A Chronology of Land Use Accretion And Housing Policy In Nairobi

Abstract

In the early days of commercial penetration of East Africa by the Europeans the present route to Uganda originating from the Kenyan Coast town of Mombasa was rarely used because of the difficulties experienced in sustaining long caravans over the arid Nyika Region between the Coast and the Kenya Highlands, and the hostility of tribes inhabiting this area - especially the Masai. Colonial penetration of the present area known as Kenya began about 1850 and intensified after 1883 when Joseph Thomson managed to cross Masai Land; and after the 1885 Berlin Conference that designated Kenya as a British Sphere of Influence. Colonial penetration from 1885 to 1894 was done by Sir William Mackinon's Imperial British East African Company - which was chartered by the British Government to manage their newly acquired sphere of influence. Hostile tribes were easily subdued by use of advanced gun technology - the invention of a Maxim machine gun - and astute diplomacy of devide and rule as practiced by colocial administrators of this time. With one menace eliminated it was possible to manage caravans bearing water and other supplies to cross the Nyika. Once Nyika was crossed, food and water were available in great abundance at Ngongo Mbagas (present day Ngong) and the Kikuyu escarpment in the neighbourhood of the day city of Nairobi. (See Map No.1)