Kenya Now At Political Crossroads

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27917, 14 March 1956, Page 6

Kenya Now At Political Crossroads

(From a Reuter Correspondent)

NAIROBI. Kenya is in many ways now approaching a political cross-roads, according to many highly-placed observers inside and outside the Government. The question seems to be whether the Government will move with enough speed and determination to retain African goodwill and to exercise a guiding influence on the nationalist forces which many people believe are steadily gathering strength; or whether it w’ill be reluctantly forced along on a number of important issues so that to the majority of Africans “government” become synonymous with permanent European supremacy, leading to widespread resentment. The three-year war against the Mau Mau terrorists is fast running down as a purely military operation. Indeed, Intelligence sources consider that the militant side of Mau Mau, with less than 2000 terrorists left in the open and by no means all of them “hardcore,” has been defeated. At the same time, the basic aims of the Kikuyu, namely, self-govern-ment, more land, and the expulsion of the European from Kenya, or at least a great reduction in his present hegemony, remain unaltered. “Violence Does Not Pay” The Kikuyu have probably learnt their lesson that violence does not pay. But there is every precedent in Kikuyu history over the last 30 years, with outbreaks of violence flaring up in the reserves every five or seven years, for the belief that if the Kikuyu feel that they are achieving nothing byconstitutional means, then they will again resort to subversion, or some form of organised resistance. To suggestions like these the stock Government reply is roughly: The Kikuyu have always been schemers and plotters, with what amounts almost to an obsession for secret societies. They obviously have not changed in this respect, but with the present close administration in the reserves, and. for the first time, an elaborate intelligence system, little in the way of subversive movements will escape the Government’s attention.

There have already been indications that Mau Mau is going underground, or reshaping itself. At Manyani Detention Camp, where about 15,000 Mau Mau suspects are confined, I was told that a society called Kiama kia Aira, believed to mean Society of the Witnesses (of the Mau Mau rebellion) had been discovered in one or two compounds.

Some form of oath was said to be administered, and members were instructed to be obedient, confess enough of their past Mau Mau activities to give the impression that they were telling everything, presumably with the object of being “pipelined” through the camps as rehabiliated detainees, to the reserves and freedom.

Little more is known of this particular sect. Prison officers said that the society might have been imported or encouraged by radical, hard-core, Mau Mau convicts released after the completion of a prison sentence but still detained. The Ministry of Defence here, questioned about the movement and its significance, said that nothing was known of this organisation but investigations would be made.

At about the same time it was learnt that about the middle of last year 60 people had been arrested and detained in the Kikuyu Reserves for belonging to an organisation called Kiama kia Muingi, or Society of the Masses, which apparently was a passive form of Mau Mau, claiming to be constitutional and non-violent. Since then, according to Government officials, no more members of the society have been arrested and the movement appears to have been scotched. But experienced observers here say that with or without the existence "of deliberately subversive organisations, it Is only natural to expect organisations, carrying the banner of nationalism, to gain ground among Kenya Africans, and among the Kikuyu in particular, since they are the most politically active and tenacious of all the tribes in Kenya. Events in Gold Coast The Kenya African, they argue, is not blind to events in West Africa, where independence has been achieved in the Gold Coast, and will possibly soon be achieved in Nigeria. Nearer home, the Sudanese declaration of independence late last year cannot have passed unnoticed. Much will depend on the calibre of African leaders in Kenya, who are only now emerging, or still have to emerge. During the emergency African political development here has been almost at a standstill. But much more important, these observers think, are the steps that the Government is going to take in the direction of making the promised multi-racial society of Kenya more, “multi” and less “racial.” If the Kenya Government does not act in a way that will convince Africans of the reality of the “fairer shares” policy, they declare, then the present widespread goodwill of the Africans towards the Government will turn sour. One widespread subject of discussion is African representation on the Kenya Legislative Council. In the introduction to his official report, published in January, on the best methods of choosing African members for the Kenya Legislative Council, Mr W. F. Coutts, the Minister of Education, Labour and Lands, said: “The question of constituencies and the numbers of African representatives on the Legislative Council were specifically excluded (from his terms of reference) and I have been unable to comment on them, but I should like to record that by far the greatest concern was expressed by all witnesses regarding the paucity of African members on the Legislative Council, and therefore, that Africans were inadequately represented. “This point was made by every witness (1540 gave oral evidence) who appeared before me all over the Colony and seemed to have greater weight in the minds of Africans than the method of electing such representatives. although this in itself is important.”

The decision to increase African representation—at present there are six unofficial African members out of a total of 56 members—rests with the Legislative Council. This means, basically, that it is a Government decision. There is little doubt that most responsible people in Kenya realise the strength of the African demand. Whether action will be taken remains to be seen.