Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 1905-63

Description

The author follows the story of the squatters farming the land in the 'White Highlands' at first unused by the Europeans. After 1923 the white settlers demanded more labour from the squatters and began to restrict their use of the land for cultivation and animal husbandry until by the early 1940s most of the squatters livestock had gone. Kanogo traces the squatters' increasing poverty and disillusion and their involvement in Mau Mau, particularly that of the women. North America: Ohio U Press; Kenya: EAEP Cover Series Page Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Glossary of Kikuyu and Swahili Terms used in Text Maps Introduction One: The Genesis of the Squatter Community, 1905-18 Land alienation among the Kikuyu The Kikuyu expansionist dynamic Factors behind Kikuyu migration Early labour recruitment The squatter system Kaffir farming Kikuyu migration to the Rift Valley Squatter settlement patterns Squatter accumulation: livestock The paradox of a labour shortage: squatter self-perception The other squatters Notes Two: Settlers and Squatters: Conflict of Interests 1918-37 The 1918 Resident Native Labourers Ordinance (RNLO) Additional labour legislation Settlers and squatter stock Settler differences over squatter stock 'Kifagio' Squatter resistance Squatter production in the inter-war years The sanctity of the White Highlands versus squatter assertion: from squatters to wage labourers Squatter insecurity Squatters and litigation Notes Three: Social Organisation among Squatters Elders' councils (ciama) Official opposition to the kiama Circumcision The struggle for education KISA and Karinga schools Self help among squatters: the quest for education Kikuyu Private Schools Association The missions Notes Four: The Crisis: Decline in Squatter Welfare 1938-48 The 1937 Resident Native Labourers Ordinance: provisions and implications Olenguruone The Olenguruone scheme Resistance at Olenguruone The Olenguruone oath Notes Five: Politics of Protest: Mau Mau Post-war political mobilisation KCA and KAU mobilisation Militant politics among the squatters The social basis of Mau Mau in the White Highlands The rise of violence Mau Mau food supplies: the women's war Mau Mau and the control of the Rift Valley The return of Kikuyu squatters to the White Highlands Notes Six: The Post Mau Mau Period: The Independence Bargain and the Plight of the Squatters, 1955-63 The Kenya Land Freedom Army Liberal European politics Land and politics The peasantisation of the White Highlands Notes Conclusion List of Informants Biographical Notes on Key Informants Select Bibliography Index