SCRAM FROM KENYA -- TELLING THE STORY FROM DIVERGENT PERSPECTIVES James Franks of Fitzroy House 10 High Street Lewes BN7 2AD 01273 472962 email [EMAIL PROTECTED] recently released a book titled 'Scram from Kenya'. He says: "The book is concerned just with the transition of Kenya from colony to republic during the period 1946-63." Thanks to Mervyn Maciel for bringing this book to attention on Goanet.
Below is Franks' introduction to the book, which might be of interest to Goan expats with a 'Kenya connection': In 1989 Eliud Waweru, our Kikuyu driver in Kenya, shared with us his experiences and copies of Daily Nation. One issue of the newspaper contained an article about veteran Mau Mau leader Mwariama and his execution of a British soldier. It was Eliud who suggested that an objective and balanced account of the post-war years leading to Kenya's independence had yet to be written. 'Scram from Kenya!' is an attempt to fill the gap he saw. 'Scram from Kenya -- from colony to republic' is intended for readers in Britain, Kenya and elsewhere interested in the end of colonial power and the birth of a republic as experienced by people living in Kenya or were involved in the dramatically unfolding story. It provides core-reading, a record of events, rather than a scholar's analysis and is the sequel to Kenya; the colonial years, which explores developments, (outlined in the beginning of this book) from 1895, when Kenya became a British protectorate, until 1946 when the Second World War came to an end and Jomo Kenyatta, a potential leader of an independent republic, returned home to Kenya from England. The Kenyan experience can be viewed as a microcosm in a single colony of the end of the British Empire. In a speech made at a Conference of All-African People in December 1958 Tom Mboya, one of the foremost Kenyan black African leaders, called for solidarity and urged delegates; "tell these colonial nations -- your time is past, Africa must be free, scram from Africa". Five years later Britain did, indeed, "scram" from the colony and Kenya gained its independence. A superficial perusal of the Sources section of the book indicates that there is no shortage of books about Kenya. This account draws on published materials, but it also includes hitherto unpublished accounts of some 60 people, black, brown and white who were involved in these momentous events. Audio-taped interviews, biographies, diaries, contemporary correspondence and documents are used to construct an account of significant happenings in forest, farm, Nairobi streets and political chamber. Two aims have been uppermost in the mind whilst writing. First, that people, all too frequently in conflict, should be at the centre of the story. Secondly, that all sides should be presented in a balanced account. So it is, for example, that conflict in the forest draws on accounts by people such as Njama, Wachanga and Mwariama for Mau Mau and Campbell and Kitson for the British military. Nellie Grant, Joan Scott and others provide the white farmers' perspective. On the political front Odinga, Mboya, Kaggia, Blundell, Baring and Mitchell, to mention just a few names, provide views of political developments while the Indian/Asian community and Administration are also represented. Some contributors, most of those mentioned above and others, provide strands which are unbroken for years on end and are central to the plot, others provide ephemeral local colour. The index should help in tracing strands. In the introduction to his autobiography one of the Mau Mau leaders in the forest suggests that another leader wrote about events as he would have liked them to be rather than as they were. All writers have their own perspective and apply their own gloss, none is completely objective or impartial. Memories are notoriously unreliable and some times people do not tell the truth. Most have a case to make and interviewees tend to say what they think the researcher wishes to hear. Readers should continually note the source and draw their own conclusions. Although 'Scram from Kenya!' is concerned principally with the struggles to bring about change from colony to republic, the opening chapter paints the background against which the change may be understood. The epilogue attempts to draw together the wealth of material researched and present questions, hypotheses and assessments. References and footnotes are given after the epilogue. The Sources and Acknowledgements sections indicate the breadth and scope of available information for research, by no means all of it used in this text. -- James Franks 'Scram from Kenya -- From Colony to Republic 1946-63' can be ordered from James Franks, Fitzroy House, 10 High Street, Lewes, England, BN7 2AD (Tel/fax 01273 472962, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- priced UKP 18 per copy plus p&p within US UKP 4.50, Europe UKP 6, outside Europe UKP 10. Paperback UKP 14 plus postage. Please state if you wish copy/ies to be signed and indicate if you would like additional wording. 'Scram' is the sequel to 'Kenya -- the colonial years 1898-1946', which is not in print but planned for publication in 2005. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOANET-READER WELCOMES contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the 7000-strong readership of the Goanet/Goanet-news network of mailing lists. If you appreciated the thoughts expressed above, please send in your feedback to the writer. Our writers write -- or share what they have written -- pro bono, and deserve hearing back from those who appreciate their work. GoanetReader welcomes your feedback at goanet@goanet.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goanet, 1994-2004. Building community, creating social capital for a decade. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
