This book relates a series of events leading from Kenya’s colonization through its emergence as an independent country. Beginning with the advent of Europeans in the late 1800s, it presents Kenya as a land of contrasts—in geography as well as people. Home to Arabs, Indians and Europeans as well as various African tribes, Kenya experienced strife throughout its colonial history. Gatheru discusses the viewpoint of the Kenyan people, enumerating the events and attitudes that led to the eruption of violence. Covered in particular are the economic, political and social policies Britain established toward its colonials. The role of Kenyan reform leaders such as Harry Thuku and Jomo Kenyatta in the country’s struggle for independence is also examined.
Although Gatheru is quick to establish that Britain’s original intentions were admirable, he reveals how the Mau Mau rebellion, which began in 1952, was the ultimate culmination of sixty years of increasingly destructive British policies. The closing chapters of the book deal with the granting of Kenyan independence in 1963, the aftermath of independence, and the plans of Kenya’s newborn government for dealing with the issues of labor, agriculture and land ownership.

The late R. Mugo Gatheru taught African and Middle Eastern history at California State University in Sacramento. He lived in Rancho Cordova, California.

R. Mugo Gatheru
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 244
Bibliographic Info: photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2005
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2199-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0814-3
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1
Introduction      5

1. People of Kenya      11
2. The Birth of Mistrust      16
3. Mistrust Flourishes      24
4. Death Wish Exploited      33
5. The African Response      39
6. The Kikuyu Central Association-Enter Kenyatta      48
7. Closer Union Versus African Paramountcy      57
8. Intercultural Relations, Part I      63
9. Intercultural Relations, Part II      72
10. The North Nyanza Gold Fields      81
11. The Kenya Land Commission, Part I      87
12. The Kenya Land Commission, Part II      93
13. “Star Chamber” Legislation      103
14. Tyranny Over the African Labor Force      112
15. The Crisis      121
16. Kenyatta Returns to Kenya      128
17. What Was Mau Mau?      138
18. The Psychology of the Oath      148
19. The Supremacy of Settler Politics Ends      159
20. The Turning Point-Enter MacLeod      168
21. Education as a Necessary Tool for Independence      174
22. Independence      181
23. Kenya and East African Economic Integration      198
24. Postscript      204

Chapter Notes      217
Bibliography      221
Index      229

“recommended”—Catholic Library World; “extraordinary”—The Overseas Pensioner.