loc. cit., pp. 566-67.
 83
Legislature. While the agreement asserted that the High-

lands were closed to non Europeans, it placed no restric-

tions upon Indian immigration. The Indian community pro-

tested that elections were held on a community rather than

on a universal basis and that it was consequently under-

represented. 24 In Nairobi, the Indians likewise protested

their higher tax rate in comparison to the inadequate

utilities and poor services of their neighborhoods as

well as the difficulties encountered by the growing

rigidity of residential segregation. Europeans frankly

resented Indian participation in city government and the

Asiatics in turn boycotted the town counci1. 25

Fear that the Indians would be admitted to a common

roll with Europeans sparked talk of independence on the

part of British settlers, 26 especially the veterans.

In 1923, there appeared the Devonshire White Paper,

a document which obscured the European-Indian rights'

conflict by subtly reminding both parties that they were,

24The Times, January 1, 1924.

25smart, op. cit., pp. 48-50.

26e. Borden, .. Nairobi: Pioneer Capital of British

Bast Africa," Travel, XL, (August 1926), p. 25.
 84
after all, guests in an African land, and which assured

the param.ountcy of African welfare in the colony. At the

same time the local Denham Commission offered a solution

to the Nairobi boycott. The Asians admitted £6,000

liability for (tax) rates unpaid; and the town council

denied .f3,000 liability. The Indians therefore paid

£3,000 and returned to their seats in council, temporarily

assuaged at least.27

In 1926, Mr. Malik, an Indian councillor charged that

the scheme to offer plots on Forest Road to Asians was

designed to discourage the residential living of Asiatics,

since prices for quarter and half acre plots were too high

and fencing regulations were deemed arbitrary. 28 Another

boycott ensued. Mr. Malik later explained that lack of
Indian representation on the Hilton-Young Commission, then

studying Bast African educational facilities, and incessant

demands by the European settlers for white majorities in all

sections of the country had precipitated the boycott. 29

Only in 1932 did Indian members return to the town

27smart, op. cit., pp. 48-50.

28EAs, August 21, 1926.

29The Times, November 12, 1927.

 85

council, but not without dissension in the Indian co:mmunity

between those who wished to tolerate the situation and th<Be

who sought to resist. 3 0

Native Africans forming the vast majority of the

people of Kenya and of the inhabitants of Nairobi, occupied

the lowest rung of the social ladder. Their grievances

were far worse than those of settlers who felt persecuted

by the officials, and those of the Indians who were sub-

ordinated to Europeans, but they were largely silent although

keenly observant of the events around them. The Europeans

of interwar Kenya were as much a product of their time as

were their countrymen in Europe. They had few doubts

about race and none in making their views public.

In 1925, while addressing a group of Nairobi boarding

school students, Governor Grigg reminded them that they

were members of a great race. There was no part of the

world without reveille calls urging Britishers to do

"their bit for the honor of the race and the benefit of

those dependent on them." He urged Kenyan youth to acquire

self-sufficiency and not to depend permanently upon native

labor. "Some must rule and a great many more in the world

3 °'rhe Times, August 16, 1932.

 86

obey • • • '', but orders must be delivered in the right

spirit and a superior must always set a good example. 31

The Governor may have been thinking of the European

Boy Scout who stole an African's bicycle and was admonished

by the judge that, "it was a very bad thing to steal from

a native. 032 Africans no doubt agreed, but they knew

that it was even worse for a native to steal from a Buro-

pean. When six native lads, aged six to twelve, were

apprehended for pilfering in an Indian store, they were

sentenced to ten strokes each with a cane and sent back to

the reserves. 33

Europeans were magnanimous only because of their

staunch belief in African inferiority. One writer in the
Bast African Standard declared:

• • • Sir Harry Johnston estimates that the African

is 50,000 years behind the European in the scale of
civilization. Is it, then, reasonable, to expect
this "child" to conform to a social code applicable
to a race 50,000 years his senior, that the deterrents
to crime which influence that race should have any
affect on his actions?34

_, December 19, 1925.

31EAS

_, December 12, 1925.

32BAS

_, July 17, 1926.

33BAS

_, June 19, 1926.

34xAs
 87

Small wonder then that the flogging of natives was

general, occasionally even unto death, and that the culprits

were traditionally only reprimanded or received suspended

sentences. Leys explains such conditions as due, not so

much to the cruelty of Europeans as the position into which

they had been permitted by the government to put themselves:

masters of a country and people from which they must extort

land, labour and obedience for their survival. When

Africans, who had no voice in this arrangement, balked at

roles arbitrarily assigned them, European frustration

followed. 35
This is a fair judgement so far as it goes.

The First World War, however, had exposed the Europeans,

who had previously been considered godlike by most Africans.

White men were fighting among themselves, contrary to the

basic teachings of missionaries and administrators.

Africans had served in the war; some Negro warrant officers

and non-coms had, on occasion, even instructed European

volunteers in war techniques, yet, after the war, were

hastily forgotten. Europeans were, after all, fallible men

like themselves. 36

35Leys, op. cit., pp. 160-166.

360got, in loc. cit., pp. 258-260.
 88

Political expression by the Africans was sporadic

and ineffectual. The young Kavirondo Association, and the

Kavirondo Taxpayers Welfare Organization, under the

leadership of Archdeacon Walter Edwin OWen, was a combina-

tion union and fraternity agitating for African rights.

The more militant Young Kikuyu Association attained some

following but was soon suppressed. The Kikuyu were most

affected by land alienation and have always been in the

forefront of Kenya politics. 37 They were also closer to

Nairobi than other tribes.

As early as 1922, Harry Thuku, a Kikuyu leader, was

arrested and jailed in Nairobi for spreading separatist

propaganda on the Kikuyu reserves. Bis imprisonment

brought out a mob of 3,000 sympathizers which stormed the

police station and was dispersed only after fifteen were

killed by the King's African Rifles. 38

After the war, native "locations" began to supercede

the previous random living arrangements of Nairobi's

Africans. Pumwami became a major center. Dormitory style

housing and communal kitchens predominated at first, since

371!?!!!., pp. 262-66.

3&rhe Times, March 18, 1922.

 89

males were the main urban-dwellers in those days. There

was usually a green on such locations or estates with

recreation, sports and clinic facilities. 39

African housing gradually became an employer and

municipal responsibility, being provided for those in

permanent employment in the town and those engaged in

business as considered essential to town life. A large

employer was responsible for providing quarters for his

workers and Africans were allowed to build their own houses

subject to municipal regulations. 40
The native idler problem was a constant one and steps

were taken to minimize it. Africans were prohibited from

sleeping on property occupied by any but Africans, unless,

of course, they were house servants. They could not remain

in Nairobi longer than seven days unless employed; and

above the apparent age of twelve were required to register

and to carry the kipandi (pass) identifying them and their

employment.41

39Thornton White, op. cit., p. 11.

40x&s, May 28, 1921.

41
BAs, June 26, 1926.
 90

The town council passed a by-law stating:

Any native who comes into the municipal area
without wearing shorts or other suitable garment
shall be guilty of an offense.42

Beer drinking was the primary weekend pastime of many

Nairobi African workers. When forty were arrested and

fined £1 each for fighting one Sunday afternoon at the

(only) municipal beershop in Kileleshwa, the Bast African

Standard urged the removal of the beershop from the

European neighborhood in which it lay, closer scrutiny of

Africans who obtained liquor licenses, and the strict en-

forcement of the ban on European liquors to Africans. 4 3

Ailsa Turner, President of the East African Women's

League, thought the whole situation of Nairobi Africans

might be improved if movies shown to them were censored, so

that the viewers would see only films of "moral and educa-

tional" value. 44

Unhappily, lack of proper dress and Sunday afternoon

brawls were not the most serious social ills of Nairobi.

42EAs, April 23, 1927.

43!!!,, May 28, 1926.

44EAs, July 17, 1926.

 91
A juvenile crime report of 1932 listed 947 "cognizable

offenses" of all sorts on police records among a total

African juvenile population of 3200. Allowing for multiple

offenders, the high index of crime is evident. 45

One third of Nairobi's juveniles had no parent or

guardian caring for them. Many were the children of

prostitutes and a larger number existed under equally de-

plorable conditions.

Leaving aside those children who live with their

parents or outside the native locations, there are
a number who have no homes, but sleep under houses,
or in outhouses, yards, and even latrines, and
change their sleeping place every few nights.46

Two thirds did not attend school and many suffered

from intestinal worms; while other maladies were more

frequent to them than to their European counterparts.

Many African girls were drawn to prostitution as their

only means of making a living. Traditional mores were
largely inoperative due to the variety of tribes in the

city and the different way of life encountered there.

Some authorities thought that better medical facilities

4 5itenya Colony and Protectorate, Committee on Pre-

valence of Crime in Nairobi and Its Neighborhood. Report
Nairobi: 1932, pp. 1-2.
46 Ibid., p. 9.
 92

might alleviate part of the problem, but this was not the
complete answer.47

The reformatory at Kabete taught skills and the

elements of money management by the payment of small "wages"

to youths committed to it but, even here, it was noted

that nothing was done to guide boys when released from the
school, and there were an unhealthy number of reconvictions
after discharge.48

Nairobi's European children, by contrast, had proper

care and opportunities and were thus spared similar depriva-

tion and consequent delinquency. Goans and Arabs were re-

garded as presenting the fewest problems, for about the

same reasons as the Europeans. The Indians were cited

mainly as indirect contributors to the juvenile problem for

they were usually too poor themselves adequately to pay or

to provide for their African employees, many of whom were

youngsters. 49

Apart from the social problems of a frontier town,

Nairobi continued to progress as a civic and comm.ercial

47 Ibid., p. 15.
48 Ibid., p. 19.

49Ibid., pp. 5-6.

 93

center. In 1925, the Governor cited the need for impressive

public buildings including a new central jail. He announced

the forthcoming visit of the Kimberley town engineer, Mr.

Jameson, who would advise on urban planning. 50

When Jameson arrived, he was feted at the Norfolk

Hotel by the Mayor and town councillors. He duly praised

the beauty and fine upkeep of the suburbs but was not so

enthusiastic about the center of town, gently suggesting

that local pride might be lacking. He also viewed the

railway complex as an obstacle to orderly growth and urged

that the open spaces across from the train yards be left

vacant for eventual commercial development. 51 A Municipal

Town Planning Committee was established, 52 but little was

actually accomplished until after the Second World War.

Jameson's broad suggestion of confining industrial centers

to the southeast, next to the railroad, was however,

followed and some roads were macadamized.

A Local Government Commission headed by Mr. Justice

Feetham recommended the annexation of Muthaiga, Eastleigh,

5~s, August 15, 1925.

51_,
EAs December 19, 1925.

52BAs, January 22, 1926.

 94

and Westland& settlements, and they were incorporated. At

the same time, the reassessment of property values occa-

sioning the Asian boycott of city government undertaken. 53

Council was reorganized (1928) to include nine Euro-

peans, elected at large, seven elected Asians nominated by

the Governor, two members nominated by and representing

the Colonial Government and an administrative officer of

the Nairobi district charged to safeguard native interests.54

Economic development was hampered by the city's in-

ability to float a loan on the London market because of its

poor assets. 55 Nonetheless considerable improvement was

shown. The sewerage system was extended and the ramshackle

Indian bazaar was modernized. 56 A new Railway Staff Head-

quarters replaced the "tintown" of pioneer days. Homes for

the European officers were erected in Parkland& with its

garden city atmosphere. Asian employees were removed to

Bastleigh, which already was predominantly Indian. 57

53Smart, op. cit., pp. 54-56.

54Thornton, White, op. cit., p. 17.

55smart, op. cit., p. 63.

