ON THIS DAY ·
Kenya gains independence from Britain
At midnight in Nairobi the Union flag comes down and Kenya becomes independent, ten years after the Emergency began; Jomo Kenyatta, once jailed as its organiser, is prime minister.
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The moment in context
Britain had decided to leave Kenya by 1960, and the remaining question was how to hand over power without losing its friends or its investments. Iain Macleod, Colonial Secretary, the British minister responsible for the colonies, from October 1959, chaired the first Lancaster House conference from January to February 1960, while Harold Macmillan told the South African parliament on 3 February that a “wind of change” was blowing through Africa. The Macleod constitution gave Kenya a Legislative Council of 65 seats, with 33 open seats in which African voters would decide the outcome and 20 seats reserved for European, Asian and Arab members. Settler hardliners called the result betrayal, while the moderate settler leader Michael Blundell accepted it. Political power had left the settlers’ hands for good, even though the land had not yet moved at all.
From Road to Kenyan independence, chapter 10 of Two Roads to Independence: Haiti 1789–1838 and Kenya 1895–1978 (1963).
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — The Emergency made settler rule unaffordable. The Emergency proved that settler power rested entirely on British soldiers and British money. Once the forest war was won, London faced the bill…
- The turn — Gatundu, August 1961. Kenyatta’s release to his home at Gatundu, on 14 August 1961, is the hinge because it settled who would lead independent Kenya and on what terms.…
- What it changed — Majimbo dismantled. Kenya became a republic on 12 December 1964 with Kenyatta as president, and KADU dissolved itself into KANU in November 1964. Amendments in 1964 and…
Then ask the room: Was Kenya’s independence granted by Britain or won by Kenyans? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
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