Kenya: The Road to Independence 3.0 Quiz

Answer: Autonomy for a Kenyan Free State

In addition to abolition of racist regulations, including prohibitions against Africans growing coffee and a set of pass laws (the "kipande" system) that were literally indescribable, the KAU pushed for legalization of trade unions, government assistance for farmers, and an increase in African representation on the Legislative Council from four appointees to twelve elected representatives. Even though neither autonomy nor independence were on the KAU shortlist, Secretary Griffiths rejected these aims essentially out of hand.

Answer: False

Kenyan and foreign scholars disagree as to where the term Mau Mau comes from, and the warriors did not use it themselves. What IS known is that there were no widely-attributed Mau Mau killings prior to the state of emergency being declared in 1952. Though subsequent Mau Mau killings were dramatically brutal, it does bear mentioning that only 32 white civilians (along with 2,000 African "loyalists") were killed by the movement, as opposed to 11,500 alleged Mau Mau killed (a very conservative estimate) and, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard Professor Caroline Elkins, around 1.5 million Kenyans detained in camps at one point or another.

The topic of Mau Mau has been well-covered in recent scholarship and is best addressed in its own quizzes. That being said, the basic facts are that Mau Mau began as a secret society in the Kenyan highlands known for the intensity of its oaths. These oaths were similar to those which had been administered by the KCA for years, but instead of grasping the relatively genteel Bible and clod of earth, the oath-taker would swear secrecy on the flesh of a recently-slaughtered goat. The unfailing promise of each oath was that, if the adherent revealed any secrets, the oath would kill him. According to Elkins, some Kenyans still lived in fear of these oaths into the 21st century.

Answer: He was found guilty and sentenced to "restriction" for life following seven years' hard labor

Kenyatta's trial is not usually considered one of the high points of British jurisprudence; there was no concrete evidence linking him to Mau Mau, and his conviction was essentially a political convenience. Though he may have had some influence with the insurgent forces (Harry Thuku credits Kenyatta with sparing his life during the killing of loyalists), Kenyatta gave a public address in Kiambu shortly before his arrest exhorting the masses to "search for Mau Mau and kill it." According to Fred Kubai, however, Kenyatta then met with the Mau Mau central committee, comprised mostly of KAU notables, who cautioned him to dispense with these lines of rhetoric. Realizing the extent to which Mau Mau had permeated Kenyan nationalism, Kenyatta was ambivalent about Mau Mau for the remainder of his career.

Answer: Immediate recognition of Kenyan home rule

Though these plans were very critical of colonial policy in the half-century preceding them and appear very progressive in context, they did not have permanent appeal to most Kenyan leaders who, in the wake of widespread internment and other abuses during the Mau Mau emergency, were by that time convinced that independence was the only tenable strategy for going forward.

As E. S. Atieno-Odhiambo puts it, Kenyans who were loyal to the crown during the Mau Mau revolts emerged as nationalist politicians agitating for African independence.

Answer: All of these

By way of example, Nairobi had over 100,000 Africans, but only 2,384 registered voters. Of these, 663 had three votes, 1,066 had two votes, and 655 had one vote. The British took particular care to disenfranchise the Kikuyu, Meru, and Embu ethnicities, as they had been the backbone of Mau Mau resistance.

Answer: Bob Marley

Longtime leaders Tom Mboya, Oginga Odinga, and Daniel Arap Moi were indeed seated on the Council. A notable absentee from this list was Jomo Kenyatta, who was still being detained by British authorities in 1960. He was released in August of the following year.

Answer: James Gichuru

Gichuru was elected with the understanding that he would defer the post to Jomo Kenyatta when Kenyatta was released from detention. This did indeed come to pass in October of 1961, two months after Kenyatta was freed.

One prominent leader who did not join the KANU was Ronald Ngala, a leader from the coastal region who feared that the Kikuyu would unfairly dominate the KANU. In response, Ngala organized the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), a more moderate group which, nevertheless, worked with the KANU on most important initiatives for Kenyan independence.

Answer: OXFAM

As historian Bethwell Ogot puts it, this system of settler buyouts (which involved investment of 7.5 million pounds sterling) "was seen in imperial as well as settler circles as the best guarantee against possible ravages of nationalist appropriation" that had wrought economic chaos in other countries.

Indeed, "it would take a daring government to offend the World Bank." The 1.2 million acres were allocated to 35,000 families. That being said, the greater portion of settler lands ended up being sold intact to more affluent Africans rather than apportioned. Thus, rather than a Jeffersonian agrarian idyll, the emerging Kenyan economy took on a class-based character not unlike that of most Latin American countries--but not a race-based system like the one that emerged in South Africa under Apartheid.

Answer: Lancaster House, United Kingdom

There were three Lancaster House Constitutional Conferences: 1960, 1962, and 1963. The second of these, chaired by newly-appointed Colonial Secretary Reginald Maulding, is usually regarded as the most substantive and is credited with the Kenyan constitution's creation. Of prime importance was securing the rights of ethnic minorities; as Kenya is a multi-ethnic state, these endemic protections against discrimination were foremost in the minds of both the British delegates and the Kenyan representatives.

The 248-page Kenya Constitution was published in April of 1963.

Answer: December 12, 1963

According to popular anecdote, Governor-General Malcolm John MacDonald turned to Kenyan President-Elect Jomo Kenyatta as the British flag was being lowered and asked him if he really wanted to go through with it. Kenyatta just laughed, and the characteristic black, red, and green flag of Kenya, complete with its depiction of shield and spears, was hoisted moments later. Kenyatta would go on to serve as president until his death in 1978.