56 Ibid., pp. 18-19.

57_,
us December 12, 1925.
 95
A series of disastrous fires in 1925-1926 led to a

small boom in business house construction, including several

in the Spanish Renaissance style of terraces, arches and

stucco which was then much in vogue in Bast Africa. 58

The Great Depression gave birth to more practical

projects, partly to meet the unemployment crisis. The

Bast African Standard lamented that between 70 and 200

Europeans in Nairobi were out of work. A council coJIDlittee

was formed to look into the problem and three proposals

emerged: the erection of a group hospital for all races,

the Ruiru River scheme for increased water supply and new

municipal offices. All were forwarded to the government

for approval and the necessary funds, but they met with
varying success. 59

The Group Hospital had been suggested some years be-

fore but had bogged down over the location question. The

original Racecourse Road site was too near a native settle-

ment which would eventually surround it and was deemed an

unfit place for European nurses. One on Hgara Road was

58BAs, June 5, 1926.

59smart, op. cit., pp. 58-62.
 96

eventually agreed upon, 60 but was not built before the war.

The Ruiru project provided Nairobi with two million

gallons of sorely needed water per day, starting in 1938.

But projects, including a five year plan launched in 1938

to macadamize roads, to construct a sewerage disposal

plant, sewers, a stadium, African housing, and swimming

pools, all fell stillborn by the outbreak of the Second

World War. 61
Electricity had been available to Nairobi residents
since 1906 but not without difficulty. At times, drought

conditions made it impossible for the producing company to

fill demands and customers complained. 62 In the rush to

extend service, wiring was often poorly done or improperly

insulated and some deaths resulted, particularly in the

Bazaar area. The meeting of such defects was an endless

process. 63

A major road building and improvement scheme for the

town was approved in 192664 and, aided by the works

6~s, June 25, 1927.

6 1Ibid., pp. 71-73.

62ifhe Times, Oct. 19, 1919.

63BAs, July 17, 1926.
64BAS, May 15, 1926.
 97

projects of the Depression, many Nairobi streets were re-

surfaced in the late 20's and 30's. One problem confront-

ing the roadbuilders was the practice of the Railroad to

erect sidings on Workshops Road, the main artery leading

east to Machakos. One was reported 18 inches above the

road level and the old feud between the railroad and the

government was renewed. 65

Air service between Nairobi and London was inaugurated

in 1926, reducing the travel time between the two cities to

six days. 66 Shortly thereafter, air mail service was

67
begun.

Interwar Nairobi hosted every sort of eccentric and

VIP, many of whom committed their impressions to paper.

Most were complimentary; one, however, held that Nairobi

might be better known in the world if it were not so easily

passed by for lack of attractions. It was, after all, a

somewhat drab, "overgrown village." It might have been

beautiful, he continued, apparently unaware of the rail-

roaders' needs, had its builders chosen the hills beyond

6 5:8As, January 9, 1927.

_, January 16, 1926.

66BAs

_, February 19, 1927.

67BAs
 98

for its site. It even lacked the charming old architecture

gracing Mombasa. 68
Prince William of Sweden, who visited the city in 1914

and 1921 while on big game hunts for the Swedish National

Museum, was less severe. On the latter trip, he lamented

the demise of big game near the city and its wild west

atmosphere, but noted that it was becoming "a teeming

commercial center, aiming at mundane sociability. 1169

The Europeans in the town were themselves a tourist

attraction and were often commented upon for ''Nairobi was

a British city, notwithstanding its African and Asiatic in-

habitants." The same observer divided the Europeans into

castes. There were the government officials who "dressed

well and spent a great deal of time out of the off ice

playing tennis and golf," managing "to make a good show

upon very low salaries." Sportsmen and noble visitors from

abroad mingled with a "scattering element of dukes, lords,

and second sons of noble families out to invest or hunt big

game.'' Finally, there were speculators, "chiefly young men

from England or South Africa" who "dressed in riding

68Norden, in loc. cit., pp. 22-23.

69The Times, November 19, 1921.

 99

clothes, big helmet hats, and top boots and dashed about the
country on ponies," forming a major part of the bar

clientele. 70
To this enumeration might be added the ordinary shop-

keepers, artisans and farmers who, Leys notes, were much

the same as their counterparts in Europe and the rich and

cantankerous "public school, ex-officer-types to whom had

fallen the powers of government." 71

British bakers, butchers, grocers and stationers

catered mainly to Europeans since they could not compete

with their Indian counterparts with low overhead and living

standards. 72

The bazaar, with the churches--Anglican, Roman

Catholic, Presbyterian, Mosque, and Synagogue--
tell the tale of population as well as could a
page of statistics. The Roman Church is likely
to be more full than the Anglican, for Kenya is
largely Irish.73

There were several nationalities of Europeans in the

city. At the fourth annual dinner and dance of the St.

70Frank Carpenter, Cairo to Kisimu, (Garden City:

Doubleday and Page Co., 1923), pp. 256-257.
71Leys, op. cit., p. 156.

72Norden, in loc. cit., p. 23.

73Ibid.
-
 100

Patrick's Society, congratulatory cables were sent to

Belfast and Dublin, and an answer was received from

Belfast. 74 In the dinner speech, Mr. o. B. Daly, the

society's president, compared Kenya with Ir•land: "the

same romantic leaders dreaming dreams and suffering from

great illusions--dreams too often shat;tered." He longed

for a return to the old days of "benevolent despotism"

before Kenya had "sunk under the weight of ordinances." A

month later, the annual St. George's Day Celebration un-

folded with equal outbursts. 75
The principal street intersection was at Sixth Avenue

and Government Road, where there were "a half dozen or so"
brick buildings. Otherwise, most of the city's buildings

were built of corrugated iron76 imported from England and

77
Belgium.
The Norfolk was the leading hotel:

It is a low one-story building with a side porch in

front, separated from the dirt street by a picket
fence and shaded by eucalyptus trees through which

74EAs, March 26, 1927. (The Dublin cable broke down.)

75EA.s, April 30, 1927.
76xorden., in loc. cit., p. 23.

77carpenter, op. cit., p. 253.

 101

the wind seems to be ever sighing and moaning.

The charges are three dollars and t;irty-three
cents a day, including meals • • • •
Houses were one or two storied and stood widely

spaced, making the :Nairobi "a city of magnificent dis-

tances." Cars were of First World War vintage, but most

transportation was by foot, horseback, bicycle, or jin-

riksha, the last manned by two Africans, one pushing and

one pulling, through streets "unpaved and frequently masses

of dust," but pleasantly shaded by eucalyptus trees. 79

A Hew World traveler was impressed by the number of

American products in Kenya:

American axes and sewing machines, and American

sowers and planters are sold by the Bast Indians.
The drug stores carry our patent~medicines and
every market has more or less American cottons. 8 O

Martin and Osa Johnson, the famous motion picture

photographers, were also enthralled with :Nairobi. 81 They

78
Ibid~, p. 258.
79Ibid., pp. 254-56.
801bid., p. 259.

81The former wrote: Upon arrival in :Nairobi the train

pulls under a shed in a modern railway station; porters
corresponding to our red caps rush out for baggage. In the
station are a newsstand, a bar, a restaurant, and displays
by local stores.
Outside the station are taxicabs that will take you
 102

set up housekeeping on a nearby estate and converted the

household into a typical American home with special

apparatuses for the photography, and copper screening and

iron bars to keep out dust, insects and "black pilferers."

They wrote back to America praising their garden, con-

taining oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, peaches,

pears, pineapples, strawberries, and less common fruits. 82

All Nairobi turned out for the Duke and Duchess of

over well paved streets to any one of four good hotels.

There are mounted police on beautiful horses and black
traffic policemen in the middle of the streets.
As for shops, there are two fine department stores;
two barber shops where, if you happen to be a woaan, you
can get as good a permanent wave as in America; and modern
drug stores. A well known camera company has a branch
here where moving picture processing is done. There are
I

fine movie theatres, and you may eat the best of candies
and chocolates made by local candy makers. On Sixth
Avenue you will see displays of every known brand of motor
car. A daily newspaper that will surprise you. Newsboys
on the streets. Women's shops where Paris models can be
bought. Tailors for the men. In fact, Nairobi is actually
civilized, and everything that can be bought in an American
city can be purchased here. An up-to-date airplane company
carries passengers almost anywhere at rates not exceeding
those charged by the taxicab companies. There are also a
race track and polo grounds. There are also two fine
country clubs where members enjoy almost every kind of
sport. Martin Johnson, "Country Life in Africa," Country
Life, LIX, (December, 1930), pp. 35-37.

82 Ibid.,
pp. 76 - 78 •
 103

York, the future King George VI, in December of 1924.

Their Royal Highnesses attended services at All Saints

Church at which the Bishop of Mombasa officiated. Later,

they visited St. Stephen's African Church and received a

prayerbook in Swahili from the congregation. 83 They re-

mained in East Africa for several weeks. The Duke played

polo at the Nairobi Club. The Duchess laid a wreath on

the war memorial. At a Government House reception, the

Duke presented African chiefs and headmen with ebony

staffs surmounted with a silver Rose of York and promised

the recipients to convey their greetings to his father,

the King. 84
Daily life in Nairobi differed but little from that

in any other town in the western world of equivalent size

and importance. A series of destructive fires in the 20's

caused great concern but all were proven accidental. The

first broke out in December, 1925. It began in the shop of

Mr. o. R. Preston, a ladies' outfitter, but soon spread to

other establishments: Muter and Oswald, auctioneers;

Alexander, hairdresser; Rand Overy, architect; Archibald

83The Times, December 27, 1924.

84The Times, February 9, 1925.
 104

Hogg, ammunitioneer; Kampf insurance agents; Cash Boot

Stores; Gilbert, dentist; Davies and Wewill, architects,

and MacKinnon the grocer. 85

In the following February, four blocks of buildings

along Government Road and Hardinge Street were destroyed. 8 6

Another fire occurred in early April, 87 after which the

Governor appointed a commission to investigate the con-

flagrations and to seek preventitive measures. 8 8 No more

serious outbreaks occurred until 1928, when great damage

was done to the Kenya Grain Mills granary. 89

The rape of a Mrs. Ulyate, an upcountry woman, and

the trial of her alleged attacker created a great sensation

and was reported in morbid detail. After a similar attack

in Nairobi, Sir Francis Scott urged the death penalty for

such offenses, declaring, however, that the law should not

apply equally to whites and Africans since rape was not as

traumatic to African women as to white ones. 90

85EAs, December 19, 1925.

86The Times, February 22, 1926.

87The Times, April 5, 1926.

8 8&\s, April 10, 1926.

89The Times, September 15, 1928.

90x!s, July 3, 1926.
 105

Occasional dry spells wrought more than mere discomfcrt

and dust. Malaria and influenza became common maladies.

During one such siege, Nairobians were advised to make sure

that all water was drained, even to the extent of cutting

long grass to reveal tiny puddles of water. These were

then to be coated with oil or parafin to prevent the

hatching of mosquito larvae. Pyrethrum powder was to be

burned in houses and the use of mosquito nets was urged,

even by natives--since they might well carry malaria to

their employers? 91

Attempts to enforce a Shop Hours Act, prohibiting

trading on Sundays, were largely ineffectual. The East

African Standard warned that compromise, allowing certain

sections of the city to keep Sunday hours, would only en-

courage shopkeepers to open up in the non-restricted areas.

"The African can and will shop on Saturday or any other

weekday if he discovers he cannot do so on Sunday. 1192

One of the more ambitious projects of Nairobi's

Europeans was the erection of All Saints Church, or the

Cathedral of the Highlands. Begun in 1916, appeals to

_, May 22, 1926.

91BAs

92BAs, February 19, 1927.

 106

Britain were constantly made to complete the edifice. The

Bishop of llom~asa saw it as a symbol of the faith which is

"the source of all that is best in the civilization that
we bring to Africa. u93

At Christmas time, Nairobians could look forward to

events such as the Buropean school concert, the Shika

Players production of The Bat, the Christmas Eve dance and

a production by a visiting troupe of South African per-

formers. 94 Likewise, they might have enjoyed Gilbert and

Sullivan's Iolanthe, presented at the Theatre Royal by the

Nairobi Amateur Opera Company. It was produced by Nellie

Seymour James, assisted by Mr. R. Coltant Craig and by

Madame Vaudine, the stage manager "whose costuming was

truly genius." The play ran for a week. 95

Otherwise the daily newspaper best SWUlarizes life

in Nairobi during the 20's and 30's. The police raided the
Star Carnival Co. on Sixth Street because of gambling; 96

automobiles might not exceed 20 mph and passenger busses

93The Times, June 27, 1929.

