In 100 years, Kenyan president will be Asian

A house in Nyandarua County formerly owned by a pioneer soldier settler General A.R Wainwright (1879-1970). [XN Iraki]

In a few days 2019 will be over. Instead of looking back at what has happened in the last one year, we can look 100 years into the past. Why limit ourselves? We can connect dots and explain how events that took place a century ago still reverberate to this day.

In 1919, WW I had just ended and soldiers were going back home. But the British soldiers took a longer route home, through Kenya and other colonies. It is the year when the first British soldier settlers arrived in Kenya and took up the ‘white highlands’.

There were pioneers like the missionaries and Afrikaan (Boers) before them. They found ‘empty land’ because they seemed oblivious of nomadism.

I would love to get a first-hand story from these soldiers; how did they survey the bush land, teeming with wildlife? Who made money from wildlife trophies? What did they think of the indigenous people such as the Maasai? How different were their views from those who encountered the Aborigines or Native Americans?

The new settlers tried to farm the land with all sorts of crops from wheat to barley and flax. But their mainstay seems to have been dairy, going by the number of Kenya Co-operative Creameries plants scattered around the country. They made cheese - but for curious reasons, we never developed love for it.

How did the new settlers decide where to live? They used lottery and history. They wanted land that resembled their homelands. If you have been to England, you will notice how a trip from Gatwick to London looks like Limuru to Nairobi.

Another factor less spoken about is the mosquito, which was rare in the white highlands. Global warming is real; mosquitoes are making it to the white highlands. We could add Trans Nzoia and Kericho area to the region.

Some Britons came through India and may have learnt something from there too. I have curiously noted a number owned two farms, one in the lowlands like Laikipia and another up the mountains like Aberdares. Did they borrow a leaf from the concept of summer palace in Srinagar, Northern India?

The settlers had to do a lot of improvisation, such as using mud to build their houses. One such house built by Geoffrey Buxton in 1906 still stands in Happy Valley, Nyandarua. They used shingles to roof their houses, trees were plenty.  But is improvisation not what soldiers are taught to do?

It was in 1919 that the first batch of Happy Valley residents arrived. They joined the rolling 20s which gave us jazz, the car, the movies, telephone, radio, aviation and electrical appliances. The Western world was ventilating after an exhausting WWI.

The rolling ended with the great depression of 1929. In Kenya, the rolling 20s went on till the mysterious death of Lord Errol in 1941.

One year later in 1920, Kenya became a colony. The events that followed reverberate to this day. The borders of Kenya colony and protectorate in 1919 remain the same. The political and economic systems set up by Britons have remained, with cross-pollination from other countries, particularly the USA.

We still see ourselves as tribes, not a nation, despite 125 years since Kenya became a protectorate in 1895. We are still superstitious with witchcraft mentioned often. We have never imbibed the ethos of capitalism, thinking money grows on trees and the related corruption.

We never learnt the value of work from 43 years of colonialism. After independence we have kept off work and still complain of lack of jobs and muted economic growth.

After 100 years, we replaced our traditional systems with a mix of old and new. Paradoxically we have decided to go Western full blast. The number of kids whose first language is English is on the rise. Few children can recall a proverb or a riddle from their community. What Britons tried to eliminate using education and religion, we are doing it ourselves willingly and with pride.

The truth is unlike USA that set up her own political and economic system after their independence. We are still experimenting. Do you recall Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” published the same year USA got her freedom? Globalisation found us still trying things out. We tried single party, command economy, harambee and African socialism.

China has found us trying things out. Without superordinate goals and national philosophy (what replaced Nyayo Philosophy?), we have become receptive to new forces, both economic and ideological. These new forces are replacing the shaky foundations of 1919 and 1920s and now shaping our new destiny.

External forces

We are now receptive to Eastern - read Chinese - economic ideas, but not their cultural ideas. We are still Western in thought and deed. With no ‘core owners’ like Western Anglo Saxon and Protestant (WASP) in USA or monarchy in UK, Kenya is now like the 1919 when anyone seeking adventure came calling. Which nationality is not in Kenya today?

One hopes this influx will dilute our local rivalries, bring diversity of ideas without unintended consequences to the indigenous people. Remember South America? Why has it not grown as fast as North America?

It is amazing that 100 years after the first soldier settlers landed ashore, we are still being shaped by external forces. Going by our hatred of new ideas except sensational ones like “twa twa”, we shall continue being shaped politically and economically by external forces.

Incidentally, our new constitution and BBI are very inward looking.

By 2063, 100 years after independence, Kenya will be a different country; more global and more South American with new owners. I will not be surprised if our president by then will be either an Asian or Caucasian. It is another question if we shall celebrate or weep over that.

The writer is Associate Professor at the University of Nairobi