EAST AFRICA: AN INTRODUCTORY HISTORY

Chapter 10 THE RISE OF NATIONALISM AND ACHIEVEMENT OF INDEPENDENCE IN EAST AFRICA: 1939–1963

Chapter 10 he period beginning with World War II and extending for some twenty years after its conclusion was one of momentous events for all of East Africa. In these years, Britain initiated her most ambitious efforts at colonial development. Many more schools, hospitals, and health centers were opened, and far more extensive attempts were made to spur agricultural production from African farmers than in earlier decades. Numbers of schools were increased at all levels, but perhaps most significant was the expansion of secondary and university education. Prior to the war, secondary schools in East Africa were few and far between. After 1945, and particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, secondary education expanded rapidly even though it came nowhere near to providing places to all secondary-age pupils. University education became possible in East Africa after the war, with the association of Makerere College with the University of London. Later the Royal Technical College was established in Nairobi as a second post-secondary institution serving all the East African territories, and finally the University College at Dar es Salaam provided a third. The colonial authorities envisioned a gradual transition to self-government after the war. Most British officials did not expect such a development much before the end of the century. Yet in less than twenty years, The Rise of Nationalism and Achievement of Independence in East Africa: 1939–1963 T The Rise of Nationalism and Achievement of Independence | 221 political power had been transferred to African hands in the mainland territories as independent governments took the place of the colonial states. The rapid decolonization of East Africa, as elsewhere on the continent, was the result of three distinct, yet interrelated sets of factors colonial, metropolitan, and international. By far the most influential was the emergence of increasing levels of discontent within the East African colonies themselves and the growth of nationalism as a powerful political force. In seeking to develop new policies appropriate to the past war era, policy makers in London were forced to take account of all three sets of factors. Officials at the Colonial Office thus sought after 1945 to work towards decolonization, but as a long term goal. There would be no great sense of urgency, but the Colonial Office wished to promote policies that would coopt and incorporate African political activists as a prelude for creating stable political systems that would eventually be modeled on that of Britain. At the same time, the British sought to promote economic development and welfare in the colonies as new initiatives after the war. Yet these new policy initiatives never took the form that Colonial Office policy makers intended. One reason for this was that hostility from colonial governors and European administrators in the field caused London to back off. Even more significant was the fact that in practice the need to promote economic growth and development took on a far greater significance than the promotion of welfare or democratization. This was largely because of Britain’s extreme economic difficulties after the war; thus Africa was made to support Britain’s attempted economic recovery. Also the concern, particularly on the part of the Kenya and Tanganyika administrations , to preserve what they considered the vital European economic role and to avoid provoking a settler rebellion led to far fewer opportunities for African political advancement being opened up there. These concerns led the metropolitan and colonial governments to adopt, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, policies in the 1940s and 1950s that were dubbed “multiracialism” or “partnership.” Future prosperity, it was argued, depended on the European and Asian populations remaining in East Africa and continuing to play a significant economic role. Preserving political influence through reservation of legislative council seats or artificial equality in representatives formed the practical application of the 222 | CHAPTER TEN policy. Nevertheless, multiracialism was basically undemocratic, and it proved a failure as a result of the almost unanimous opposition of the African majority. In the long term, the colonial emphasis on economic growth and development was far more significant. On the one hand, it brought about an enlargement of the scope and functions of each of East Africa’s colonial states. On the other hand, the policies designed to promote rural development instead helped provoke massive discontent and unrest among the rural population. The desire to promote rapid economic development led directly to what has been termed the “recolonization” or second colonial occupation of East...