_, December 12, 1925.

94BAs

95BAs, April 2, 1927.

96us, August 20, 1926.
 107
12 mph; 97 Judge Gambie declared that Seychellois could be

classed as Europeans if they could prove that they had a

European ancestor; 98 and Mr. Galton-Fenzi, secretary of

the Bast African Automobile Association, drove the stretch

between Mombasa and Nairobi in 45 hours, urging that road

connections between the towns would be cheap and feasible. 99

The Superintendent of Police, Nairobi, appealed:

REWARD
10 reward to any person giving information
which leads to the conviction of the person who
fired off an automatic pistol at 12 midnight on
the 14th in River Road.100

A dentist advertised:

DENTAL NOTICE
Nakuru - Londiani
Mr. Arthur Jones L.D.S. 4. Brist. will visit
Nakuru on July 5 for 3 weeks. Address:
Native Civil Hospital.
Appointments made now:--
P.O. Box 76, Nairobi 1 01

_, July 24, 1926.

97BAS

_, May 15, 1926.

98BAS

_, January 16, 1926.

99BAS

_, April 24, 1926.

lOC>gy

_, June 26, 1926.

lOlBAs
 108

And a radio listener who got Pittsburgh (poorly)

romanticized:

To be rapt over Bizet for ten minutes, and then to

hear as an obligato the yowl of an Bast African
hyena, and then again to be literally drawn into
the strains of some rollicking rag-time song (which
will probably soon be the rage out here), is an ex-
perience which is almost as eerie as it is supremely
pleasant.102

But such halycon days dimmed. War memories were

revived when Princess Marie Louise unveiled a memorial to

African soldiers and porters who served in World War 1.1o3

A harbinger of hapless days, Lord Delamere himself,

the embodiment of European aspirations in Kenya, died in

November, 1931. Sir Francis Scott headed a drive to

erect a monument in his honour in Nairobi. 104 In 1938

a life size statue was at length unveiled in the avenue

bearing his name 105 where it remained until independence.

In the same year and the following one, Lady Delamere, his

widow, was elected Mayoress of Nairobi. 106

102BAs, March 7, 1927.

103The Times, May 21, 1928.
104.rhe Times, September 28, 1932.
I

105irhe Times, April 28, 1938.

lO~he Times, July 13, 1939.
 109

The depression wrought its dismal effect on Nairobi's

economy. News from Europe was disturbing and grew steadily

worse. The Red Cross organized lec.tures on how to meet

gas attacks and how to render first aid. Additional

surgical instruments were ordered from Britain in case that

they should be unobtainable later. 107

And the Times reported:

Samuel Weinstock, Jewish dentist in Nairobi, who had

demanded removal of a Nazi flag from the German
Consul's car and had attempted to throw ink on it
was bound over to the Nairobi magistrate • • • • 1 68

If indeed, Nairobi had ever been an "old fashioned

enclave of Victorian imperialism,'' she was once again a
part of the world.

107smart, op. cit., p. 69.

108The Times, September 29, 1939.

 CHAPTER V

WAR TIU AND POSTWAR NAIROBI: 1940-1963

Britain's peril in 1940 found as ready a response

from Kenya as it had in the First World War. This time,

the menace for Kenyans lay in the Italian control of

Ethiopia to the north. Otherwise, East Africa was close

enough to the lines of communication between Europe and

the l'ar Bast to be "strategically" important. The war,

fortunately, was little more than an inconvenience; its

social and psychological ramifications were to be of

vaster significance to the development of Nairobi and the

Colony as a whole.

The capital city's role in the war was prestigious.

As headquarters for the East African Command, it controlled

the destinies of troops in Bast Africa and Ethiopia as well

as those in the Middle Eastern and Asian theaters. This

was reflected in a virtual doubling of the population to

109,000 by 1946.1

!Thornton White, op. cit., p. 19.

110
 111

At the outbreak of the hostilities, Nairobians dug

trenches and prepared for possible air attacks from

Ethiopia, but none ever came. By 1943, these ditches had

been filled in as malarial menaces. As the Italian threat

diminished and Singapore fell, fears were expressed that

the Japanese would seize Madagascar as well as cut the

supply line to India but neither transpired. Indeed, in

June 1943, British forces occupied the island.2

By May, 1943, Axis troops had been driven from North

Africa, 3 and Nairobi breathed easier. The war effort con-

tinued, however. Troops from Britain were quartered in the

city and others reveled there on leave. Many civilians in-

vited the military to share their homes. Hostels were

opened for those on leave. Women auxiliaries were housed

at places such as the Loreto Convent. No effort was spared

to make the troops feel at home. Mr. James Master organi21ed

a ball for the benefit of the Red Cross. African dances to

raise funds were held at the native Stadium as was a per-

formance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Yeoman of the Guard

2smart, op. cit., pp. 75-83.

3EAs, May 14, 1943.

 112

by the Nairobi Musical Society. 4

Eastleigh Aerodrome, which had been the center for

attacks against the Italians in Ethiopia early in the war,

was opened to visitors in April, 1943, in benefit of the

5
Royal Air Force.

Food scarcity led to rationing in the city. In 1943,

it was decided to return all native women, children and un-

employed males to their reserves in the country. No native

without a kipande, a card indicating his employment, would

thereafter be able to receive rations, even with money.

Free transport to the country was provided the evacuees

with the promise of return when the food situation had im-
proved. At the same time, authorities announced a crackdown

on certain Indians who were signing native kipandes for a

handsome fee, asserting falsely that the holder had a job.6

Employers were then told how they could obtain rations for

their African workers. 7

The demand for meat by troops combined with a bad

4Smart, op. cit., pp. 76-83.

5_,
EAS April 16, 1943.
6_,
EAS March 5, 1943.
7EAS, March 19, 1943. The "Rationing Scheme for
 113

drought in 1943 caused a shortage so serious that shops in

the Municipal Market were set aside for the sale of camel

meat brought down from the northern frontier. 8 Meat

rationing was inaugurated to insure equitable distribution.

Each household head was obliged to go to his butcher and

fill out a form listing the number of adults and children

in his house. Vegetarians were prohibited from registering

for the benefit of friends under pain of prosecution. 9

In 1943 the Nairobi Commodity Distribution Board

Africans" read as follows:

"If you emplpy 12 or more Africans you must: .
1. Take or send their kipandes and the attached
ration cards to the pavilion opposite the District
Commissioner's Office and collect their ration coupons.
This must be done on or before Monday next.
2. Register with one of the following posho
suppliers: The K.F.A., Whitehorse Road; Premchand,
Raichand and Co., Stewart St., Basham Juva, Racecourse
Road.
If you employ less than 12 Africans you should see
that your boys collect their coupons from the pavilion
opposite the D.C.'s office. It is not compulsory for
you to follow the procedure above, but it will help
the smooth working of the scheme if you do.
Your cooperation is needed.
Advice and information about the scheme can be
obtained from the Municipal Native Affairs Office,. at
the D.c.•s offices, Delamere Avenue."
8smart, op. cit., p. 81.

9EAs, May 7, 1943.

 114
announced that cheese production had been cut by 75 per

cent since milk demands had increased. The butter situa-

tion was improved, however, and the board expected soon to

be able to restore the full weekly ration of one-half

pound. Asians were permitted one pound of ghee per head

per week and street hawkers of chickens and eggs, re-

stricted during the early part of the war, were again

allowed to peddle their wares. 10

The Bast African Standard printed about the same time

a letter from an African, something of a novelty at that

time, in which he assailed a European who had earlier

criticized African complainers as unpatriotic. The writer

asserted that African complaints were no more severe than

those of European housewives inconvenienced by the war

rationing and he quoted Winston Churchill who, as leader

of the United Nations, had declared the necessity of

freedom of speech~ll

The Nairobi Municipal Council found itself more than

usually short of funds during the war. Its greatest ex-

penditure was concerned with road repair and improvem~nt

_, May 7, 1943.
l<lxAs
llBAS, May 14, 1943.
 115

and problems connected with drainage and refuse removal.

Bitumen for road surfacing and tires for lorries were both

scarce. In January, 1944, the Commanding Officer of the

Nairobi Air Station appealed to the Council for help in

its improvement of the airport. For the next six months,

all municipal road work was suspended while staff members

worked on runways and surfaced the air station. 12

otherwise, life went on as normal in war time Nairobi.

The Ministry of Supply urged farmers to grow Pyrethrum

"urgently needed for war purposes" and promised to buy all

first grade flowers. 13

The Muslim high priest, Maulana Sayyed Abdullah Shah

Patron, went on pilgrimage to Mecca and was given a cordial

reception upon his return at the Jamia Mosque. 14 The Goan

Institute held a debate, "That woman has done more for

mankind than man"; 15 James McQueen, who had built the first
European house in Nairobi in 1898, died, leaving five

12Nairobi Municipality Annual Report, (Nairobi:

1943-44), pp. 8-9.
13EAs, April 9, 1943.

_, March 5, 1943.
14EAs

_, May 14, 1943.

15iu.s
 116

children, all of whom resided in Kenya. 16 There were, of

course, the chronic complaints of juvenile delinquency with

the suggestion that children made good servants. 17

Nairobi demilitarized in 1946 and found that its

African population had vastly increased. Some soldiers

stationed there decided to stay on and new immigrants

arrived from Europe. Fortunately, a major town planning

scheme was completed at the same time, and the municipality

was able to direct expansion with an eye to the future.

Most important, new factories and plants were confined to

the southeastern section of the city. Churches and various

societies applied for free grants of Crown land, but a
moratorium on such allotments quickly declared in order

better to coordinate demands with the town plan. 18

In 1944, the Colonial Office announced a five year

development plan for Kenya, to be launched at the war's

end. It included schemes for agricultural development and

training, female education of all races, hydroelectric

_, April 2, 1943.
16us

_, April 9, 1943.
17EAS
18smart, 02. cit., pp. 90-92.
 117

surveys and housing for Africans in Nairobi. 19

In 1949, Nairobi was able at last to float a loan on

the London stock market on its own assets and responsi-

bility. 20 This proved a huge success; the lists closed in

one day and the needed amount, £1,500,000, was oversub-

scribed seven times. 21 The sum was applied to many of the

purposes outlined in the development plan.

The town planning commission of 1948, under the

direction of Thornton White, head of the Architectural

Faculty at Capetown University, projected Nairobi's ideal

population between two and three hundred thousand as best

to preserve both its rural atmosphere and at the same time

afford the amenities of a modern urban center. The

commission foresaw more Africans entering skilled, clerical

and professional occupations as well as an increase in
female labor so as to lessen the proportion of single wage

earners and to necessitate the development of family unit

dwellings in the city. 22

1 ~he Times, July 12, 1944.

20The Times, May 4, 1949.

2 1The Times, June 17, 1949.

22Thornton White, 02. cit., pp. 42-44.

 118
The town planners were impressed by the capital's
peacefulness. Although their thinking was permeated by a

frankly colonial rationale, which reads strangely two

decades. later, 23 Nairobians were fortunate to have re-

ceived their enduring and expert direction.

In 1946, the Municipal Ordinance was revised for the

first time since 1928. Council now had seven aldermen--

two Asians and five Buropeans--and, for the first time,

two African Councillors. The next year, a municipal tax

was levied on Africans in addition to the poll tax. It

was thought the tax would increase African civic pride in

addition to providing revenue. 24

The postwar years witnessed the expansion of the

town jolted into modern urbanity by the conflict. The

23They wrote, for instance: "As graceful leisure is

more difficult to gratify in Europe, as servant troubles and
the neighbor's blaring radios become daily features, even
in the rural parts of Great Britain, and political troubles
and fear of greater troubles darken the greying skies of
Europe, people will flock gladly to a country as peaceful,
as beautiful, and as leisurely as Kenya." (~) Thornton
White, op. cit., p. 41.

24smart, op. cit., pp. 92-95.

 119

Railroad celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1945, 25

and Nairobians were conscious of a history behind them.

