The Land Question in Kenya One of the first decisions
the new Colonial Secretary, Mr. Ormsby-Gore, will have to make is regarding the proposal to prohibit land-holding by natives in the highlands of Kenya, and it is fortunate that the matter falls to be dealt with by a Minister possessing personal knowledge of Kenya and familiar with the implications of the proposal. Substantially the effect of the pro- jected Order in Council is understood to be that natives may live on sufferance in the highlands—the white scalers could obviously not exist there without a reservoir of native labour--Amt not acquire land there even if they are in a position to purchase it against a white bidder: This discrimination against what are after all British subjects, black though they be, raises grave constitutional questions, while to debar these subjects from securing (or retaining, for many of them hold land in the highlands) a permanent settlement in part of their native land will inevitably be interpreted as another example of white domination at a time when every fresh accentuation of the black-versus-white issue in Africa is a disaster. Lord Lugard has recorded his weighty opinion against the proposal.
Previous page
