VISIONARY BRITISH COLONIALISM: EAST AFRICAN COOPERATION, INTEGRATION, FEDERATION AND INDEPENDENCE.

Visionary British Colonialism: East African Cooperation, Integration, Federation and Independence

By Oweyegha-Afunaduula
Conservation Biologist
Center for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis

Visionary colonialism is not a widely accepted or established concept, but may refer to the idea that colonialism can be a vehicle for progress or modernisation. In this article I am advancing the idea that British colonialism in East Africa was visionary colonialism with reference to its innovation of the concepts of cooperation, integration and federation, although it was prone with injustices in Kenya since 1888; Uganda since 1894; and Tanganyika since 1920.

When our East African rulers talk of East African cooperation, federation and integration, they seem to give the impression that the three ideas started with them. But the truth is that the three ideas were introduced by the British colonialists during the more than 70 years they occupied, conquered, grabbed land and forcibly ruled the three East African countries as one empire connected to the British feudal arrangement. To this end, the idea of an East African federation uniting Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika was politically pursued during the colonial times in East Africa. The British colonialists were probably influenced by the truism that their former territories in North America had federated to form the United States of America. They wanted a similar model for East Africa to create The East African Federation, which would result in effective cooperation between the three countries of the region.

The colonialists wanted political and economic integration and cooperation within a federation, not social integration. There was a lot of resistance to federation, particularly by Buganda in Uganda. It was not federation and integration to empower the countries, but to facilitate more effective domination and exploitation of the region.

To effectively govern the empire, the colonialists introduced what they characterised as the East African High Commission (EAHC) on January 1, 1948, to provide common services in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanganyika. Although colonialism was a vehicle for enhanced domination and exploitation, the British rulers emphasized effective management and delivery of services as civilization. The services included posts and telecommunications, customs, taxation, meteorological services and harbours. It was a body corporate capable of owning property and engaging in legal actions.

The EAHC existed until 1961, when it was abolished and replaced by the East African Common Services Organization (EACSO), which the newly politically independent countries of Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika inherited from the colonialists.

The EACSO continued to exist even when Tanganyika, Uganda and Kenya obtained their political independence in 1961, 1962 and 1963, respectively. It ceased to exist when the newly independent countries created the East African Community (EAC) in 1967.

The EAC was an intergovernmental entity, which focused time, energy and money on economic integration and cooperation; not political integration, which has been resisted. It was the result of the treaty for East African Cooperation, signed by Presidents Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kambarage Nyerere of Tanganyika and Apollo Milton Obote of Uganda.

The EAC preserved and perpetuated the common services conceived under the EACSO, but included railways, airways, posts and telecommunications, research institutions such as East African Marine Fisheries Research Organization (EAMFRO), East African Freshwater Research Organization (EAMFRO) and East African Trypanosomiasis Research Organization (EATRO). The East African Treaty also created a University Students Exchange Programme, Joint Examinations Council, and the East African Parliament.

The federal motive did not completely dissipate when the independence fever caught the East African countries. This motive expressed itself most in the development of higher education. Makerere University College was established by the colonialists in 1922 and became linked to the University of London, becoming the centre of higher education in East Africa. It played a critical role in socially transforming the countries of East Africa through producing advanced manpower for the three colonial entities. The exceptionally intelligent were sent to universities in Great Britain.

For a long time, there was no other centre of higher education in East Africa. However, in Kenya, the first university – Egerton – was established in 1939 by Lord Maurice Egerton as a whites-only farm school. Egerton was a British national who settled in Kenya in the 1920s. It eventually became an agricultural university. Royal Technical College Nairobi was established on May 24, 1964. University College, Dar-es-Salaam was established on 25 October 1961. Like Makerere University College, Royal College, Nairobi and University College, Dar-es-Salaam were affiliated to the University of London.

Makerere University College started to grant degrees in 1949, but remained affiliated to the University of London until 1963, when the governors of the newly independent countries of Tanganyika and Uganda and the still colonially governed Kenya agreed on 29 June 1963 to establish the Federal University of East Africa. The first Chancellor of the University of East Africa was Julius Kambarage Nyerere. He was installed at the inauguration of the University.

The new University immediately became affiliated to the University of London. From that time, all degrees obtained by students of Makerere University College, Royal University College, Nairobi, and University College, Dar-es-Salaam were granted by the Federal University of East Africa (1963–1970). In 1970 the University of East Africa was dissolved. All the three Constituent Universities of the now defunct Federal University of East Africa became independent universities that granted degrees separately from each other: University of Nairobi, University of Dar-es-Salaam and Makerere University. They also became independent of the University of London. President Kambarage Nyerere became the Chancellor of the University of Dar-es-Salaam, President Jomo Kenyatta became the Chancellor of the University of Nairobi, and Apollo Milton Obote became the Chancellor of Makerere University. However, they had a student exchange programme conceived under the East African Community.

In 1972 I – together with people like Muhimbura, Lutalo Rugumayo, Ngobi, Bagambiire, Ms Jjuko, Ms Rusoke, Ms Namakula, Chemisto, Balirwa, Mufumba, Gwaira, Olwitingol, Mukubwa, Rwetangabo – joined the University of Dar-es-Salaam under that programme.

Therefore, for the East African countries, becoming politically independent was one thing. And becoming academically and intellectually independent was another. For a long time, the University of London babysat the academic and intellectual growth and development of the earlier universities in East Africa except Egerton University. Was this visionary colonialism? Maybe, but we should always remember that no foreigner helps you without helping himself/herself first and all the time.