Independent Kenya / (In)dependent Kenya

150 Pages·1982·4.546 MB·English

by  Anonymous

INDEPENDENT
■WErEIIUEIl I
KENYA
Cheche
Kenya

•-rj « n j r) A 5 A J
i».. - ' ‘ ■ V
663 Maitland Street. London, panada WSY 2V9
A Note from the Publishers
This book was written by a group of courageous
Kenyans over a considerable period of time extending
from the very end of Kenyatta’s reign through the
early years of his successor. The Publishers have
decided to respect the authors’ intentions by
reproducing the text as it was written, with the
minimum of editorial changes, as well as rewordings
to take into account the laws of libel.

To All Those Who in Defiance Seek New Beginnings
Front Cover;
Hakuna Njia Hapa: Keep Out — Private Property
Cheche Kenya: The Voice of Kenya
dependent
Kenya
Authors: The Kenyan authors of this book have to
remain anonymous because they are still living
in their country.
y
Sponsored by the Journal of African Marxists
In solidarity with the authors
Published by Zed Press
Independent Kenya was first published by Zed Press, 57
Caledonian Road, London N1 9DN in 1982, having been
sponsored by the Journal of African Marxists, P.O. Box 35579,
Lusaka, Zambia and 57 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DN,
United Kingdom — in solidarity with the authors.
Copyright © Journal of African Marxists on behalf of the
authors, 1982
Copyedited by Anna Gourlay
Proofread by Mark Gourlay and Devdan Sen
Cover Design by Jan Brown
Cover concept by the authors
Typeset by Jo Marsh
Printed in Great Britain
All rights reserved
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Independent Kenya
1. Kenya—History—1963-
967.6’204 DT433.580
ISBN 0-86232-078-X
ISBN 0-86232-079-8 Pbk
U.S. Distributor:
Lawrence Hill & Co., 520 Riverside Avenue, Westport,
Conn. 06880, U.S.A.
Contents
Abbreviations <.fJ , „ , ix
Glossary of Swahili Words x
Introduction xi
1. Birth of Our Power: Should We Forget the Past? 1
The Colonial Past 3
The Settler Economy 4
World War II and After 6
The Mitchell Approach 8
The Birth of Our Power 9
Towards ‘Independence’ 12
2. KANU and Kenyatta: Independence for Sale 13
Big Boss Politics 14
Enter KANU 16
Militants and Moderates 18
Mitchell’s Children 21
Enter Kenyatta 23
Buying Back Our Land 24
Mtukufu Mzee 26
KANU in the Closet 28
Open Season on Militants 29
The West Closes In 31
Who’s Next? 33
3. Looters, Bankrupts and the Begging Bowl:
Our Plundered Economy 37
Origins of the Petit-Bourgeoisie 39
Thwarting of the Asian Bourgeoisie 42
Nyang’au at the Door 43
The Foreign Connection 47
The Folly of Import Substitution 49
The Landed and the Landless 53
The Coffee Fiasco 56
Commandeering the Surplus 57
Hakuna Kazi 60
The IMF Kiss of ‘Life’ 63
%
4. The Culture of Dependency: Hakuna Njia Hapa! 67
Kutumbuiza Raisi 68
Starving the Mind 70
No Groupings Allowed 73
Campus Farce 74
Ineptitude Rewarded 76
Commitment as a Subversive Concept 79
Saidia Maskini 80
Where Do We>Go from Here? 83
5. Conclusion: Twelekeeni 85
Appendixes: A Sampling of How the System Works
1. KANU: The Second ‘Dynamic’ Decade 93
2. The City Hall Smorgasbord 97
3. Living with Multinationals: Rivatex and Firestone 101
4. The Fertilizer Fiasco 104
5. Land Racketeering 106
6. Who’s Co-operating Here? 109
7. Feeding the Plutocrats: The Parastatals 111
8. Food Games 115
9. The University Meal-Ticket 117