The Uganda Railway

In order to open up the territory, the British had to establish better means of transport and communication.
This led to the construction of the Uganda railway. The need to construct the Uganda railway started with ideas of William MacKinnon who was in charge of the imperial British East Africa Company.
The railway started in 1895 and was completed in 1901.
It was called Uganda railway because it linked Uganda to the outside world.

Uganda Railway during the Colonial Period

Reasons for Building the Uganda Railway

• To link Uganda with the Kenyan coast and the outside world.
• To enhance maximum economic exploitation of the east African protectorate.
• To facilitate quick and efficient movement of administrators and troops.
• To stop slave trade and promote legitimate trade.
• To enable Britain protect her strategic interests of the source of river Nile in Uganda.

Problems encountered in the Construction of the Uganda Railway

• The British had to impose skilled and unskilled labour from India.
• Resistance by some African communities who did not want the railway to cross their land such as the Nandi.
• Imposition of materials from abroad increased the cost of construction.
• The man eating lions of Tsavo killed many workers.
• Scarcity of essential supplies, for example water and food particularly across the dry wasteland.
• Tropical diseases such as malaria claimed the lives of railway builders.
• The escarpments of the rift valley posed engineering challenges to the railway construction.
• Jiggers were a problem to the Indian workers who were walking bare feet.

Effects of the Construction of the Uganda Railway

• Development of urban centres to replace urbanization.
• It opened up the interior of Kenya to the outside world.
• It facilitated the coming of white settlers to Kenya who introduced new methods of farming.
• The settlers occupied the fertile highlands which made some Africans landless.
• The Indians who had come as railway workers settled in Kenya permanently.
• It promoted both local and international trade.
• It encouraged construction of other means of transport and communication such as roads.
• It led to the redrawing of boundary between Kenya and Uganda.
• It led to the transfer of the capital of Kenya from Mombasa to Nairobi.

Settler Farming in Kenya

Colonial government encouraged white settlement in Kenya.
Some of the reasons why they encouraged it include;

• The colonial government encouraged the white settlers to make Kenya a white man’s country since they would form the backbone of the economy.
• To help finance the administrative cost.
• To produce the raw materials for British industries.
• The Africans lacked funds and skills of large scale farming.
• Check Asian migration ad influence by settling more whites.
• To pay for the construction cost of the Kenya Uganda railway.

Methods used to promote settler farming in Kenya

• Provision of land by the government.
• Improved transport and communication network.
• Formation of cooperatives for marketing their goods.
• Provision of security.
• Banned Africans from growing cash crops.
• Provided agricultural extension services to settlers.

Problems faced by the white settlers

• Constant raids in the farms by the local communities for example the Nandi and the Maasai.
• Many Africans were not willing to offer labour.
• Settlers lacked basic knowledge, skills and experience on agriculture.
• Shortage of funds to buy farm inputs and machinery.
• Poor transport and communication network.
• The settlers lacked knowledge about the seasons.
• Pests and diseases affected crops and animals.

Cash Crops

The white farmers introduced cash crops and exotic breeds of livestock in Kenya.
They included coffee, tea, wheat and sisal.
Wheat was introduced by Lord Delamere in 1903 around Njoro.
Coffee was first planted in Taita Taveta before being moved to Central Province where it became very prominent.
Tea was introduced in Kenya in 1903 at Limuru by Messrs Caire.
Sisal was introduced in 1893 from Tanganyika by Richard Hindrf.

Colonial Land Policies

The colonial government encouraged white settlers in Kenya through creating land policies that legalized annexation of land from the Africans for white settlement.
The government alienated land to enable the settlers establish large scale farming.
This was done by passing legislation legalizing the annexation of land through legislative councils.
Some of the land policies passed included;

• Indian Acquisition Act of 1896, empowered the government to take over land for the construction of the railway line.
• The Land Legislation Act of 1897 which enabled the government to offer certificate of occupation.
• The 1907 East African Order in council which defined crown land as all public land which is not private and the government would take it at will, sell it or lease it.
• The Maasai Agreement of 1904 pushed the Maasai to Laikipia and Ngong reserves. Settlers were encouraged to take up the Maasai land for farming.

Effects of Land Policies

• The Africans lost their land.
• Africans were pushed to the reserves, for example the Maasai.
• Land alienation stopped widespread migration and settlements of the Africans.
• Led to the introduction of the Kipande system.
• Many Africans become squatters and laborers in European farms.
• Led to the rise of African nationalism and the struggle for independence.
• Introduction of taxes to ensure Africans worked for the whites.
• Improvement of agriculture through the introduction of cash crops.

Health and Education

Aims of Missionary Education

• Offer basic literacy skills to enable Africans read the Bible and to do simple arithmetic.
• Enhance the spread of Christianity by training some African catechists.
• Teach Africans basic technical skills for example, carpentry.
• Teach Africans better methods of hygiene.
• Teach Africans agricultural skills to promote European farming.

Development of Education

Education during the colonial period can be divided into three levels namely elementary, secondary and university.
The development of education followed the given stages below;

• 1840s - The first schools in Kenya were started at Mombasa and Rabai by missionaries Krapf and Rebmann.
• Upto 1910 - missionaries established schools without government assistance and the education offered did not have a syllabus, formula or certificate.
• 1911 - colonial government started an education department that started the first government schools and drew a syllabus to guide the type of education in Kenya.
• 1925 - Githunguri Independent school opened as part of independent schools opened by Africans.
• 1926 - an Alliance of protestant churches started Alliance High School to kickstart secondary education.
• 1940 - there were secondary schools in Kenya controlled by different Christian missionaries. Among them were; Alliance, Mang'u, Maseno,Kagumo, Kibianga, St. Mary's Yala and Shimo la Tewa, Kagumo High school.
• 1949 - Makerere University, the First University in East Africa was started.
• 1963 - Makerere, Royal College Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam merged and formed the University of East Africa.
• 1971 - Each of the three became an independent university. Royal College Nairobi is today's University of Nairobi

Royal College Nairobi in 1962