The Road to Independence

By the end of the 1950s, Britain's position in Kenya was weakening. The Mau Mau war had been expensive, and the Hola camp scandal of 1959, in which eleven detainees were beaten to death, caused outrage in the British Parliament. Ghana had become independent in 1957. In February 1960, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told South Africa's parliament that a 'wind of change' was blowing through Africa.

Africans had also gained a political foothold. In 1957, eight African members were elected to the Legislative Council for the first time, including Tom Mboya, Oginga Odinga, Ronald Ngala and Daniel arap Moi. Mboya also looked ahead: from 1959 he organised an 'airlift' that flew hundreds of Kenyan students to American universities, to train the people an independent Kenya would need.

In early 1960, the first Lancaster House conference in London agreed that Africans would hold a majority in the Legislative Council. Two parties formed. KANU, led by Kikuyu and Luo politicians, wanted a strong central government. KADU, led by Ngala and Moi, represented smaller communities such as the Kalenjin, Maasai and coastal peoples, who feared being dominated. KADU wanted majimbo, a federal system giving real power to regions.

Jomo Kenyatta was still in detention. When KANU won the 1961 election, it refused to form a government until he was freed. He was released in August 1961 and quickly became the central figure in the negotiations.

At the second Lancaster House conference in 1962, a compromise constitution with regional governments was agreed. KANU won the 1963 elections, Kenyatta became Prime Minister on 1 June 1963, and Kenya became independent on 12 December 1963. Almost every delegate was a man: Priscilla Abwao was the only African woman at the 1962 conference.

Land remained the hardest question. Under 'willing buyer, willing seller', settler farms were bought with British loans and resold. Land went to those who could afford it, not automatically to the landless people who had fought for it.