Kenyatta and Kenyan Independence

Although Britain defeated Mau Mau militarily, the Emergency convinced it that settler rule had no future. At the Lancaster House conference in London in 1960, Britain accepted an African majority in Kenya's legislature, angering many settlers. Two main parties emerged: KANU, supported mainly by the Kikuyu and Luo, and KADU, representing smaller groups who favored a decentralized system called majimbo. Kenyatta, released in August 1961, became KANU's leader, and KANU won the 1963 election. Kenya became independent on 12 December 1963.

Kenyatta surprised many settlers by urging reconciliation and 'forgive and forget', and his slogan 'Harambee', meaning 'pull together', became the national motto. Britain financed schemes to buy settler farms and resettle African families, but critics argued land often went to the politically connected. KADU dissolved into KANU in 1964, and Kenya became effectively a one-party state, raising questions about how much independence had changed for ordinary Kenyans.