Kenya and Kenyatta:
MBOYA, TOM
Kenya and Kenyatta British unwillingness to release nationalist leader endangers limited self-government in East African colony By Tom Mboya British colonial officials recently formed a...
...How could a man who has been under guard since 1952 be associated with atrocities committed during his imprisonment...
...First, he can rule through stooges— a majority put together with the help of appointed members of the Legislative Council...
...The charge of tribalism is especially misleading...
...It fails to meet the aspirations of our people and is out of line with popular, constitutional and political developments in neighboring East African countries...
...The British Government and its American friends have suggested that Kenyatta is unfit to lead a modern state in order to justify his continued detention and the maintenance of colonialism in Kenya...
...The present Lancaster House Constitution, agreed on in London in February 1960, is already outdated...
...By frustrating East African nationalism, the British hope better to contain the situation in the Union...
...A whitesettler judge was brought out of retirement for the express purpose of presiding at the trial, and then promptly retired again...
...Principal witnesses at the trial have since confessed that they were bribed to give evidence: one received $5,600, another a two-year government scholarship to study in England, a third some property...
...It was unfortunate that South Africa was given the opportunity to withdraw from the Commonwealth...
...We reaffirmed our stand after an interview with Kenyatta on March 23...
...In February of this year, elections for the new Legislative Council were held in Kenya...
...My party, the Kenya African National Union, won a majority of the seats for which it was allowed to run candidates, and was asked by the British to cooperate in forming a government...
...In any case, we object to being used as a pawn in Britain's schemes' for Central Africa and its efforts to make South Africa more palatable to the British public...
...We would rather destroy what we have and start anew than maintain privilege for others under the guise of economic stability—a stability that is meaningless to most Kenyans but provides power, security and stability for the European minority...
...it should have been kicked out...
...It was broadcast locally over WLIB...
...For our part, we are heartened by the progress being made in the area, particularly in Tanganyika, which three weeks ago won internal self-government with its own prime minister and will become independent December 28...
...The other factor affecting my country is the split in the British Conservative party...
...All this talk about Kikuyu tribalism or Kikuyu domination is a lot of nonsense...
...Illustration by Emily Schorr Elman...
...The article is adapted from a speech that Mboya, one of the Dark Continent's outstanding young leaders and an advocate of a democratic Africa, delivered during his recent visit to New York under the auspices of the America Committee on Africa...
...As for the second possibility, I doubt that any African nation, particularly Kenya, can now be governed by decree...
...Second, he can suspend the Constitution—as he did when he was Governor of British Guiana— and rule by decree...
...He was arrested October 20, 1952 with other African leaders, and has been in prison or under detention in remote parts of Kenya ever since...
...We believe Kenya is ready for independence and we are prepared to discuss a constitution that provides for immediate internal self-government and full independence later this year...
...But what sort of economic progress are we making now...
...In this article, Tom Mboya, head of KANU and Secretary General of the Kenya Federation of Labor, discusses the problems and pitfalls that beset his country in its evolution toward independence...
...One more fact about Kenyatta needs clarification: The press has been negligent in printing the actual facts about his arrest, trial and detention...
...The white settlers have an annual per capita income of $2,800 while Africans earn an average of $90 a year...
...Economic considerations are also given as an excuse for maintaining colonialism in my country...
...There are those who say Kenya's present course will lead to economic chaos, a decline in investments and perhaps even a flight of capital from the country...
...it is a great pity that some people engage in this kind of destructive talk and try to thwart our efforts to unite the country against colonialism...
...Kenya and Kenyatta British unwillingness to release nationalist leader endangers limited self-government in East African colony By Tom Mboya British colonial officials recently formed a government in Kenya without the cooperation of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), the nation's leading party...
...Our position remains the same now, regardless of the stand taken on April 18 by the country's other African nationalist party, the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), which decided to cooperate with the British...
...This impression can be confirmed by the group of journalists who met him on April 11...
...The Mau Mau atrocities with which he is linked did not occur until 1953-54...
...Even in the United States, we have been asked why we accept Kenyatta as our leader...
...As long as we refuse to cooperate, Sir Patrick is left with two choices...
...The British may be trying to slow down political developments in Kenya for fear that 'the granting of immediate independence would upset their plans for the Central African Federation and their future relations with South Africa...
...It remains the same, too, despite the decision of Governor Sir Patrick Renison, who formed a government on April 27 and gave the KADU three of the eight posts in the Council of Ministers (cabinet...
...The present difficulties in Kenya are due, in part, to the anti-Kenyatta propaganda campaign being waged by the British press and Government (duplicated, to some extent, by the American press), and to certain political forces within the British Conservative party...
...Union would be impossible if some territories become independent now while others must wait for several years...
...A federated nation would also carry more weight in Pan-African and general international affairs than small, individual states...
...Those who harp on the issue of tribalism do so to perpetuate it while we are trying to eradicate it...
...If there is need of proof of Kenya's growing unity, it was provided in the February elections...
...If the Governor attempted it, there would be painful consequences for all concerned...
...I categorically deny all these charges...
...If "economic development" means continuing this pattern, "chaos" would be preferable...
...I am a member of the Luo tribe, and only about 20 per cent of the voters in my Nairobi constituency are members of my tribe, but this had no effect on the election's outcome...
...It would contribute much to a vigorous and expanding African economy, far more than if each one of the countries tried to go it alone...
...The Kenya African National Union said then that unless Kenyatta was unconditionally released and allowed to head our first government, we would not cooperate...
...A group of us saw him only a few weeks ago and found our 71-year-old leader to be fit, vigorous, alert, well-informed and capable of leading our country and its people...
...This policy makes us wonder why Kenya should bother to remain in the Commonwealth after independence...
...We are aware of our problems, of the shortages we face and of the challenges that lie ahead...
...But we are determined to meet them, and we know that the only way we can do so effectively and give real meaning to our independence is through a government truly representative of our people and answerable only to them...
...Our people are no longer willing to tolerate a government of stooges...
...We are disturbed that the British government is determined to maintain the same economic privileges and trading conditions in South Africa that it enjoyed before the Union's withdrawal...
...We refused to participate in any government until our leader, Jomo Kenyatta, was freed from detention...
...Federation is economically and politically desirable...
...Kenya is as capable of selfgovernment as Tanganyika and Somalia, and any possible future federation would be easier if all the countries moved along together...
...I think Kenya has a future, but it must be created by the Africans and not by the white settlers or by the British...
...As we see it, there is only one road open to the British government: to release Kenyatta and open discussions on a new constitution...
...British and American newspaper articles have accused Kenyatta of being senile, an alcoholic and tribalistic in his outlook...
...I am convinced that when independence comes we will be in a position to attract new investment and to establish a prosperous economy...
...We believe, however, that constitutional development should be uniform in the East African territories...
...Kenvatta was later tried before a specially commissioned British court on charges of inciting trouble against the white settlers...
...In fact, Kenyatta is the man who has done the most to make Kenya a united, national community, with tribal boundaries and differences erased...
...Some of the party's wild men are determined to oust Colonial Secretary Ian Macleod because they think his policies are too progressive and might bring too rapid an end to British colonialism in East and Central Africa...
Vol. 44 • May 1961 • No. 21
