By Joe Nyaga
What you need to know:
- Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, who started the Standard newspaper, was the first non-White Member of the Legislative Council .
- Kenyan Indians continue to a make major contribution to our economic development as merchants, exporters and industrialists.
Indians from South Asia have traded with the East Coast of Africa for centuries. Some worked as accountants and bankers for the Arab and Portuguese traders in the olden days.
The group that settled in East Africa from the 1890s was brought by the British as indentured labour to build the Kenya-Uganda railway. The Kenyan “Indians” were, actually, from today’s India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Those who opted to settle in East Africa brought their families along and set up businesses.
Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, who started the Standard newspaper, was the first non-White Member of the Legislative Council (Legco). Allidina Visram, a successful businessman in Mombasa, was among the founders of the Mombasa Indian Association in 1900.
It later opened a branch in Nairobi and converted to the British E.A. Indian Association in 1907 and later E.A. Indian National Congress in 1914 operating along the lines of the Indian Congress Party.
It was this dependency by the Imperial British East Africa Company on India that led to the Indian rupee becoming the territory’s currency with the National Bank of India being the only bank for many years.
Indian legal system
We also inherited the Indian legal system while the colonial government public service and security forces were dependent on Indians. As the number of Indians increased, they agitated for more Legco seats and in 1927 there were five.
Their contribution to Kenya’s development is immense. Africans benefited from their representation since Eliud Mathu was nominated to the Legco in 1944. Secondly, they fought colonial racial discrimination practices and laws with Africans.
Thirdly, many joined African nationalist movements, especially after India became independent in 1947. Trade unionist Makhan Singh, newspaper publisher and politician Pio Gama Pinto, ‘Kapenguria Six’ lawyers A.R. Kapila and Fitz de Souza and others aided the struggle for Independence in various ways.
Fourthly, the Kenyan Indians continue to a make major contribution to our economic development as merchants, exporters and industrialists. Fifthly, many of them are professionals in many fields.
Public service jobs
After Independence, a period of volatility in relations between the Africans and Indians led to many of the latter leaving, mainly to the UK, and others to Canada, USA, Australia and elsewhere. Besides, many others were kicked out of Uganda by Idi Amin.
Many of the 100,000 who remained lost public service jobs under the Africanisation programmes and unfavourable trade and immigration laws.
But those who relocated then, and the children of those who remained who later left their parents behind, went on to be successful in various fields.
The East African Indian diaspora have strong emotional connections with their countries of birth and they usually visit. They are nostalgic, hence have active community associations. I have over the years interacted with many of them and I know that they would love to contribute more to our development.
There should be a programme to vigorously seek out the Kenyan Asian diaspora — our “44th tribe”.
joenyagah@gmail.com
