THE WAKAMBA AND THEIR CATTLE
Commonwealth and Foreign
By CLELAND SCOTT
Nanyuki, Kenya.
THE protest of the Wakamba tribe, in Kenya, against the decree that the number of their cattle must be limited, because of the grave effects of the soil erosion which the excess of cattle causes, is being pursued with vigour if not with enlightenment. The conflict has odd features.
For years the Kenya Government and the Colonial Office have been accused of doing nothing to help the white settler ; it is, therefore, slightly ironical when both have attempted to assist the future of a black race that that particular tribe should object. It is this word " future " that has caused the bother. The average native is interested only in the present. He is quite intelligent enough to grasp that if he continues to breed more stock than his land can carry, then, presently, he will possess only a desert on which to graze them. But he is by nature an optimist and hopes, Micawber-like, that some- thing will turn up and obviate the necessity of getting rid of his surplus stock.
In this instance Government has not only meant well, but has begun, rather late in the day, to take action. The trouble is that the Wakamba natives have not understood, or rather will not understand, the urgency of the problem of soil erosion. It is always difficult to induce someone to do something that he dislikes, especially when the good will not be immediate. No one pretends that it was an easy position for Government, but evidently the firmness of its determination to de-stock the Ukamba reserve has not been fully realised.
In order to help to compensate the Wakamba for the destruction of economically valueless beasts, forced sales did not begin until Liebigs began to operate in Kenya. As can be imagined, agitators quickly seized their chance and said, " See ; the musungu (white people) have begun another business ; they want cheap cattle for this canning factory, so the Government pretends you have too many cattle in order that the company can get plenty of cheap animals "- a perfect example of a half-truth and a misrepresentation. Had not Liebigs been ready with a factory the price obtained would have been much lower than it has been -; further, the de-stocking campaign was decided upon before Liebigs opened. Stock came in very slowly ; Liebigs closed down ; more pressure was brought to bear on the Waltarnba and Liebigs opened again—further gratuitous ammunition for the agitators. Certain sections of the tribe refused to produce their quota ; police patrols went out and got them—still more fuel to put on the smouldering fire. Result, two thousand .Wakamba, half of them women and children, walked into Nairobi demanding to see the Governor, and insisting that the sales should cease.
One must remember that to the Wakamba cattle are currency—admittedly in many cases fairly debased currency, but then have not many white countries devalued their currencies ? A. cow is a cow, however little milk it may give, and however undersized may be its calf ; wives are bought and sold for a certain number of head of cattle. Consequently it is evident to the Wakamba mind that Government is trying to upset their whole way of life.
The Wakamba are a good tribe, plucky, loyal, many of them inveterate poachers of game, but withal men. The rank and file of these two thousand are merely being worked on by agitators. Should you go and talk to the mass in Nairobi a young European-clothed man will soon see to it that you do not talk to the true peasant. Large numbers of the police and King's African Rifles are Wakamba, and they are remaining loyal throughout, a good enough tribute to police and military discipline, which can hardly be " brutal," or they too would revolt.
To a certain extent Pax Britannica must be held responsible for the situation. It is certainly not due to- white settlement as such, for the Wakamba reserve is substantially the same as the area occupied by the tribe long before any • white man set foot in Kenya. Through the prevention of disease cattle have increased ; rinderpest—to speak only. of that— no longer wipes out thousands of head as it once did, thanks to the efforts of the veterinary services. This problem of erosion would have arisen in any case ; it has merely been hastened. Had the British Government not annexed British East Africa, as it was called in the past,. the various tribes would either have had their stock reduced willy-nilly or else gone and raided into some other part of Africa, and proceeded to do the same thing again, namely, overstock.
Some of the Wakamba put difficult questions, asking, " If it is a case of getting rid of ' stock' why not take our goats ? That we would not mind half as much." One wonders what truth there is in that question, knoWing the part that the goat plays in ceremonial of all kinds, and in the everyday life of the tribe. The real answer is that a goat in a tin is unsaleable ; admittedly he does eat shrubs, bushes, and young trees, and his feet cut into the soil even worse than those of cattle.
The only line to take is to refuse to parley With the 2,000 until they return to their reserve ; then to explain, and go on explaining, that /de-stocking is for the good of the whole tribe. If the cattle are not brought forward in sufficient numbers they must be commandeered. Any weakening would be fatal, for if the Wakamba -are allowed to keep all their cattle, then every other tribe will follow suit by-" demon- strating," Government will' lose its authority, and never will anything be accomplished for the good of the African. The consequence of giving in and stopping the de-stocking campaign would be that even worse beasts would be bred, and in the next really dry season—it would not need an actual drought—far more would die. The ironical fact Is that any Waltamba would lose half his herd from drought, and make no complaint, but he dislikes parting with, say, a tenth when this is done fpr his own good. As things are, he gets a fair price for the beasts that are slaughtered, whereas from the results of a drought he gets only the value of a few skins. He is no fool, and being a stockman he brings forward only his culls, or worst beasts, which -ipso facto means a. low price. In any case Government wants -to weed out the inferior stock • because a bad beast eats as much grass and tramps as much ground as a good one.
In the last drought the European stockman lost heavily and has learnt his lesson by ceasing to breed inferior animals or to breed more stock than his farm can carry ; • if his farm is overstocked he either has to ruin his animals or else sell his culls very ,cheaply. In the case of on outbreak of foot- and-mouth disease in England the owner suffers most ; it is hard, but the slaughtering of his pedigree cows is carried out for the benefit of the farming community and it cannot be avoided. If we are trying to help the African, as we unquestionably are, we must be allowed to be drastic at times. The sympathy of many white people in Kenya is with these natives, but it is obvious that the present state of things cannot continue and non-co-operation is only going to hinder, and not help, progress. It is plainly better for the native to own ten good beasts than twenty bad ones, half of which are stunting the growth of the others, and in the end may cause the death of themselves and many good ones. In any case white civilisation, having got as. far as it has in Africa, cannot now withdraw. Even if every white Man left that continent tomorrow, we. could never let the African revert to the state he was in before our arrival.
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