King George VI and Queen Mary donated a two volume Bible

to All Saints Cathedral in connection with a renewed

appeal for building funds. 26 The long awaited memorial

to Lord Delamare was unveiled.27

The town hosted 100 delegates from 30 countries for

the Pan African Congress on Pre-history at which Dr. L. s.

B. Leahey revealed many of his discoveries from his Rift

Valley excavations. 28 The East African Women's League

built a European Child Welfare Clinic at Parkland&.

Colonel Grogan, who once walked from Cape to Cairo,

erected "Gertrude's Gardens," a children's hospital in

memory of his wife. 29 And an African Industries Show was

held in 1947, featuring many African crafts not normally

associated with urbanized laborers, winning universal

2 5The Times, December 24, 1945.

26
The Times, April 2, 1946.
27The Times, December 3, 1946.
28.rhe Times, January 14, 1947. The most important of
Leahey's findings point to Bast Africa as man's original
homeland.
29smart, op. cit., pp. 96-97.
 120

compliments. 30

In July, 1949, Alderman F. G. Woodley was elected

Mayor and Alderman Vesey pointed out the upcoming fiftieth

anniversary of Nairobi local government, suggesting that

city status be sought for the occasion. 3 1

A petition was sent to the King. The Colonial Office

announced his agreement to the proposal and the Duke of

Gloucester was commissioned to present the charter.32 In

turn, the Nairobi Municipal Council decided to make the

Duke the first Honorary Freeman of Nairobi. 33

There was, however, at least one objector to the

charter proposal. A writer in the East African Standard

assailed the storage of excrement in open drums only 400

yards from European houses, the erection of obstructive

traffic islands and the cost of jubilee celebrations, "to

raise the tenth rate town of Nairobi to city status." Re

continued, "Nobody should suggest raising Nairobi to city

status while there are such apalling and unhygenic sanitary

30Ibid., pp. 94-95.

31Ibid., p. 103.
32The Times, October 27, 1949.

3 3.rhe Times, November 28, 1949.

 121
conditions existing."34

Preparations for Charter day continued undaunted. The

mace of the city arrived from London jewelers, as well as

a coat-of-arms from the College of Heraldry.35 It was

noted that Nairobi had no memorial to Sergeant Ellis, the

first white inhabitant of Nairobi, and Mayor Woodley

suggested that Fourth Avenue (City Square) might be renamed

in his honor. 36 A triumphal arch was erected across

Delamere Avenue with a clearance of sixteen feet, bearing

the city's coat-of-arms and the inscription: 1900-1950

City of Nairobi. 37 Anticipation heightened when the Duke

3 4EAs, January 10, 1950.

35EAs, February 28, 1950. This explanation of the coat
of arms was given: "The shield of green and gold represents
the mineral and agricultural wealth of the Nairobi area.
The center water design represents the original water hole
that was Nairobi. The crest consists of the British lion
bringing peace to the warring tribes. (The shield is
Masai.) The helmet is of a type called "Esquire" and is
customarily used to support the crest. Two East African
crowned cranes flank the shield and have no special meaning
other than their presence in the Nairobi vicinity. They
are also a heraldic symbol of vigilance which occurs in the
motto. The compartment or base supporting the cranes is
purely artistic. The motto, 'Sapientia, Fide, Vigilantia,'
(with wisdom, faith, and vigilance) is a motto used by the
Municipal Council since 1923."
36EAs, Karch 14, 1950.
37BAs, March 14, 1950.
 122

and Duchess of Gloucester arrived in Nairobi with the

charter. 38

The celebration parade was carefully readied. Over

fifty floats representing national groups, events and

episodes in the town's history were constructed. Sergeant

Bllis was depicted by a Royal Engineer Officer stationed

in Nairobi. Mr. John Boyes depicted himself as the
legendary King of the Wakikuyu, as did Theo Blunt, the

longtime leader of the Nairobi theatre. The pageant,

directed by A. J. R. Master, sought to depict the history

of the area from prehistoric times. The procession route

began at the Railway Club and proceeded via Whitehorse

Road, Government Road, the Bazaar, Stewart Street, Delamere
Avenue, Hardinge Street, Queensway and Bliot Street. After

the parade, the floats were displayed at the Services

Sports Ground at a charge of 7/- for the benefit of local

charities. 39

On the eve of Charter Day, the "Nairobi Cantata" was

performed at the Empire Theatre by the cambined choirs of

Kenya High School, Loreto Convent School, St. Mary's

38BAs, March 15, 1950.

39-As, March 24, 1950.

 123

School, Holy Family Church, Prince of Wales School, St.

Andrews Church, the Conservatoire Vocal Ensemble, the

Nairobi Musical Society and the Nairobi Orchestra. 40

Charter Day broke forth in splendour on Thursday,

March 29. The next day, the first city council meeting was

held and the Duke of Gloucester was made the first Freeman.

Nairobi officially became a city on March 30, 1950, at

12:15 P.M. Three Councillors formally greeted the Duke

and welcomed him to the city: Alderman Udall who had come
to Nairobi in 1908 and who had been mayor when the King

and Queen had visited Nairobi in 1924 as the Duke and

Duchess of York; Alderman Chunilal Kirparam, an Asian, who

had lived in Nairobi for fifty years; and Alderman Muchochi

Gikonyo who asserted the loyalty of the African community

to the Royal House.41

The Bast African Standard was both cautionary and

poetic. It reminded Nairobians that,

The City has yet to grow in the graciousness of

maturity and wisdom. It is still young. There is
yet much to do. Its very youth has left little
time to develop those attributes which mark a

40x&s, March 31, 1950.

41BAs, April 1, 1950.
 124
society that has achieved the mellow humanizing
elegance of true civilization.42

But it also quoted Walt Whitman,

I dream'd in a dream and saw a city invincible to

the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth
I dream'd tha~ was the new City of Friends.43

At the same time that Nairobi was becoming a city,

Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo were starring in A Song is

~ at the Playhouse and Bob Hope and Jane Russell were

playing in The Paleface at the Capito1. 4 4 N. N. Wachira

was urging the government to outlaw female circumcision

since the missionaries had failed. 45

Israel Brodie, the Chief Rabbi of Britain, visited

Mayor Woodley.46 Vincent Brothers set a new Capetown-

Nairobi record by making the journey in three days, twenty

hours and eleven minutes in his Vauxhall. 47 Herbert Binks,

one of the city's oldest and most esteemed settlers and a

_, March 31, 1950.

42BAs

_, March 31, 1950.

43BAs

_, January 27, 1950.

44xAs

_, February 3, 1950.
45&\s

_, February 17, 1950.

46BAS

_, September 30, 1950.

47BAS
 125

Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, was interviewed

on the fiftieth year of his arrival in the city.48 Civil

servants were demanding wage increases with farmers dis-

agreeing; the safety conscious complained of reckless

Nairobi drivers; and at least one citizen thought that the

reintroduction of corporal punishment would be a sure

deterrant to housebreaking and petty thievery.49

Nairobi, then, at Midcentury, was economically fit,

growing, optimistic and full of good will; but behind this

happy facade germinated the seeds of discord, rooted in

five decades of racial tension and colonial policy.

In 1945, a White Paper issued by the Labour Party

asserted that both Africans and white settlers had rights

in the so called White Highlands. Although some criticized

the document for not going further in condemning the shole

uplands system of segregation, 50 the reaction in Nairobi

was intensely opposed to admitting the Africans there. A

settlers' conference declared, "We have not the slightest

intention of allowing white settlement to be liquidated."

48us
_, February 4, 1950.
_,
49os October 17, 1950.
50 , "New Horizons in Kenya," New Statesman and
Nation, XXX, (December 29, 1945).
 126

Dem.ands for ICeny.an self-government were heard, and a

settlers' committee was established to study alternatives

to the White Paper proposals.51

Meanwhile, the campaign to attract more white im.m.i-

grants to Kenya continued and talk of home rule subsided

when it was realized that Indians and Africans would

probably play a larger role in an independent Kenya than

they already did in thecolony.52

When Mr. John Dugsdale, Minister of State for Colonial

Affairs, visited Kenya in 1950, he assured the settlers

that there would be "no rapid constitutional changes" and

pleaded for support of the newly established East African

High Com.mission and improved race relations.53

But the essential inequities of the country could not

be so easily dismissed or subordinated to other topics. In

Nairobi, for instance, there were 2,463 registered European

51The Tim.es, January 31, 1946.

52EAs, September 14, 1950.

53EAs, September 18, 1950. The East African High

Com.mission, formed in 1948 and headquartered in Nairobi,
integrated the postal and communication systems of Uganda,
Kenya, Tanganyika, and Zanzibar and sought to coordinate
the economy of East Africa in accordance with the old idea
of the essential geographic unity of the area.
 127

voters who elected nine councillors while the 7,127 Indians

elected but seven. 54 The Africans, who comprised two-

thirds of the town's population, had no votes, with only

one councillor, appointed in 1946, representing them.

Attempts at improving racial relations, such as the

founding of the interracial United Kenya Club in 1946,

were scorned as radical agitation on one side and as

window dressing on the other. 55 When two European farms

in neighboring Tanganyika were appropriated for tribal

land, the story received headline notice in Nairobi.56

More ominous, however, was the arrest of fifteen Kikuyu on

the charge of taking unlawful oaths which initiated them

into the secret society of Mau Mau. 57

The Mau Mau terror which ravaged Kenya in the first

half of the fifties was anti-white in character and was

directed principally at white settlers in rural areas,

though more non-cooperative Africans were killed than

Europeans. Mau Mau was a Kikuyu movement since that tribe

54Annual Municipality Report (Nairobi: 1943-44),

pp. 1-2.
_, September 10, 1950.
55EA.s
_, November 17, 1950.
56BAs
_, September 20, 1950.
57EAS
 128

experienced the greatest pressure for land and had lost most

in the alienation of tribal domains to European farmers.

The period of greatest activity, known as "the emergency"

in Kenya, began in 1952 and lasted until 1956. During this

time there were frequent tales of upcountry atrocities,

such as the hacking of two European farmers at Gil-Gil, 58

or of armed women warding off would-be attackers on isolated

rural farms. 59
The Home Guard, composed of Kikuyu who rejected Mau

Mau violence and remained loyal, was organized to combat

Mau Mau influence. But the loyal Kikuyu were themselves

victims of their intolerant brothers. One leader, Chief

Hinga, was killed in his hospital bed where he lay re-

cuperating from a previous Mau Mau assault, his murderer
escaping. 60

Nairobi became the natural refuge for the outlaws be-

cause of its large African population and the anonymity

afforded by its size. The incidence of crime in the city

58os, January 3, 1953.

59EA_s, January 5, 1953.

6<>iu_s, January 6, 1953.

 129

rose; in one week eight Africans were shot. 6 1

The city's Kikuyu population, about 75 per cent of .

Nairobi's African population, was in danger of being

intimidated by the Mau Mau. The threat was particularly

acute among the drifters and unemployed. The city police

force of 1500 was bolstered by the Royal Inniskilling

Fusiliers who checked African kipandes and sent those

lacking proper identification to work camps outside the

city. 62

Boycotts of buses, Asian restaurants, smoking, and of

European goods, were organized by the Mau Mau in Nairobi

and by those who they were able to frighten into following

them. There were reported schemes of forcing non-Kikuyu

tribes out of the city, thereby monopolizing African-held

jobs and gaining a political bargaining position in

Nairobi.63

Finally, on the weekend of April 25, 1954, "Operation

Anvil" fell upon the city. Unlike previous purges, this

61.!!!,, July 17, 1953.

62____ , "Nairobi Round-up," Spectator, CXCI,
(October 9, 1953).
63BAs, September 29, 1953.
 130

undertaking methodically screened the entire Kikuyu popula-

tion of Nairobi. It respected private property and assured

loyal Kikuyu of government protection against possible

reprisals for their cooperation in identifying culprits.

Only those who were clearly suspect were deported from the

city and ill treatment of the detainees was held at a

minimum. 64

The cleanup classified those screened as free from

Mau Mau indoctrination; bard core leaders and fanatics;

and as oath takers, but not active supporters. Altogether,

20,000 Africans of the latter categories were removed from

Nairobi, and there was a noticeable improvement in native

morale following their departure. The various boycotts

beian to wane and there was greater cooperation with police

and government officials in investigating the movement.

