The British Colonial Structure

Question 1

What was the hierarchy of the British colonial administration?

Answer 1

• Colonial Secretary - Based in London, Political head of the british colonial administration and overall coordinator of the colonial policies as passed by the British parliament
• Governor- Representative in the British colonies (Head of the administration in the colony)
• Provincial Commissioners Supervised the work of the District officers and District commissioners at the provincial level
• District commissioners - Coordinated the work of the District officer; implemented policies and laws at district level;
• District officers- Maintained law and order in the districts; took orders from the district commissioner; offered security
• Chiefs- Organised chief barazas and collected taxes; as a link between the people and the governor

Question 2

What were impacts of indirect rule in Kenya?

Answer 2

• Some African chiefs used their power to acquire wealth in terms of land and livestock.
• Appointed administrators facilitated the implementation of colonial rule irrespective of its effect on Africans.
• The policy of divide and rule was boosted. Africans were divided in tribal lines.
  Chiefs who were appointed were hated by those who rejected colonial rule irrespective of their effects on Africans.
• Creation of chiefs in the former stateless societies made them mediators between the rulers and the ruled.
• Most of the selected colonial chiefs lacked legitimacy and were rejected by the people. They saw the chiefs as instruments of colonial exploitation and oppression.
• There was spread of western civilization in most parts of Kenya in form of schools and hospitals.

Question 3

Why was direct rule used in Kenya?

Answer 3

• Britain wanted to ensure effective control over the Africans
• Britain desired to control the economy of Kenya to maximize profits
• The indigenous institutions/political institutions based on local chiefs had been destroyed during the British occupation of Kenya.

Question 4

Why indirect rule was used in Nigeria?

Answer 4

• Lack of enough manpower to control the entire Nigeria due to the fear of contracting tropical diseases such as malaria. West Africa was referred to as ‘the Whiteman’s grave’ before quinine was invented.
• The system was cost effective in that only a few British officials would be employed as the traditional leader would do most of the administrative work.
• Indirect rule would dilute African resistance to British rule for the local chiefs and elders who governed during the pre-colonial rule would continue to administer at the local level.

Question 5

Why did Indirect rule fail in Southern Nigeria?

Answer 5

• In 1915 Northern and southern Nigeria were brought under one system of administration inspired by the success of indirect rule in Northern Nigeria. Lugard tried to impose the indirect system on southern Nigeria. It failed due to the following

-Southern Nigeria had many ethnic groups with diverse political and religious systems as well as cultural differences. This made it hard to unite them all. This was in contrast with Northern Nigeria which had only two communities (the Fulani and the Hausa) who were Muslims.
- The communities despised the Yoruba traditional chiefs (obas) whom Lugard had given power
- The Egba chiefs in the south resisted paying taxes and this led to violent riots in 1918 and 1929.

Question 6

What were the positive impacts of indirect rule in Northern Nigeria?

Answer 6

• The traditional system of administration and justice was modernized in North Nigeria.
• African chiefs acquired wealth at the expense of their people e.g. large tracts of land and herds of livestock.
• In northern Nigeria, the people were protected by their leaders from foreign ideas e.g. Christianity, western education and technology. This made many jobs in the north to be taken by the educated southerners, the igbo This led to problems during independence when many of the Ibos lost their lives in the inter-communal violence.

Question 7

What were the negative impacts of indirect rule in Northern Nigeria?

Answer 7

• The new duties of the traditional leaders which included collection of taxes and recruitment of labourers made them very unpopular among their subjects.
• The local leaders lost their independence to the British making them resent the British.
• There was no communication with the African chiefs as the British could not understand the African languages. Instructions were not clearly understood.
• The chiefs and their councils usually disregarded what was unfamiliar to them and gave more attention to what they understood well.

Question 8

What were the reasons for direct rule in Zimbabwe?

Answer 8

• They wanted to acquire full control of the economy, so as to exploit resources such as minerals and farmlands
• The induna system had been disrupted during the British conquest of the area.
• It was used to ensure full control over the African communities.
• The B.S.A.C company officials had been stationed all over the colony.

Question 9

What was the effect of indirect rule used in Kenya?

Answer 9

• Some African chiefs used their power to acquire wealth in terms of land and livestock.
• Appointed administrators facilitated the implementation of colonial rule irrespective of its effect on Africans.
• The policy of divide and rule was boosted. Africans were divided in tribal lines.
  Chiefs who were appointed were hated by those who rejected colonial rule irrespective of their effects on Africans.
• Creation of chiefs in the former stateless societies made them mediators between the rulers and the ruled.
• Most of the selected colonial chiefs lacked legitimacy and were rejected by the people. They saw the chiefs as instruments of colonial exploitation and oppression.
• There was spread of western civilization in most parts of Kenya in form of schools and hospitals.

Question 10

What was the Land Apportionment Act of 1930?

Answer 10

• In 1925, the government established a commission to make recommendations on the future of 50 million acres of unallocated land in the colony. The finding of the commission led to the Land Apportionment Act of 1930 which became the greatest charter of Southern Rhodesia.
• The Act introduced rigid territorial segregation e.g. it divided land into whites and Africans portion, i.e. Africans cold not acquire land outside their set up areas.
• The minority whites acquired half of the best of the fertile land while Africans were settled in the harsh semi arid areas infested with tsetseflies and mosquitoes.

Question 11

What were the results of the Land Apportionment Act?

Answer 11

• It made Africans to migrate to mines, towns, European farms where they provided cheap labour. Here, they were molested and not paid.
• Led to land alienation i.e. 50 000 whites got 49 million acres of land. Africans got only 29 million. This led to overgrazing, soil erosion and land deterioration among the Africans.
• Widespread poverty among the Africans. Those in towns lived in slums and those in the reserves starved.

Question 12

What was the Industrial Conciliation Act of 1934?

Answer 12

• The act was designed to protect white workers from African competition e.g.
• Africans were prohibited from forming trade unions.
• Africans were made to offer labour at low wages for the benefit of European employors.

Question 13

What were the results of the Industrial Conciliation Act?

Answer 13

• The result was that Africans were reduced to manual labourers while the Europeans did the skilled labour.
• The poor living conditions of the African communities led to increased nationalist awareness among labourers. This too was intensified by the World War 2 in which African fought hard for the success of the British, just for the British to reward themselves with large tracts of land as African ex-soldiers became more oppressed.
• Africans became more agitated making the government to invite more settlers into Zimbabwe. The settlers began to agitate for the formation of a federation comprising Zimbabwe, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi)