Kenya: Land, Settlers and the Roots of Mau Mau

In Kenya, land lay at the heart of the colonial conflict. From the early twentieth century, the colonial government reserved large areas of fertile highland, the so-called 'White Highlands', for European settlers. Many Kikuyu, the largest ethnic group in central Kenya, lost access to land; some became squatters working on settler farms, while the African reserves grew overcrowded. After 1945 settlers pushed squatters off farms, and returning soldiers and unemployed young people crowded Nairobi.

The moderate Kenya African Union, led from 1947 by Jomo Kenyatta, sought reform through constitutional means but made little progress. More radical activists began administering secret oaths to bind supporters to a movement for land and freedom, which became known as Mau Mau. Historians stress that Mau Mau was also partly a conflict within Kikuyu society, between those who joined the movement and those, sometimes called loyalists, who sided with the colonial government, often for reasons of land, faith or advancement.