Operation Anvil showed that Nairobi had indeed been a

center of Mau Mau machinations but, more importantly, it

freed the city of its influence. 65

The back of Mau Mau was finally broken in the

64J. Meikeljohn, "New Hope for Nairobi," Spectator,

CXCII, (May 28, 1954).
65
---- , "Improvement in Kenya," Times British
Colonies Review, (Summer, 1954).
 131

countryside in 1956, though random groups of stragglers

roamed undetected for years later. The trial and imprison-

ment of Jomo Kenyatta, the alleged leader of Mau Mau,

apparently sealed the issue, but Mau Mau had torn open

long-festering wounds in the Kenyan body, and no imprison-

ment or military victory could bind them up. The death

knell of colonialism had sounded too deeply for even the

most dense stalwart to fail to heed.

But in late 1956, Nairobi was externally unperturbed

by such inward reflections. Roy Rogers visited in safari.66
The City Council borrowed 500,000 from local sources,

confident of the city's future, for improvements in water,

housing, sewerage, and roads. 67 And Princess Margaret

visited the Royal Agricultural Show in Nairobi and attended

a garden party at Government house where she received a

bouquet from the six year old daughter of an African slain

by Mau Mau. 68 Christmas Day headlines described the snow-

fall in Britain and the Queen's Broadcast.69

_, October 15, 1956.

66KA.s

_, October 16, 1956.

67BAs

68BAs
_, October 16, 1956.

_, December 25, 1956.

69BAs
 132

Political fermentation in Kenya following the Mau Mau

outbreak was intense and rapid. The politics of the

country had literally to be reconstructed from scratch.

Although there had been adult franchise for Europeans and

Indians and local elections for Africans, no parties of

all the races with common political programs had evolved.

Nor had there been a powerful labour movement. 70 Actually

the lack of such developments is not surprising, given the

obvious difference of interest and power among the several

racial groups in the country. Yet such movements are pre-

requisite to the growth of national consciousness.

Kenyan political awareness developed in contrast to

British colonies in the west where indirect rule policies

gave Africans a tradition of self government and political

experience. Whites, for instance, held most of the Civil

Service posts, closing another door to African advancement.71

Kenya, on the other hand, was dominated by the small

group of settlers, similar in this respect to South Africa.

7°'I'hornton White, op. cit., p. 22.

71M. L. Kilson, Jr., ''Land and Politics in Kenya:

An Analysis of African Politics in a Plural Society,"
Western Political Quarterly, X, (September 1957).
 133
Unlike in the latter area, the tendency toward apartheid

was checked early. There was an African representative

on the Legislative Council in 194472 and, shortly there-

after, on the Nairobi Municipal Council. Nevertheless,

when African nationalism did develop, it was colored

largely by the interlocking question of race and land.

African political awareness was further hampered by

the conflicting loyalties of tribalism. The strongest

politically oriented groups in Kenya had always been Kikuyu

in character because of that tribes' nearness to Nairobi

and its early articulation in regard to the land problem. 73

But such groups were never effective.

The Kikuyu Central Organization, founded in 1922,

established separate Kikuyu schools and gave vent to early

voices of Kikuyu progress and protest, including Jomo

Kenyatta. The government curtailed its fund-raising

activities, barred its satirical songs and harassed its

leaders, before proscribing the entire movement in 1940

72R. Binden, "Straws in the Wind," New Statesman and

Nation, XXVIII, (July 1, 1944).
73G. Bennett, "Development of Political Organization
in Kenya," Political Studies, V, (June 1957).
 134

as inimical to the war effort.74

The Kenya Africa Union (KAU) succeeded the old KCA in

1944. Its program included a demand for more African seats

in the Legislature. By 1950, it had 100,000 members, many

of them non-Kikuyu. Unfortunately KAU was still unable to

redress Kikuyu grievances, and Mau Mau grew out of this

frustration. The KAU itself was outlawed when the terror

began7 5 and many of its leaders found themselves jailed or

detained in Mau Mau camps.

It was still being argued, however, in 1956 that no

viable nationalism existed in Kenya because of tribal

rivalries. These were given expression in discrimination

in marriage and in African living quarters in Nairobi.7 6

The African counter argument insisted that these differ-

ences were no more than those of religion or region or

'
economy which divided people in the most advanced countries,

and that they constituted no serious impediment to national

political unity.

74icilson, in loc. cit.

751bid.

76Rebecca Fane, "Nationalism in Kenya," African Affairs,

(October 1956).
 135
Two national political parties were founded when Mau

Mau subsided, the Kenya African National Union (ICANU) whose

unofficial leader was the imprisoned Jomo Kenyatta; and

the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), headed by Mr.

R. G. Ngala. In general, KANU was the descendent of the

earlier Kikuyu dominated political associations, although

it made efforts to recruit non-Kikuyu members. It also

favored a strong centralist government. IC.ADU, on the

other hand, made its largest appeal to non-Kikuyu tribes,

and adwocated a local, federal government, fearing,

implicitly at least, domination by the astute Kikuyu. As

it developed, KANU had the men, money, and ability to

emerge victorious in the pre-independence elections, and to

eventually absorb most of KADU.

The march to independence was irreversible. There was

increased agitation for the release from prison of Jomo

Kenyatta, who had become by now the symbol of Kenya that

transcended tribe and faction. 77 A general strike was

called for Good Friday, 1960, as well as a boycott of

cigarettes, beer and public transportation, and a petition

77T. R. M. Creighton,'Off-White Highlands," Spectator,

CCIII, (October 3, 1959).
 136
seeking the release of Jomo Kenyatta was sent to the govern-

ment. 78 But the boycott failed, to the pleasure of the

Bast African Standard, which declared that it was "asking

too much of the Kenya public, smeared and smirched with

politics, to pay any serious attention • • • to Jomo

Kenyatta." 79

In 1959, the Kenya Government agreed to let Africans

and Asians qualified with skill and capital to purchase or

rent farms in the Highlands. The Europeans opposed it for

all the traditional reasons. Africans saw the measure as

futile since few Africans could meet the requirements.
They wanted a scheme of land reapportionment that would
open up tracts of unused lands to Africans, particularly to

coffee producers, who had proven themselves superior

growers of the bean.so

Nairobi became noticeably tense in the years immedia1B]¥

preceding independence. White citizens' fears were not

ameliorated when the neighboring Congo received indepen-

dence and many whites fled to safety in Nairobi. 81 City

_, April l&, 1960.

71EAs
_, April 18, 1960.
79us
80creighton, in loc. cit.
----
81EAs, June 2, 1960.
 137

officials complained that it was becoming difficult to

attract competent municipal officers because of the un-

certain political situation in Kenya. 82

The Director of Social Services and Housing reported

that, after the withdrawal of freedom of movement restric-

tions in January 1960 (a holdover from Mau Mau days), be-

tween 35,000 and 50,000 Africans poured into the city,

causing great overcrowding, unemployment, and increasing

crime. 83

Police were worried about a renewal of the Mau Mau

attitude as crime rates rose, in some cases involving

popular resentment and interference with arrests. The

Minister for Defense and Internal Security urged African

leaders to appeal to their followers for respect of law.84

Nairobi police installed telephones on various street

corners so that attacked persons could call for help

directly. 85
The Young Muslim League reported that the number of

82BAs, June 30, 1960.

83BAs, April 11, 1960.

84BAs, May 6, 1960.

85EA,s, April 1, 1960.

 138

prostitutes openly soliciting in the Asian suburb of

Eastleigh was growing. Such females, it was noted, were

Africans or mixed bloods, not generally Asian, who were

moving into the area. Fears were expressed for the morals

of Asian girls in the vicinity. "Horror Comics and films

reflecting western standards" were further blamed for the

upsurge in delinquency.86

The Corfield Report, undertaken in 1957, examining the

origins and growth of Mau Mau, was published in 1960 and

2,000 copies were sold in Nairobi the first day it was

available. It vindicated the commonly-held European view

that Kenyatta was a power man malcontent bent on sub-

version. 87 But it had little effect on Kenyatta's prestige.

The Central Nyanza District Association of African

nationalists publicly burnt copies. 88

Nairobi received her first supermarket after Mr.

Sultan Nanji, local entrepreneur, visited the United States

for ideas.89 A survey of· the city's traffic problems

86EAs, May 16, 1960.

87EAs, June 2, 1960. See also: Colonial Office,
Historical Survey of the Origins and Growth of Mau Mau,
(London: R.tM.s.o. 1960). (The Corfield Report.)
88xAs, June 7, 1960.
89EAs, May 17, 1960.
 139

revealed that 80 per cent of Nairobians did not know how

to make a right turn. It was suggested that unnecessary

islands be eliminated, and that fines be levied for failure

to signal driving intentions. 90

Mr. R. G. Ngala, the head of KADU, returned from

visiting the United States where he had studied labor

problems and adult education. He was impressed by

.Americans whom. he found "hardworking and friendly, but

very competitive," while deploring racial discrimination

in som.e parts of the land. The day after his return to

Nairobi, be became Minister for Labour Social Security, and

Adult Education. 9 1

Opposition to independence gave way to cynicism on the

part of many Nairobi Europeans. They protested that

majority rule was contingent upon majority maturity; that

their labors would fall to dust; that inter racial harmony

would not weather indefinitely. 92 And it was announced

that Mr. John Foggitt, representative of the Union of South

Africa would visit Kenya to encourage white Kenyans to

90g,As, June 9, 1960.

91EAs, May 17, 1960.

_, April 22, 1960.

92EAs
 140
emigrate there when the government was turned over to the

"blacks." 93
The status of Europeans after independence was unclear.

Lord Delamere, son of the pioneer settler, obtained the

right for Europeans to reclaim British citizenship should

they choose to give up Kenyan citizenship. They would

have two years after independence to make up their minds

on that score.94 A rush to obtain British passports

followed. Most applicants were Asians. Few intended to

leave Kenya but wanted proof of British citizenship in case

of emergency. 95

Some did, of course, leave. Over one hundred South

African families from the Uasin-Gishu area, including the

Minister of the nut.ch Reformed Church at Eldoret, the old

South African center, departed overland for South Africa,

from whence they had come to Kenya a half century before. 96

On the other hand, the Muthaiga Country Club voted

overwhelmingly to put membership on a non-racial basis, 97

_, April 28, 1960.

93BAs
94BAs, October 8, 1963.
95EA_s, October 24, 1963.
96BAs, December 10, 1963.
97_,
BAs October 15, 1963.
 141
and the Sikh community opened a new temple, oblivious to

the talk of doom about them. 98

Alderman Charles Rubia, the city's first African

mayor, was reelected in October, 1963, and urged Nairobians

to support the new government and subordinate personal

interests. 99 A few days later he greeted Herbert K. Binks

and his wife, two venerable townspeople, on their golden

wedding anniversary. They showed the mayor their wedding

portrait at Mombasa Cathedral in 1913.lOO It was a fitting

union of two eras: the old white farmer and the young

African mayor.
The Kenya Drama Festival awarded its top prize, for

the first time, to a Kenyan author, Mr. Kuldip Sonkhi, for

his play, Undesignated; 101 and Chemchemi, a center for

African culture under the direction of Mr. Ezekiel Mphalele,

was founded to encourage local playwrights, poets,

musicians, and artists.l02

_, November 1, 1963.
98EAS

_, October 2, 1963.
99EAs

_, October 16, 1963.

100us

_, October 9, 1963.
lOlu.s

_, October 18, 1963.

102EAs
 142

The new Mariakani housing estate, designed for lower

middle income families, was opened at Nairobi by Mayor
Rubia.1o3 On the eve of independence, a 5 million im-

provement scheme for the city was announced concomitant

with a tax increase. 104 Most important, the city's stock

exchange was growing despite the approach of independence.105

When Prime Minister Kenyatta returned from final pre-

independence talks in London, 150,000 persons greeted him

at Nairobi airport. Jomo Kenyatta, the old man of Kenya

nationalism, urged them wisely to keep the peace, obey the

government and to put aside tribal quarrels. 106 The Prime

Minister must have pondered heavily the responsibilities of

leadership when he and Governor MacDonald attended requiem

services at Nairobi's Holy Family Cathedral for President

John Kennedy, whose interest had enabled Kenyan students to

attend American universities in the early 1960's. 107

As dignitaries from the world of nations gathered in

_, November 27, 1963.

