En los colegios existen islas de comunicación mientras los unos hablan de

The declaration of war by Britain on Germany on 4th of August 1914 took East Africa by surprise. East Africa was the only part of British Empire to be invaded throughout the war. In the opening moves, the Germans under Von Let tow gained some advantage by occupying Taveta and part of Kisii making several successive raids on the railway (Bell, 1964:117-121). They were however repulsed by a contingent of British and South African soldiers. The British government later embarked on massive recruitment of Carrier Corps from the whole colony to be used against Von Let tow in Tanganyika. This war had a great effect on all sectors of the economy in both Kenya and Uganda. This is because many able bodied men were recruited to offer their services as Carrier Corps. Bell (1964:119), points out that, “there was no lack of recruits for the new battalions of the K.A.R and more than two hundred thousand Africans from all parts of East Africa joined the Carrier Corps: these men made an outstanding contribution to the final defeat of the Germans, and almost forty thousands of them lost their lives”.

Locally, brutal force was used by the chiefs and the headmen to recruit young men as Carrier Corps. These colonial agents had already the experience of recruiting forced labour for the settlers and government projects. Of course, it was not possible to mobilize all that labour without coercion. Consequently, most areas witnessed the worst form of forced conscription never known before. In Gusii, for example, youths were rounded up during cultural events; others were taken from their huts at night (Omwoyo, 1990).

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The chiefs and headmen used all manner of force to produce the required labour under strict orders from the DC at Nthinthiari. The Embu and the Mbeere contributed 1,745 as Carrier Corps in 1914 and by 1917, the number had rose to 9,507 (KNA/PC/CP/1/5/129:1914-17).

The effects of such large numbers of able-bodied men being uprooted from their homes were soon evident. After suffering in the war, they returned to face the Kithioro famine of 1918. According to informants, this severe famine is attributed to both the war and the construction of the Embu/Chuka road, which was constructed using forced labour at the same period (Ndunyu, OI., 2013). In most of the colony, the war years were ones of gloom and despair, partly because of the general upset of markets and partly due to the shortages of able-bodied labour (Gordon, 1946).In order to meet the war demand for food, the Embu market as mentioned earlier was fixed for every Friday. The Askaris were sent out two or three days ahead to warn the people so that the headmen from each division could send produce for sale in the market (KNA/PC/CP/1/5/129). As a result of the war, trade was upset and restructured, and owing to the famine it was almost at a standstill during the 1918/19 years. The Embu were impoverished, poor and hungry and agricultural produce fetched less money than in the pre-war years. The price of cattle equally dropped. Like in most parts of the colony, the prices of imported goods rose steadily and, to make matters worse, taxes, were raised during the war (Omwoyo, 1990).

3.8 Summary

It can be noted that Embu North Sub-County experienced significant changes from 1906 to 1920. These changes arose from the policies introduced by the colonial government after the area was controlled by the British colonial masters. From this analysis it can be deduced that the colonial labour organization altered the pre-

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colonial system of land ownership and crop production in Embu North. Although the system of land ownership did not change up to 1920, the organization in crop production whereby all members produced for the subsistence of the household was disrupted and the people had to adjust to new labour demands to be able to produce for the household. The experiments on new crop varieties in various parts of the sub- county were some of the methods used by the colonialists to help capitalism penetrate the area. This period of primitive accumulation was not unique in Embu North but was a replica in most of the colony. As indicated commodity production was to be encouraged throughout the colony while making sure the Africans were introduced into the money economy. Thus, most of the production was aimed for the market so as to sustain the colonial economy. In addition, taxes were levied with an aim of forcing the Africans out of their lands into wage labour.

In short, the policies pursued by the British colonial government during the early period were not intended to assist in the improvement of African agricultural economy, but to impoverish it in order to maintain and safeguard settler’s economic and political interests (Muchoki, 1988:32). To a certain extent, the expansion of African agriculture during the early colonial period can be attributed to the African initiative and response to the money and market economy rather than an outright result of government support. The colonial government at the period only embarked on primitive accumulation. Forced labour that was introduced in the early years coupled with the labour requirement of First World War, both impacted negatively on the system of land ownership and crop production. The removal of men far away from the household left women and children as the sole producers. Thus, by the close of 1920, the capitalist mode of production had slowly penetrated in Embu North through commodity production but the pre-capitalist mode was still dominant.

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CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 CHANGES ON THE SYSTEM OF LAND OWNERSHIP AND CROP PRODUCTION IN EMBU NORTH SUB-COUNTY, 1920-1945

4.1 Introduction

In this chapter the system of land ownership and crop production is discussed mainly in relation to economic and political policies passed during the period. The effect of these policies on land and crop production is the main focus here. This is the time when Kenya changed from a protectorate to a colony in 1920. This in effect placed policy and administrative affairs of the colony in the office of the Secretary of State for Colonies in Britain. The Governor was supposed to be the protector of African rights, especially, land rights, but since the inception of colonial rule the interests of the Europeans were paramount. As Lipscomb (1972:53), states “it was never assumed by even the earliest administrators of the protectorate government that the then accepted policy of paramoutcy of European interests meant the superseding of African interests in terms of land and the right of that land”.

This changed after 1923 with the Devonshire Declaration. It officially stated that ‘whenever the interests of the African people were in conflict with European or other immigrants races the African interests should be paramount’. The declaration gave the colonial office exclusive rights to act as the trustee for the Africans(Wangari, 2010:96).This was theoretical power given to the Africans since most of the policies passed this time were influenced by the settlers who had already been involved in policy decisions in their own affairs by the War Council of 1915. Hence, most of the policies passed between 1920 and 1946 were mostly in favor of the settlers, thus impacting negatively on the system of land ownership and crop production.

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The changes brought by these political and economic policies together with the two World Depressions of early 1920 and 1930 are discussed here in relation to their effect on the system of land ownership and crop production. The introduction of new crop varieties with their unique systems of production and labour demands of the Second World War impacted negatively on land utilization and the general crop production. Monetization, through increased commodity production for sale, therefore, transformed the Embu pattern of land ownership and crop production. For instance, more land was opened for production of marketable crops such as maize and potatoes. Thus, the period marks the total implantation of the capitalist mode of production in Embu North Sub-County, though not entirely dominant over the pre- capitalist mode. This affirms the theory that the pre-capitalist mode of production is not completely eliminated but keeps on reproducing itself in relation to the capitalist mode of production.

4.2 Effects of Policy Changes on Land Ownership and Crop Production, 1920-