The Berlin Conference (1884-1885) sanctioned the partition of Africa among the European powers, with repercussions for millions of Africans.
In 1888, the Imperial British East Africa Company paved the way for merchants, soldiers, administrators, missionaries and settlers, who introduced a lifestyle that was foreign, if not incomprehensible.
A symbol of colonial oppression was the kipande, a metal tag that Africans had to wear around their necks as proof of identity and as a means of controlling the movements of every worker.
Numerous events marked the beginning of tension between the local populations and the Europeans.
In 1896, the British began building the Mombasa-Nairobi-Kampala railway, which crossed Kikuyu land.
In 1902, the Land Acquisition Order handed over the fertile Kikuyu lands around Mount Kenya to the whites.
In 1903, the British imposed a tax on huts, which forced Africans to work for Europeans in order to pay it.
The British applied indirect rule and entrusted the administration to three great chiefs: Karuri, Wambugu and Kibarabara. This was contrary to Kikuyu customs, which did not provide for the authority of a single chief and considered the land to be the property of the various clans.
In 1905, British Colonel Meinertzhagen killed Chief Koitalel Arap Samoei, putting an end to the Kikuyu’s anti-colonial resistance. The “British Pax” was imposed.
In 1920, Kenya officially became a British colony.