103BAS

_, December 18, 1963.

l04us

105E.As, November 13, 1963.

_, October 12, 1963.

106BAS

_, November 27, 1963.

107BAS
 143

Nairobi for independence day, Mayor Rubia urged citizens

and businessmen to clean up the capital. He gave the

freedom of the city to the Duke of Edinburgh, who repre-

sented Great Britain on independence day, and to Prime

Minister Kenyatta. The mayor defended the ceremony as

symbolic of all the good things that Africa had gained

from her association with Britain. 108

On December 12, 1963, Nairobi joined the nation in

joyously proclaiming uhuru, independence, with a panoply

of special events and ceremonies. A new era for the city

and the nation was beginning. Delamere Avenue became

Kenyatta Avenue, and the statue of the old settler which

had brooded over the same avenue was quietly removed to a

local gallery at the suggestion of his son. 109 In fact and

symbol, the old order had yielded to the new.

108EAs, December 8, 1963.

109EA.s, November 5, 1963.

 CHAPTER VI

INDEPENDENT NAIROBI: 1964-1966

Kenya withstood two crises during its first year of

nationhood. Army mutinies in Tanganyika and a revolution

in Zanzibar forced Prime Minister Kenyatta to invite

British troops into Kenya to forestall similar activity

there, 1 and to issue a stern warning that mutineers would

be severely punished. 2 Fortunately, no serious problems

arose, and the government maintained control.

Less dramatic was a constitutional change that made

Kenya a Republic on December 12, 1964, one year after in-

dependence. Under the new constitution, the President (Mr.

Kenyatta) became both the head of state and the leader of

Parliament. 3 He also centralized the government by doing

1_,
EAS January 27, 1964.
2_,
EAS January 28, 1964.
3_,
EAS December 12, 1964.

144
 145

away with regional assemblies and, in so doing, accelerated

the dissolution of the opposition party, Mr. Ngala's Kenya

African Democratic Union, the primary exponent of region-

alism. 4

Such developments, had they miscarried, would have

adversely affected not only Kenya but the economic progress

of Nairobi. The keynote for the city's role in an indepen-

dent Kenya was perhaps best stated by Mr. Ayoda, the Kenya

Minister for Local Government in an address to the Nairobi

City Council. He urged the city fathers to set an example

for other Kenya communities and even, by their position as

leaders of the capitol, to spearhead the growth of the

nation itself. 5

Mayor Rubia was able to report shortly thereafter that

the city had increased in size from 35 square miles, in

1948, to 266 in 1964. The population was estimated at

330,000 (1964) and projected at 750,000 by 1989. The mayor

foresaw no change in the fundamental character of the city's

economy and held that it would remain primarily a center

4EAs, November 11, 1964.

5EAs, January 8, 1964.

 146

for communications and distribution. 6

The city introduced a unique "pay as you earn" income

tax program. Workers purchase stamps monthly and paste

them on cards; the cards are eventually submitted as proof

of payment. 7

The perennial problem of water received attention.

The Association for International Development in Washington

D. c. granted a $2,200,000 ( 785,710) loan to Nairobi to

improve its water supply. 8 Early in 1965, there was

announced a scheme for the Tana River which would provide

electric power for the entire country. 9

The most serious question vexing the city fathers was

a small local crisis which resulted in the resignation of

Mayor Rubia in September, 1964. The city council had in-

curred several minor debts which prompted the Ministry of

Local Government to begin an investigation of the coun-

cillors' activities. •ayor Rubia, saw the issues as much
larger. He criticized the Ministry for holding up city

6EAS, February 20, 1964.

7EAs, January 4, 1964.

8EAs, April 27, 1964.

9EAs, January 23, 1965.
 147

council schemes, for introducing tribal jealousies into

city affairs, and for disregarding his office by initiat-

ing the investigation. The debt in question, he explained,

amounted to only -£17.7s (about $50.00) and was received

late, but paid.10 He resigned in protest.

The investigation of the City Council continued,

however, and other councillors were revealed to be in debt,

so that the Ministry of Local Government was exonerated

from most of the mayor's allegations. 11 It was even

commended for being alert to such an apparently minor

matter. Rubia, however, commanded universal sympathy as

having been a good mayor. Eventually, he was convinced to

run again for the office. He did so, and was elected

elderman in October and re-elected as Mayor in November for

his third consecutive term.12

Nairobi, with the thinly disguised pride of the

capital of a new nation, has witnessed many of the inter-

national and national events which have befallen Kenya

since independence. The city provided 45,000 greeters for

l~s, September 15, 1964.

_, October 8, 1964.
llEAs

_, November 4, 1964.
12EAs
 148

the Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia when he became the

first head of state to visit Kenya and promptly renamed a

street in his honour. 13 Mayor Rubia, on another occasion,

presented President Kenyatta a gift of 5,000 from

Nairobians for the National Famine Relief Fund to aid

drought stricken Kenyans. 14 And, as in any respectable

metropolis, the mayor switches on a gigantic Christmas tree

at City Hall a few days before the holiday and local carolers

perform. 15

It is in the realm of economics, however, that the

true progress of Nairobi, and indeed of all of Bast Africa,

is measured. There are several factors inhibiting the de-

velopment of secondary industries in Bast Africa: the local

market is relatively small and scattered; the purchasing

power is limited; there is a lack of skilled labour; there

are great distances and scattered population, a lack of

raw materials, and the difficulty of attracting capital to

such poor places.16

_, June 6, 1964.
13EAs
1 4_,
BAs October 27, 1965.
15u.s, December 21, 1965.
16Norman Pollock, "Industrial Development in East
Africa," Economic Geography, XXXVI, (October, 1960), p. 344.
 149

Nevertheless, considerable progress has been made.

African minimum wages have been established in Nairobi, in-

creasing the buying power of the average labourer. 17

Even before Mau Mau, steps had been taken to integrate

the Nairobi African into a modern urban money economy and

to make him a consumer. Municipal dairies and butcheries

were established and uniform prices established for their

products; all of which regularized the haphazard marketing

habits of itinerant hawkers and customers. Groups of

small African businessmen such as carpenters, tailors and

shoemakers formed guilds to decrease their overhead caused

by high rents. Small secondary industries, like the

spinning and weaving of cloth, were initiated on a neigh-

borhood workshop basis.18

Since the 1948 Master Plan was drawn up, industrial

siting has been concentrated in the south east of the city

next to the commercial area and near the railway. Noxious

industries are located in the extreme southeast so that

the prevailing northeast winds will carry fumes and odors

17Ibid., pp. 345-346.

18 , "African Social Welfare in Nairobi,"
-----
Journal of the Royal African Society, (January 1950),
pp. 55-56.
 150

away from the city. 19

Nairobi's industries are of three types: the pro-

cessing of raw materials for export, such as sisal, coffee,

tea; processing for local consumption, such as bacon, beer,

shoes, metal beds, timber, cement; and transport needs,

such as motor repairing, and the manufacture and sale of

tires and batteries. 20

By 1959, 33 per cent of all the wages paid in Kenya

went to inhabitants of Nairobi,2 1 verifying the statement

made after the war that "Kenya's urban areas are the first

means of easing the population pressure upon the land and

of increasing the national income by encasing greater

numbers in a money economy and thereby increasing the

division of labor."22

Since independence, a host of developments have

secured the position of Nairobi as the leading commercial

centre of East Africa and of Kenya. Virtually all of the

industrial nations have established firms in Nairobi or

19ifickaan and Dickens, op. cit., p. 206.

20lbid.
21Kenya. Statistical Abstract, 1960 (Nairobi), p. 117.
22.rhornton White, op. cit., p. 39.
 151

sent trade missions there, in most cases building a sky-

scraper building headquarters for their Bast African

operations. These include the French Total Oil Co. 23 and

the Italian "AGIP" oil concern, which operates service

stations, restaurants and motels in Bast Africa. 24 The

Japanese have built at nearby Thika the Toray textile mill

which employs 4,000 people. 25 Pfizer International, the

world's largest manufacturer of antibiotics, moved its

African headquarters from Paris to Nairobi, because of the

city's "good communications with the rest of Africa and

its climate." The Nairobi center specializes in pharma-

ceutical and veterinary items.26

Other new industries include a light bulb factory and

a motor vehicle battery factory. 27 An Israeli firm built

an eighteen story luxury hotei. 28 Another African owned

hotel, The Terrace, was opened shortly after independence.29

-·
23BAs July 3, 1964.
_, December 4, 1964.
24EAs
_, January 10, 1964.
25EAs
_, February 28, 1964.
26BAS
_, January 30, 1964.
27EAs

-·
28BAS January 30, 1964.
_, January 20, 1964.
29us
 152
New Parliament buildings have been constructed3 0 and

private building plans approved by the city for the first

seven weeks of 1964 were three times the value of those

approved in the same period in the two years preceding

independence. 31

Nairobi's enduring importance as a communications

center has caused well-surf aced roads to be constructed

in recent years, linking the city with Nyeri (96 miles),

Kisumu (216 miles), and Eldoret (192 miles). 32 A first

class highway to Mombasa is also under construction.

Expressways, such as St. Austin's Road and Princess

Elizabeth Way, have relieved many of the city's traffic

problems. 33

Nairobi bas three airports. Embakasi, the largest,

was opened in 1956. A thoroughly modern terminal, it is

the city's quickest link to Europe, South Africa, and the

30iu.s, November 2, 1965.

_, March 3, 1964.
31BAS
32 , "Building Better Roads in Kenya."
-----
Commonwealth Today (No. 96).
33walmsley, op. cit., pp. 49-51.
 153
world's capitals via international airlines as BOAC and
TWA. 34

One much-publicized problem underlying the economic

regeneration of Nairobi is Africanization. Africanization,

the occupation of jobs by Africans, is the frequent battle

cry of the African politican, who is quick to complain

that Africans are not being hired or advanced sufficiently

in the business houses of Kenya. Tom Kboya, the Minister

for Economic Planning, had to remind critics on one

occasion that Africanization depended on the degrees ob-
tained by Kenyan students, and frequently these were not

in the technical areas most needed by the nation. 35 On

the other hand, African leaders have been at pains to

assure non-Africans (Europeans and Asians) government that

they will not lose their jobs as long as they become Kenya
citizens. 36

Another basic problem rests in the virtually complete

Buropean-Asian ownership of the country's large businesses

34 ___ ..,.., "Kenya's Modern Airport," Commonwealth

Today (No. 59) •
35.sAs, October 10, 1964.

36EAs, October 31, 1964.

 154

and industries. Although there are groups, as in Nairobi,

finding ways to promote African business ventures,37 the

basic racial complexion of Nairobi big business will cer-

tainly remain unchanged for many years.

The need for foreign investment in Kenya is obvious

to her leaders. They can ill afford to antagonize pros-

pective investors by racial or economic pressure. Prime

Minister Kenyatta has been careful to point out that

"nationalization will not serve to advance the cause of

African socialism." 38
Although Nairobi's progress is largely an economic

matter, it is also a question of successfully urbanizing

her people, wrenched for the most part from tribal lives
and living in miserable poverty. Urban life is a double

edged sword for such people. On one hand, "urban life

raises the productive propensities of the population by

increasing their needs." The worker acquires the aspira-

tions, habits, and skills, in short the urbanity, which

demarcates the city dweller from his rural cousin.39

37~, January 20, 1964.

38KAs, September 30, 1964.

3 9Tbornton White, op. cit., p. 40.
 155

If workers are encouraged to settle permanently in the

city and are provided the inducements of steady employment

and adequate pay, their jobs become more prideworthy and

valuable to them. They are less inclined to slack or

share their pay with less industrious relatives. It also

enables workers to bring their families to the city, there-

by strengthening family unity and discipline of the young.

