The Uganda Railway

(A Case  Study  of Development  of transport  Network  as a Strategy for Colonial   Development.
The Mombasa-Kisumu   railway was called the Uganda  railway.  It was called so because  up
to 1902 the land almost fifty miles to the west of Nairobi  was in Uganda.  Secondly,  Britain was  interested  in Uganda  as a source of river Nile. In terms of raw  materials,  Uganda  was richer than Kenya, for example,  it was rich in cotton that Britain needed at the time.
The  idea  of constructing   the Uganda  railway  had  started  as far back as  1892 when  Lord Salisbury  was  the British- Prime  Minister  (1886-1892).   Also in the same  period  William Mackinnon  could  not manage  it because  of huge  funds  required  in its construction.   Lord Salisbury  wanted to establish  the effective  occupation  in distant areas from the coast.
A new Prime  Minister  Gladstone  (1892-95)  was  opposed  to the idea of constructing   this railway  line. It was not until  1895 when Lord  Salisbury  won elections  that the railway  plan in East Africa had to be revived. The line was built by British  Engineers  and 32,000 Indian labourers   (coolies)   as  the  local  population   bad  refused  to offer  labour.  Work  began  at
Mombasa  in 1896 and by  1901 it had reached Kisumu,  Despite  of all these, Uganda  railway took long to be completed.  Why?
PROBLEMS  ENCOUNTERED  IN THE CONSTRUCTION  OF UGANDA
RAILWAY.
1.      Hostile  tribes:
Apart  from wild animals,  those who worked  on the railway  line were  attacked  by the Nandi
and the Masai  who destroyed  their  settlements.   They  cut down  telephone  wires,  destroyed the railway   line and harassed   the workers.  For  much  of their  work,  they had  to organise defensive  wars against  these tribes  and seek protection  of government  forces if they were to continue.
2.       Man eaters:
Between   1896  and  1898  work  on the  railway   was  delayed  by  lions  which  killed  many British  workers  in Tsavo  National   park. It was not until  they were  hunted  down  by Major Patterson  that work had to resume.
3.       Diseases:
The railway  workers  suffered  from  disease  attacks  that ranged  from  the malaria,  sleeping
sickness  to small pox.  Jiggers  caused a lot of suffering  and misery  particularly  to the Indian coolies.  Consequently,   the numbers  of workers  reduced  due deaths and at times some of the survivors  of the diseases  were   crippled  because  of jiggers.
4.       Physical  problems:
Various   physical   problems   like  drought  in Nyika,   floods,  inadequate   port  facilities   for unloading  materials,  challenges  of high altitude  towards  mountain  Kenya,  beyond  Nairobi, there  was rift valley  escarpments   and many  river beds had to be bridged.  There were many diseases.  Rainy  seasons  were particularly  the worst  because  workers  found it impossible  to put up settlements.  Leaking  roofs, wet floors and muddy  walls of their houses  all made life difficult  and discouraged  more workers  to come for the project.
5.       Engineering  technical  problems:
In most cases the work was held by machine  breakdown.   The distance  from home  made  it difficult  to procure  spare parts.  The physical  set up such as the rift valley  and the .highlands all disturbed  the engineers  and delayed  their work.
6.       Lack of labour Force:                                              
From  the start,  the railway  did not  receive.the   necessary  cooperation   from the indigenous people because  of:
(i)    The  railway  largely  passed  through  the pastoral   areas  and  the pastoralists   did  not  settle down for paid labour,
(ii)     Africans  suspected  and mistrusted   the white  population  because they had  suffered  greatly
under  slave trade.                                                                        
(iii-)         There   was  limited  missionary   influence   in Kenya  and  therefore   British  railway  builders
operated in a population  that was not yet pacified.            
7.       Lack of finance
The  original  funds  for the projects  were  provided  by the British  treasury.  However  as the project  became  very expensive,  the British  treasury  reduced  its support.  This left the project to depend  largely  on  the British  slave  trade  abolitionists   and  businessmen   who  saw  the railway  as an opportunity  to promote  legitimate  trade in the interior,
8.       Language:                                                                                            
Amidst  the above problems,  the railway  constructors  had a problem  of communication   with the   East    African    people.  Some   were    Indians,     others    Englishmen     and   therefore communication   with Africans was not easy.
EFFECTS   OF UGANDA  RAIL WAY  CONSTRUCTION:
The    social,   political   and  economic   aspects   worked  jointly   to  provide   the  effects   of
construction  of the Uganda  railway;
1.        It eased the movement   of people  from the countryside  to urban centres  with  their attendar consequences    such  as congestion.   The  cheap  transport  culminated   into  the  emergence  0 cheap  migrant  labour  ready  to be exploited   m European   farms.  This  contributed   to rura underdevelopment    and  stagnation   as productive   labour  force  got drained   in Rural-Urbar drift.
2.        The  completion   of  the  Uganda  railway   led to enlargement   of Kenya  in order  to put  the whole  of the railway  line under  one colonial  administration.   This was done in  1902 when Ugandans  in Eastern  province  were transferred  to Kenyan  administration
3.    In the  field of administration:   the railway' 'made  it faster  and easier  to move  the European administrators    and  troops  to the interior.   This  enabled  effective  administration   of Kenya and Uganda.
4.         The   railway    construction     confirmed    Kenya   as  a  settler   colony,    Charles    Eliot   the commissioner    of the East African  protectorate   once remarked  that "the  country  had  grown from a district  to a settler  colony".  Several  white  settlers  were attracted  to  Kenya highlands after the railway  construction.   African  land was alienated  which  later  resulted  in Mau-Mau uprising.
5.         It also  facilitated   abolition   of slave  trade  and  slavery   in the British  protectorate   as slave transport  had  become  useless.  The  railway  line  greatly  promoted   legitimate   trade Before the railway  construction,  transport  in East Africa was carried out  by slaves.
6.      The railway  helped  in enhancing  the exploitation   of the agriculture  potential  of Kenya  and
Uganda.  This  is because  it provided  cheap  transport   to the coast.  This  created  a boom  in
'African   farming.   In  1903 K.  Burop brought    cotton  to  Uganda;   Uganda   had-become accessible.
7.    There   was   promotion     of  missionary     activity.    This   consequently     led   to  increased evangelisation    and   civilisation     of  the   British    colonies    in  East   Africa.    Before   t