ON THIS DAY ·
Mombasa
1896–1978 — Construction of the Uganda Railway began at Mombasa in May 1896, and the port remained the protectorate’s capital until 1905. Jomo Kenyatta landed here in September 1946, returning after fifteen years in Britain. He died at State House, Mombasa, on 22 August 1978.
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The moment in context
The Uganda Railway reached the interior in stages. Workers laid the first rail at Mombasa on 30 May 1896, reached the depot town of Nairobi in May 1899, and arrived at Lake Victoria at Kisumu on 20 December 1901. Britain recruited 31,983 workers in British India; 2,493 died and 6,724 stayed. Those who remained helped begin Kenya’s Asian community, shown by the arrow from the eastern edge.
From White Highlands of colonial Kenya, chapter 7 of Two Roads to Independence: Haiti 1789–1838 and Kenya 1895–1978 (1922).
The place: Mombasa — map and full story →
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — A railway that needed freight. Britain built the Uganda Railway to secure Uganda and the Nile. Once the line was built, its cost—about £5.5 million, far above early…
- The turn — The Nairobi police lines, 16 March 1922. Kikuyu, Kamba and others had joined Thuku’s campaign against the pass, taxes and wage cuts. His arrest brought perhaps 7,000 people to the capital…
- What it changed — Kikuyu land politics takes the lead. The Kikuyu Central Association pursued land claims through evidence and petitions. It collected accounts of lost fields for the Kenya Land…
Then ask the room: Was land or labour the deeper grievance of colonial Kenya? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
The atlas that shows it
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