Questions & Answers

In order to have significant personal recollections of events described in Scram from Kenya! the reader must have been at least 65 years old in the year 2000. It is hoped that the following questions and answers may be of assistance to prospective younger readers.

Q. With only a basic knowledge of history one knows of the Great British Empire and that the Allies defeated Nazi Germany and Japan in the Second World War. Why then, having won, did Britain not keep its empire?

A. A.J.P. Taylor, the distinguished British historian, put it that 'the British did not relinquish their empire by accident. They ceased to believe in it'.

Q. What was the sequence of events when dismantling the empire?

A. Germany surrendered unconditionally in June and Japan after two atomic bombs were dropped over main-land Japan in August 1945. In 1947 India, a whole sub-continent referred to as the jewel in the British imperial crown, opted for independence. Over the following years many colonies followed suit. Kenya was one of the later colonies to achieve independence - in 1963.

Q. Why was Kenya so tardy?

A. For various reasons white British subjects had been encouraged to settle in Kenya to farm and generally assist in its development. Many had been given leases on their land which did not expire until 1995. They felt let down and vulnerable when there was the prospect of them losing their farms and tried to hang on to them.

Q. Were there not reports of the white settlers being a rich, drug-taking, irresponsible bunch?

A. A few were but the majority were hard working people who did little more than make a living from their farms and quite a number failed.

Q. So, the white settlers were the cause of the trouble?

A. A small part but a number of black African 'terrorists' or 'freedom fighters', depending on ones point of view, started what amounted to a civil war which aggravated the situation and delayed handover. You may of heard of Mau Mau, a name coined to identify the movement.

Q. Was the 'civil war', to use your words, country-wide?

A. No, by no means. It was restricted almost exclusively to one of a number of tribes; but it was an influential tribe.

Q. Did Mau Mau have political leadership?

A. Not really, the most powerful black leader, Jomo Kenyatta, who was a Kikuyu, the tribe involved, distanced himself from Mau Mau at every turn but he was placed in a detention camp by the British government miles from anywhere until Mau Mau was more or less defeated.

Q. So, thousands of white farmers were killed, were they?

A. If you want to know more you must read the book.

Q. But was the outcome satisfactory for all concerned?

A. Perhaps not for all concerned but it is true to say that the black African government which led after independence was probably one of the best led republics in Africa. And that is as far as I am going. Read the book!!

Q. You claim to have written a balanced account but how may one be certain?

A. One can never be certain but the author states that his prime concern has been to present an even-handed text. He has discovered numerous new oral and written sources from every angle and endeavoured to test source against source. He insists he has no axe to grind. It is on record that three octogenarian, former colonial officers involved in events of the time found after debate that they had different recollections of a particular event. One reached for Scram from Kenya! on the book shelf. 'Lets see what Franks says', he suggested.

How does Scram from Kenya! answer the Questions?
Click here for Scram from Kenya! - an introduction

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