After independence, Kenya attempted to transform the inherited colonial institutions to serve the needs of the people. Nation building was the policy of eradicating ignorance, poverty and disease, the three enemies. Men of vision and men of public affairs to define the means to achieve positive results. Nation building was dependent on the development of sympathetic political and economic institutions. The people of Kenya hope that the attainment of independence would create a transition from the realm of necessity to that of building a democratic state strongly committed to Pan-African ideals and world peace. The benefits of economic and social development would be distributed equitably. Kenyatta announced that any discrimination based on differential treatment of tribe, race, belief of class would not be allowed. Every national, black, white or brown, would be given an equal opportunity to improve his life.
There would be equal political rights, wealth distribution, freedom or worship and no class would dominate another.
The radicals in KANU noted that Kenyatta would not bring radical change. He forgot freedom fighters of the forests and detention camps. He allowed self-seeking politicians to surround him.
KANU government faced several problems e.g. the leaders faced serious ethnic and ideological divisions, the Somali question in northern Kenya who wanted, to secede, KADU and African People’s Party were in opposition and had to be contained.
Economically, KANU government had to encourage development to meet the needs of the people, land shortage was real, scarcity of capital, resources and skilled manpower. The economy had to be expanded through industrialization, improved farming techniques and training of local manpower.
The economy was in the hands of expatriates who owned large companies, banks, hotel, extensive farms, shops and business. This imbalance had to be corrected to favour Africans without upsetting the expatriates. This was done through Kenyanization or indigenization.
Kenyatta, unlike Julius Nyerere of Tanzania articulated no particular social philosophy. There was continuity of the colonial economic policies, no major changes took place. he was an African capitalist. He relied on the civil service to carry out his policies.
Institutions such as the provincial administration, police and army were inherited from the colonial government. He retained European officers in the police force, provincial administration and even had a white minister, Bruce Mackenzie who held the strategic ministry of agriculture and Humphrey Slade, remained the speaker of the National Assembly and British troops remained a major asset to our government in case of any riots.
Kenyatta was a conservative supported by Tom Mboya, another conservative. They retained the principles and machinery of the British legacy. He ruled Kenya by manipulating ethnic factions and divisions. He used his strong ethnic base and civil service to achieve his ambitions. Power moved from the nationalists to Kenyatta who controlled parliament, judiciary and the cabinet. The constitution was amended to give all power to him. The detention Act 1966 took away the Bill of Rights as entrenched in the Rights as entrenched in the constitution. KADU and APP were lured to join the conservatives in KANU continued.
Land policy became an area of contention and Bildad Kaggia conscientiously tried to bring a land policy that could expand Kenyan economy and serve the interests of the landless and maintain confidence of the poor. On 5 September 1963 Kaggia wrote to the government and he stated:
“Everyone in this country is aware of the land hunger that has existed among Africans as a result of the robbery of the land by the British colonial imperialists. The logical method would be to nationalize all big estates owned by Europeans and make them state farms or hand them to cooperatives formed by landless Africans.”
He was advocating free land distribution to the landless, free education and free medical facilities for the people but Kenyatta and his government never listened.
On 22 May 1964 Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the prime minister wrote to Kaggia.
“I am seriously concerned at your repeated attacks on the Ministry of Lands and Settlement, and with your interference with land consolidation in Murang’a.”
Kaggia then resigned from the Kenyatta government in June 1964.
The radicals in KANU wanted free land, medical and education to be given to Kenyans but Kenyatta, Tom Mboya and others rejected this proposal. The radicals wanted rapid Africanization of the civil service and the economy and publication for a blue print for economic and social development, the demanded formation of E. African Federation, a new foreign policy and working class movement.
The pro-west conservatives led by Kenyatta and Mboya preferred a free-market economy in which the state supported laissez-faire capital accumulation.
To deal with the radicals, Mboya came up with the sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965, which advocated for mixed economy and African socialism. Kenyatta opposed any major change advocated by the radical socialists. The Europeans remained owners of huge estate plantations. By 1970 more than half of the European farms had been acquired by Europeans. The 70% of 1,185,299 acres of land was bought by Europeans and when the Mau Mau fighters refused land in the settlement schemes they were rounded up by police.
Odinga and his friends resigned from the government and formed K.P.U. in March 1966, a socialist party opposed to the way the government was operating its land and foreign policy. However, Kenya remained a one party state when KPU was banned in 1969 up to 1991
jerop5614 answered the question on January 2, 2019 at 17:50