Tag Archives: land question in Kenya and lessons for Uganda

The political, economic and social crisis that followed Kenya’s presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2007 especially in the Rift Valley Province calls for a clear understanding of the causes in order to prevent a recurrence of the conflict and to draw lessons for other countries such as Uganda.

An attempt to understand the background will have to begin inter alia with the question of land going as far back as the start of the 20^th century when the British decided to settle Europeans in Kenya. The British administration chose the most fertile land with a cool climate suitable for European settlement. People such as the Kikuyu and Masaai after their resistance was crushed were moved into overcrowded reserves. Their ancestral homes in the highlands and the rift valley became the “White Highlands”. The Africans felt that their land had been stolen and replaced with the bible.

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