A failed Eldorado : colonial capitalism, rural industrialization, African land rights in Kenya, and the Kakamega gold rush, 1930-1952 / Priscilla M. Shilaro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shilaro, Priscilla M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gold mines and mining.

Great Britain--Colonies--Africa.

Great Britain.

Colonies.

Africa.

Gold mines and mining--Kenya.

Kakamega (Kenya)--Gold discoveries.

Kakamega (Kenya).

Luyia (African people).

Kenya.

Physical Description:

xxi, 270 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : University Press of America, [2008]

Summary:

This work explores Britain's attempt to take land from the Bantu-Luyia peoples of Western Kenya for gold mining following the discovery of gold in the North Kavirondo (NK) reserve in 1931. The discovery led to the Kenyan gold rush, in which local European settler farmers and mining prospectors converged on Kakamega. The presence of mining prospectors in Western Kenya and the move to transform a rural agrarian terrain into an industrial one had important economic, political, socio-cultural, medical, and environmental ramifications for the inhabitants. This book illuminates the struggles of mine workers and dispossessed African households by looking at their actions and reactions toward the emerging British colonial venture of the region. Fundamentally, this work captures the largely undocumented histories of "the common people" who lived through Kenya's failed eldorado.

Contents:

1 Prelude to the Gold Rush 1

Luyia Indigenous Economy 5

2 The Kakamega Gold Rush and the Kenya Land Commission, 1932-34 13

The Kenya Land Commission: Terms of Reference 14

The KLC at Kakamega 16

The Luyia Grievances 18

The Official View 22

"Inviolable" African Reserves: The Native Lands Trust Ordinance 23

Negotiating the NLTO of 1930 24

Amery Exits and Passfield Imposes the Bill 25

Changing Fortunes: The Gold Rush and the NLT(A)O of 1932 27

The NLT(A)O of 1932: A Storm of Protest 32

Protest in Kenya 32

Protest in England 34

The CO Defends the NLT(A)O of 1932 37

The KLC on the NLT(O) of 1930 39

The Recommendations of the KLC 42

3 Rural Industrialization, 1931-52 59

Prospecting, 1931-34 61

Development by Large Companies, 1934-44 71

Trends in Mining, 1934-44 76

"A Failed Eldorado," 1945-52 82

4 Politics of Land, 1931-52 98

Early Forms of Protest 98

Organized Protest: The North Kavirondo Central Association (NKCA) 104

The Colonial State's Response 109

The Anti-Soil Conservation Campaign 114

5 Rural Industrialization: The Economic Balance Sheet 143

Land Alienation, Mining Leases, and Compensation 144

Stifled African Entrepreneurship 149

Gold Mining and Labor 157

World War II and Labor Conscription 163

Working Conditions 166

Industrial Labor Protest 169

Gold Mines as Death Traps 174

Kakamega: "The Boom Town" 179

Industrial Penetration and the Market Economy 182

6 At the Crossroads: Social-Cultural Transformation 204

Gold Mining and Health 204

Gold Mining and Rural Socio-Cultural Transformation 211

7 "A Failed Eldorado" 220

Appendix I The NLT(A) O of 1932: Letters of Protest in England 231

Appendix II Kimingini Gold Mine Ltd., Commuted Rent 233

Appendix III List of Owners, Property and Value on the Kimingini Lease 237

Appendix IV List of Those Affected by the Edzawa Ridge Mine Lease (Maragoli) and the Amount of Land Alienated 239

Appendix V List of Those Affected by the Edzawa Ridge Mine Lease (Tintax, Kisa Location) and the Amount of Land Alienated 241.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-255) and index.

ISBN:

9780761836063

0761836063

OCLC:

148640138