Better housing, schools, and neighborhoods are demanded; a

new society forms. 40

Ultimately, the nation benefits: "Economically, the

employment of Africans under organized conditions of

industry means that Africans are making a greater con-

tribution to the national income, and as they are urban-

ized, they make a continuous contribution to it."41

Negatively, rapid urbanization is demoralizing. It

breaks up the old rural social code which is hardly en-

forceable in a city where individuals are on their own,

independent of community control. Children are less

disciplined. Workers without their wives and families

40J. D. Rheinhallt-Jones, "The Effects of Urbanization

in South and Central Africa," African Affairs, (Januray
1953).
41 Ibid.
 156

apend more of their earnings on liquor. Prostitution in-

creases. 42

Tribalism remains in the city and is both a good and

a bad force. There is a certain amount of residential

segregation by tribe and frequently work crews will be com-

posed of members of the same tribe. There are examples of

petty discrimination among the groups, and intermarriage

between tribes is discouraged and rare.4 3 Tribalism is a

constant factor and lament of Nairobi daily life. 4 4

Nairobi has also witnessed the rise of tribal associa-

tions or brotherhoods which are fraternal in character,

giving aid to its unemployed members or providing trans-

portation home in a time of need. Some have asserted real

moral leadership, as well as the Luo tribesmen who have

taken firm stands against immorality. Others have thrown

their moral support behind anti-crime drives. Rivalries

are real and trouble might occur at football matches where

teams are commonly tribal sponsored. 45

42Kenneth Little, "West African Urbanization as a

Social Process," Cahires D'Etudes Africanes, No. 3, (1960).
43Fane, in loc. cit.
44EAs, March 21, 1964.
45A. Askwith, "Tribalism in Nairobi," Corona, (August
1950).
 lM

Bad housing for Nairobi's Africans is perhaps the key

critical issue. An estimated 60 per cent of the African

population was badly housed in 1960, with all the moral

and mental ills consequent to such conditions. 46 For-

tunately, since 1948, new public housing schemes have used

the garden city principle and have built self-contained

housing communities complete with schools, meeting and

recreation halls and playing fields. In other cases,

employers of large numbers have been encouraged to provide

adequate housing for workers as is done by most large

firms in Japan.47

A highly promising development in the search for

decent housing is the prefabricated structure, first

exhibited at the Kenya Homes Exhibition in 1964. It is

rectangular, about 17 by 27 feet, and contains a bedroom,

a kitchenette, a bath and a large living room. The house

is so built that additional rooms could easily be added.

The structure costs about 1000 (less than $3,000), and

46Anne Barnett, "Christian Home and Family Life in

Kenya Today," International Review of Missions, (London)
(October, 1960).
47Hickman and Dickens, op. cit., pp. 47-48.
 158

could afford a home for many Nairobi workers. 48

Although the city is tropical, its public health

problems have been alleviated by the comfortable climate

and modern science. City council in recent years has

vented its full wrath against shanty dwellings which draw

rats. Consequently, no report of plague (bubonic) has been

filed since the Second World War. Only 52 malaria cases

were reported in 1963 in comparison to 750 in 1951 and

1,000 in 1940. Polio was reduced when mass immunization

programs were opened in 1960. 49

In other health measures, the sale of meat and

vegetables in open air markets has been prohibited. Per-

sons afflicted with venereal disease are required to have

periodical medical examinations. 50 The city is today con-

sidered one of Africa's healthiest.

Nairobi has long been the educational center of Kenya.

Before independence, the Europeans and Asians were better

educated since there were private as well as government

schools for each at both the primary and secondary levels.

48EAs, May 29, 1964.

49EAS, January 30, 1964.

50JL\s, October 5, 1965.

 159

Europeans from all of East Africa would frequently send

their children to a European secondary school in Nairobi,

if they were not sent to England. For higher education,

Europeans would go to Britain. Asians frequently went to

Kakerere, in Uganda, and also to England or India. Prim.ary

education for Europeans and Asians was not compulsory until

1944.51

African education in Nairobi was in the hands of both

the city council and the missions, but was not extensive

above the nursery and primary level. Since independence,

most existing secondary schools have integrated. The City

council also conducted evening "continuation" classes on an

integrated basis, teaching any subject for which a class of

twelve and a teacher could be found. 52

More important were a variety of technical training

schools. The Native Industrial Training Depot concentrated

on trades such as carpentry and masonry.53 The Jeanes

51Thornton White, op. cit., p. 36.

52 , "African Social Welfare in Nairobi,"
-----
Journal of the Royal African Society, (January, 1950).
53Rennie Smith, "Education in British Africa: IV,"
Journal of the African Society, (July, 1932).
 160

School prepared men to be district officers by teaching

local history and the social sciences. Its emphasis was

on community development and it offered courses to fit

the immediate needs of its students. 54 The KUR and H

(Kenya-Uganda Railways and Harbours) ran its own technical

school, as did the Medical Department and the Post Office.

African students who wished formal education leading to

university degrees had to go to Makerere, in·neighboring

Uganda, or, rarely, abroad. But higher education was

virtually unattainable for most Africans.

A great advance in African education was taken with

the opening of the Royal Technical College in the late

50's. It has since become University College, Nairobi

forming, with sister institutions in Uganda and Tanganyika,

the University of East Africa. In 1961, Kenya Polytechnic

opened with courses in engineering, building, commerce,

domestic science, printing and teacher training. Students

are often workers who attend on a part time basis. The

54A. Askwith, "Training for Local Government at

Jeanes School," Journal of African Administration,
(October 1951).
 161
studies lead to a commonwealth certificate in various

fields. 55

The curriculum. of University College in Nairobi, re-

mains academic, and the institution attracts students from

all of East Africa as well as from Nigeria, Malawi and

even a few Europeans. The cost of education there

(£1,000 per year) is paid by the Kenya Government.56

In 1965, secondary education was also made free.57

Other institutions such as the Roman Catholic major

seminary 5 8 and the Lum.um.ha Institute59 are located in

Nairobi. The city is also the meteriological center for

Africa and transmits data gathered from three southern

hemisphere centers (Nairobi, Brazilia, Melbourne) to the

northern hemisphere in Frankfort, Germany. 60

55 , "Kenya Trains Her Technicians," Common-

----
wealth Today (No. 93).
_, October 21, 1964.
56us

_, October 20, 1965.

57us

_, June 19, 1964.

58us

59us, December 12, 1964. The Lum.um.ha Institute

financed by the Russians, was closed in 1965 by order of
President Kenyatta for security reasons. (The Reporter,
March 10, 1966.)
60us, March 5, 1964.
 162

One leading educational question since independence

has been the use of Swahili in the schools. It was made

compulsory in city schools in 1964; 61 but shows little

chance of challenging English as Kenya's major means of

communication, as even Africans will point out.62

Education is as highly prized in Kenya as it was

when the first missionaries began their bush schools. It

has catapulted Kenya into an awareness of the world

comm.unity, and it should surprise no one that students,

eager to become doctors, engineers, and entrepreneurs,

would also demonstrate against American intervention in

the Congo or the unilateral declaration of independence by

Rhodesia, 63 as they have in Nairobi's streets.

One test of the cosmopolitan nature of Nairobi is

her treatment of minorities. The Europeans and Asians

have been in Nairobi and contributing to her growth for as

long as the African majority, and they have been vital to

her. The Asian population of Kenya has remained stable

and even increased slightly since independence, from

_, March 3, 1964.
61EAs
62EAs, June 5, 1964.

_, November 27, 1964.

63BAs
 163

176,000 to 180,000. The Asian community is credited with

introducing money economy to Kenya, but at the price of

the isolation and popular antipathy which often befalls

a minority group of moneylenders and merchants. Pro-

gressive Asian leaders admit that too many of their number

have been guilty of exporting their capital to India,

profiteering and holding back Africans from responsible

jobs in their businesses. Although similar charges could

be made of the European community, it is the Asian who

most frequently has dealt with the African consumer. 64

Nevertheless, Asian leaders are anxious to live with

the new Africa and prod their reluctant comrades to do

likewise. Best hopes for young Asians lie in the pro-

fessions for government workers and skilled manpower will

feel the effects of Africanization most severely. Coopera-

tives among farmers will hurt the dukawalla, the small town
shopkeeper. "It is unlikely that the Asian predominance in

wholesale, and retail trade will last for long," except for
large import, wholesale, and retail firms. 65

64nharam and Yash Ghai, "Asians in East Africa:

Problems and Prospects," Journal of Modern African Studies,
IV No. 1., (1965), pp. 35-42.
65 Ibid., pp. 42-44.
 164
Politically, Asians, and all the more so, Europeans,

are too few to form powerful parties or to influence

national ones. Fortunately, the one party system, common

to Africa, will enable them to identify closely with

national aspirations and to avoid the dangers of choosing

between competing programs or assuming a minority stance. 66

Wholesale emigration of the Asian community has,

therefore, been discouraged, and is much less likely to

happen than that of the Europeans. The Indian Government,

for its part, has adopted the policy of encouraging its

expatriates to become active citizens of their adopted

countries. 67

Nor is the Kenya Government anxious to lose the talents

and good will of its Asian population. One of the first

and most publicized foreign visits of a Kenyan dignatary was

that of Margaret Kenyatta, the Prime Minister's daughter,

to India in the spring of 1964. Later that year, eulogies

and memorial services for the deceased Mr. Nehru were

profuse. Many Nairobi shops were closed, witnessing not

only the reverence of their Indian owners, but the respect

66Ibid., pp. 45-47.

67~, July 11, 1964.

 165

of Kenyans generally, for at least one Indian of unsullied

integrity. 68

Europeans in Kenya have declined in number in greater

proportions than Asians. From a high of 61,000 in 1961,

their numbers decreased steadily to an estimated 40,000 at

the close of 1964. 69 Most of those emigrating have been

farmers whose lands have been purchased by Africans or by

the government. Newcomers have mainly been advisors or

employees of foreign businesses opening in Kenya.

Many Europeans are, however, determined to stay. Keuya

is truly their native land for those born and raised there.

While many have left in bitterness, white reaction to

living in an essentially African society has been surpris-

ingly optimistic.

Adjusting to new relationships is not always easy.

Individual Europeans have been summarily deported for ''mis-

representing the speech of the Prime Minister"70 or for

smashing a portrait of Mr. Kenyatta in a bar. 71 Others

68BAS, May 28, 1964.

69BAs, April 17, 1964.

70BAs, August 8, 1964.
71 BAs, January 31, 1964.
 166
have been similarly threatened for the unconsidered use of

the word "chap" in reference to Africans. 7 2

One European woman was standing in line with other

Africans to see an official. When someone stepped in out

of turn, she protestec:J,using the word "chaps," referring,

she said, to the entire group of waiters including herself.

There was immediate murmuring against her. The woman

wondered if language would have prevented the incident,

suggesting that the Swahili equivalent of "chaps" would

have offended no one. Her only desire, she asserted, with

a note of hurt, was to go about her business "in a spirit

of harambee" (brotherly cooperation). The story illustrates

both the frustration of well meaning Europeans and the

hypersensitivity of self conscious Africans.73

Other Europeans have experienced less difficulties.

Some, like Lord Delamare and Bruce McKenzie, the Minister

of Agriculture, have taken Kenyan citizenship. 74 The

latter, a South African by birth, perhaps best illustrates

the new spirit of Kenya Europeans. He believes that many

_, July 24, 1964.

72EAs

73!!!,, February 1, 1964.

74Africa Digest (London) February 1965, p. 102.
 167

white farmers are sorry that they left Kenya and adds,
''White morale is better today than at any time since 1960

(when Kenyan independence was first announced); there is

stability, more friendliness between the races and a

better political atmosphere."75

In 1965, when the white minority government of

Rhodesia was considering declaring unilateral independence

rather than succumb to British demands for a multi-racial,

and therefore predominantly African, constitution, fourteen

leading Nairobi Europeans issued a plea, urging the

Rhodesians to reconsider African demands. In a most

eloquent and authoritative testimony of the viability of

interracial nationhood, the signatories confessed,

" • • • we must readily admit that m.any of our fears (of

African government have so far proved totally unfounded."

