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non–civil servants representing Kenya’s racial groups. The provisions of both constitutions were framed in advance so as to preserve the dominant European role in Kenya’s political order. Neither was constructed as a means to enhance African political influence, nor were they seen by officials in London and Nairobi as a means of engineering a smooth transition to African majority rule. Had it not been for the danger of losing African support during a critical period of the Mau Mau insurgency, the British government would not have appointed an African minister in 1954. African agreement to the constitutional terms, then and in 1957, was not even considered a priority. It was the European politicians’ acceptance of the constitutions that was deemed critical. It was thus not surprising that a key outcome of the process was their imposition by the British government. Kenya’s political elite, who for the most part did not directly negotiate, did not agree on the constitutional frameworks presented by the SofS. This was a significant characteristic of constitution making in the 1950s as well as in more recent times. It helps to explain why neither constitution had a long life. Rejection by African political leaders and the African population of the colony undermined both.
This and the strong opposition to multiracialism it provoked caused the British government and the leaders of the colonial state to change course during 1959, reversing their previous policies. The factors responsible for this were revealing. The change represented a victory for African nationalists, but for Britain and the colonial state, the change was aimed at preserving multiracialism. It was only the speedup of constitutional momentum in Tanganyika later in the year that finally caused the British government to change course and hasten the movement to African majority rule in Kenya.
At the first Lancaster House constitutional conference of 1960, multiracialism was largely discarded. Africans would now play the dominant role in Kenya’s political life, much sooner than envisaged as late as January 1959. The constitution that emerged from the conference reflected that fact, but it too was imposed by Britain rather than evolving as a result of interracial bargaining. The book concludes with an extensive description and analysis of this pivotal conference.