Resource information
In the early days of commercial penetration of East
Africa by the Europeans the present route to Uganda originating
from the Kenyan Coast town of Mombasa was rarely used
because of the difficulties experienced in sustaining long
caravans over the arid Nyika Region between the Coast and
the Kenya Highlands, and the hostility of tribes inhabiting
this area - especially the Masai. Colonial penetration of
the present area known as Kenya began about 1850 and intensified
after 1883 when Joseph Thomson managed to cross Masai Land;
and after the 1885 Berlin Conference that designated Kenya
as a British Sphere of Influence.
Colonial penetration from 1885 to 1894 was done by
Sir William Mackinon's Imperial British East African Company -
which was chartered by the British Government to manage their
newly acquired sphere of influence. Hostile tribes were
easily subdued by use of advanced gun technology - the
invention of a Maxim machine gun - and astute diplomacy of
devide and rule as practiced by colocial administrators of
this time. With one menace eliminated it was possible to
manage caravans bearing water and other supplies to cross
the Nyika. Once Nyika was crossed, food and water were
available in great abundance at Ngongo Mbagas (present day
Ngong) and the Kikuyu escarpment in the neighbourhood of
the day city of Nairobi. (See Map No.1)