They added that racial prejudice was nil, order was kept,

and the spirit of harambee prevailed in Kenya. 76

Nairobi, as the eye and capitol of independent Kenya,
seemed economically and humanly fit for her auspicious role;
but her assets were the culmination of the sweat and dreams
of seventy years.

75washington Post, April 3, 1966.

76BAs, October 22, 1965.
 APPENDIX

SUPPLEMENTARY AND ILLUSTRATIVE MAPS

168
 169

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 MAP VIII C.EN1RAL NAIROBI

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 177··
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 178

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NAIROBI: POPULATION G-RoWTH ~~cJ.

R.AGIAL C..OMP05 l T loN

,.,. . .
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOI'E

James Sm.art's Jubilee History of Nairobi is the most

comprehensive account of the city's past, but since it is

occasional in nature, written in 1950 to celebrate the

attainment of city status, it is undocumented, uncritical,

and largely anecdotal. The advertisements in the booklet

are nearly as valuable as the text. Walmsley's Nairobi:

The Geography of a New City affords an excellent descrip-

tion of present day Nairobi and its inhabitants. Thornton-

White's Nairobi Master Plan for a Colonial Capital (1948)

touches only briefly the city's history but gives a good

analysis of its socio-economic structure which is still

valid today.

The East African Standard, a daily newspaper published

in Nairobi since 1902 is the most valuable source of in-

formation on the city. It is well written and moderate

under the editorship of Kenneth Bolton, an English Liberal.

It was the organ primarily of the European minority until

the 1950's when it began to cover Asian and African affairs

in greater detail.
179
 180
The general history of Kenya and East Africa is

readily available. The best overall account is the recent

History of East Africa, edited by v. Harlow (1965). In-

terestingly, the earliest histories of Kenya are the most

critical of the country and the white settler dominance.

These include Ross' Kenya from Within; A Short Political

History (1927), Leys' Kenya (1925), and Salvadori's La

Colonisation Europeene ap Kenya (1938). All three authors

were one time residents of Kenya.

Elspeth Huxley's White Man's Country: Lord Delamere

and the Making of Kenya (1935), justly praised as good

biography and history, is pro settler. Born in Kenya, Miss

Huxley has authored many books and articles on East African

topics. Lipscomb's White Africans (1955) is an example of

the more defensive, conservative portrayal of the European

minority. An enjoyable and totally unpretentious memoir is

African Rainbow (1959) by H. K. Binks, a longtime Kenya

resident.
African writings are fewer in number and not always

relevant to the topic at hand. Nevertheless, Jomo

Kenyatta's famous Facing Mt. Kenya, first published in the

1930's when the author attended the London School of

Economics, provided insight into the Kikuyu who figure
 181

greatly in our narrative. It is interesting to contrast

this early anthropological work with the later speeches of

the now President Kenyatta as presented in Harambee!

(1964). Kuga Gicaru•s Land of Sunshine (1958) depicts

African grievances in the uncertain years of Mau Mau.

The other sources cited in the bibliography are

either of lesser importance for our purposes or are

sufficiently explained by their titles.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. SOURCE MATERIALS

A. Memoirs and Autobiographical Accounts

Binks, Herbert K., African Rainbow. London: Sidgwick

and Jackson, 1959.
Blundell, Sir Michael, So Rough a Wind; The Kenya Memoirs
of Michael Blundell. London: Weidenfeld and
Nicolson, 1963.

Carpenter, Frank George, Cairo to Kiswnu. Garden City:

Doubleday and Page Co., 1923.
Cranworth, Kenya Chronicles. London: Macmillan, 1939.

Gicaru, Muga, Land of Sunshine. London: Lawrence and

Wishart, 1958.
Huxley, Elspeth, The Flame Trees of Thika; Memories of an
African Childhood. New York: W. Morrow, 1959.

Huxley, Elspeth, A New Earth. New York: W. Morrow, 1960.

Huxley, Elspeth, With Forks and Hope: An African Notebook.

New York: w. Morrow, 1964.

Johnson, Martin E., Safari; A Saga of the African Blue.

New York: G. P. Putnam.a Sons, 1928.
Kenyatta, Jomo, Facing Mt. Kenya. New York: Vintage
Books, 1962.
Kenyatta, Jomo, Harambee! London: Oxford, 1964.

182
 183
Lugard, (Captain) F. D., The Rise of Our Bast African
Empire. 2 vols. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and
Sons, 1893.

Mitchell, Sir Phillip, African Afterthoughts. London:

Hutchinson, 1954.

Meinertshagen, Richard, Kenya Diary 1902-1906. Edinburgh:

Oliver and Boyd, 1957.

Roosevelt, Theodore, African Game Trails. New York:

Scribners, 1910.

Roosevelt, Theodore, European and African Addresses. New

York: G. P. Putnams Sons, 1910.

B. Documents

Great Britain. Colonial Office. F. D. Corfield,

Historical Survey of the Origins and Growth of Mau
.!!:!!· Cmnd. 1030. London: H. M. s. o., 1960.
Great Britain. Colonial Office. Annual Report of the
Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, 1948. London:
H. M. S. O., 1948.
Bast African High Commission. Bast African Statistical
Department. Statistical Abstract of the Colony and
Protectorate of Kenya. Nairobi: 1955, 1959, 1962.

Kenya Colony and Protectorate. Committee on Prevalence of

Crime in Nairobi and Its Neighborhood. Report.
Nairobi: 1932.

Kenya Colony and Protectorate. Survey of Kenya. Atlas

of Kenya. Nairobi: 1962.

Kenya Colony and Protectorate. Information Office. This

is Kenya. Nairobi: 1947.
Nairobi City Council. Abstract of Accounts. Nairobi:
1943-1944.
 184
c. Newspapers and Journals

British Colonies Review. (quarterly) London: The Times,

1953-1958. (vols. 2-7).

Commonwealth Today. (eight times a year) London: Central

Office of Information, 1950-1966. (vols. 1-16).

East African Standard. (daily) Nairobi: 1926-1966.

(vols • 24-64) •

The Times. (daily) London: 1910-1966.

The Washington Post. April 3, 1966.

II. SECONDARY WORKS

A. General Works

Farson, Negley, Last Chance in Africa. New York:

Harcourt Brace, 1950.

Oliver, Roland, and Fage, J. D., A Short History of Africa.

Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1962.

Pankhurst, R. K. P., Kenya: The History of Two Nations.

London: Independent Publishing Co., 1954.

Solly, Gillian, Kenya History in Outline, from the Stone

Age to 1950. Kampala: Eagle Press, 1957.

Wiedner, Donald L., History of Africa. New York: Random

Bouse, 1962.

B. Monographs

Bennett, George. The Kenyatta Election: Kenya 1960-1961.

London: Oxford, 1961.

de Blij, Harm. Dar es Salaam; A Study in Urban Geography.

Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1963.
 185

Dilley, Marjorie Ruth, British Policy in Kenya Colony. New

York: T. Nelson and Sons, 1937.

Forrester, Marion Wallace, Kenya Today: Social Pre-

requisites for Economic Development. 's-Gravenhage:
Mouton, 1962.

Hailey, Lord, An African Survey. Oxford, 1957.

Harlow, v., Chilver, E. M., and Smith, Alison (eds.),

History of East Africa. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1965.

Huxley, Elspeth, White Man's Country: Lord Delamare and

the Making of Kenya. London: Macmillan, 1935.

Ingham, Kenneth, A History of East Africa. New York:

Praeger, 1963.
Leys, Norman, Kenya. London: Hogarth Press, 1925.
Lipscomb, J. F., White Africans. London: Faber and Faber,
1955.

Marsh, Zoe (ed.), East Africa Through Contemporary Records.

Cambridge: 1961.

Marsh, Zoe, and Kingsworth, G. w., An Introduction to the

History of East Africa. Cambridge: 1965.

Orde-Brown, Granville St. John, The Vanishing Tribes of

Kenya. London: Seeley Service and Co~, 1925.

Ross, William McGregor, Kenya from Within; A Short

Political History. London: G. Allen and Unwin, 1927.
Salvadori, Max, La Colonisation Europeene au Kenya. Paris:
Larose, 1938.

Smart, James, A Jubilee History of Nairobi. Nairobi: East

African Standard, 1950.
Tempels, Placide, Bantu Philosophy. Paris: Presence
Africaine, 1959.
 186

Thornton-White, L. w. et. al., Nairobi, Master Plan for a

Colonial Capital. London: B. M. s. o., 1948.

Wood, Susan Buxton, Kenya: The Tensions of Progress.

London: Oxford, 1962.
Walmsley, Ronald Wesley, Nairobi: The Geography of a New
City. Kampala: Eagle Press, 1957.

Wraith, Ronald B., Bast African Citizen. London: Oxford,

1959.

c. Periodical Articles

Askwith, A., "African Housing in Nairobi," Journal of

African Administration, (July 1950).

Askwith, A., "Training for Local Government at the Jeanes

School," Journal of African Administration, (October
1951).
Askwith, "Tribalism in Nairobi," Corona, (Auaust 1950).

Eliot, c., "Bast African Protectorate," Athanaeum Review,

I, (March 1909).
Estes, D., "Mombasa and Bast Africa," Independent, LXVI,
(24 June 1909) •

Ghai, Dharam and Yash, "Asians in Bast Africa: Problems

and Prospectd," Journal of Modern African Studies,
III, (1, 1965).

Golds, J. II., "African Urbanization in Kenya," Journal of

African Administration, (January 1951).
Green, L. c., "Gateway to Sweet Water," Blackwells,
CCLXXXIX, (January 1961).
Gregory, J. w., "Expedition to llt. Kenya," Fortnightly,
LXI, (March 1894).

Gutkind, Peter c. w., "African Urban Family Life," Cahiers

D'Btudes Africaines, No. 10 (1963).
 187

Harris, N.,"European Expansion and East Africa," Forum.,

XLII, (September 1909).

Huxley, Elspeth, "Enigma of East Africa," Yale Review,

XLI, (June 1952).

Herskovits, Melville J., "The Cattle Complex in East

Africa," American Anthropologist, XX.VIII (1926).
Johnson, Martin, "Country Life in Africa," Country Life,
LIX, (December 1930).

Little, Kenneth, "West African Urbanization as a Social

Process," Cahiers D'Etudes Africaines, No. 3 (1960).
Keisler, Stanley, "Looking Ahead in Nairobi," Spectator,
CXCII, (28 llay 1954).

Norden, H., "Nairobi: Pioneer Capital of British East

Africa," Travel, (August 1926).
O'Connor, J., "Report from Kenya: Interracial College,"
Jubilee, X, (September 1963).

Rheinhallt-Jones, J. D., "The Effects of Urbanization in

South and Central Africa," African Affairs, (October
1963).

Salvadori, Max, "Back from Kenya," Contemporary, CLI,

(June 1937) •

Sanger, Clyde, and Nottingham, John, "The Kenya General

Election of 1963," Journal of Modern African Studies,
(March 1964).

unsigned. "African Social Welfare in Nairobi," Journal of

the Royal African Society, (January 1950).

- - - - · "Nairobi Round-up," Spectator, CXCI, (9 October

1953).

• "Trip up Uganda Railway and Across Lake Victoria

----
Nyanza," ~kwells,CLXXV, (May 1904).
 188

----,.- • "Twilight
(March 1964) •
of Dawn in Kenya," Round Table, LIV

• "What Africa Can Do for the White Man," Journal

----
of the Royal African Society, II, (1902-1903).

D. Guides and Handbooks

Yearbook and Guide to Bast Africa. London: Robert Hale
Ltd., 1951-1965.
Owen's Commerce and Travel and International Register
(Africa and the Middle Bast). London: Owen's
Commerce and Travel, Ltd., 1965.

B. Unpublished Theses
di Bartolomeo, Robert Edward. The Background of the Mau
Mau Movement, Master's Thesis: The Ohio State
University, 1957.
Masnaghetti, Frederick Charles. The Indian Problem in
Kenya Between 1919 and 1925. Master's Thesis:
The Ohio State University, 1950.