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Kenya
In order to ease the transportation of agricultural products and minerals, both tarmac and all-weather roads were constructed by the Colonial Government.
The first road was built by William Mackinnon of the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEACo) from Mombasa to Kibwezi, and it was known as the Mackinnon Road. Later, Muranga –Nyeri Road was constructed, and Nakuru Road was extended to Eldoret. Other roads connected Nairobi and Kericho to facilitate tea trading.
Uganda
Sir Hesketh Bell developed a road construction program in Uganda. During his term in office, he allocated a large percentage of funds to constructing all-weather roads linking important centers of Southern Uganda. By 1914, many bicycles, cars, and lorries had been imported to transport cash crops. Another important
Sir Hesketh Bell’s development was the completion of the first railway line. The Busoga Railway Line stretched from Jinja to Kamuli and Kaliro, via Namwendwa. This supported the cotton industry that was carried out over a wide region on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda.
Instruct the learners to use available resources, like the internet or library books, to attempt the activity given to them in the Learner’s Book. Look through their findings to assess their understanding of the aspect of the colonial economy.
Activity 2.6: Understanding of some individuals in Colonial Industry Development
(Time: 40minutes)
- Using ICT or any other source, find out the role of the following personalities in the development of the transport network in East Africa: a) William MacKinnon b). Sir Hesketh bell
2. Share your findings with the rest of the class.
Likely Answers
- i) Sir William Mackinnon, 1st Baronet, was born on 13th March 1823 and died on 22nd June 1893. He was a Scottish ship-owner and businessman who built up substantial commercial interests in India and East Africa. He established the British-India Steam Navigation Company and the Imperial British East Africa Company. In 1888, Mackinnon founded the Imperial British East Africa Company and became its Chairman.
ii) Sir Hesketh Bell
Henry Hesketh Joudou Bell was born on 17th December 1864 at Chambéry in the Savoie department of South-East France. In 1905-08, he was a Commissioner of the Uganda Protectorate.
- Role played by the two personalities:
William Mackinnon
- He is the one that gave birth to the idea of the Uganda railway which led to the development of the transport network in Uganda.
- He is also known for developing trade in Uganda and other areas controlled by the British Empire.
- Mackinnon also developed shipping enterprises.
Sir Hesketh Bell, He was at first a special commissioner, but later became the first governor of Uganda when the administration of
- Uganda was transferred from foreign offices to colonial offices.
- He dismissed calls to turn Uganda into a settler’s colony and instead encouraged peasant farming.
- His contribution was mainly in the area of agriculture where he encouraged small-scale industries and farming in Uganda.
- He developed the cotton industry and it was through his efforts that the Uganda cotton ordinance, in which high-quality American Cotton seeds were introduced to replace the wild cotton seeds was passed.
- He banned hand ginning and instead, opened up three new ginneries to process cotton.
- His contributions were not confined to cotton growing but were also extended to other crops like simsim, sugarcane, coffee, ground nuts, and rubber.
- In order to facilitate agriculture, he greatly improved transport by constructing feeder roads to link productive areas to railway lines.
- During his tenure in office, the Jinja- Namasagali, and Kampala-Port Bell railway lines were developed, and this stimulated the development of Busoga.
- He also encouraged the importation of bicycles and vehicles to ease the transportation of goods and human beings.
His economic development attracted many Asians to Uganda who established businesses along the
- railway line and became major forces in Uganda’s economy.
- On top of agriculture, Sir Hesketh Bell encouraged trade, but this was dominated by the Asians who set up wholesale businesses and retail shops in towns along the railway line.
- In the field of health, he fought diseases, like sleeping sickness along the shores of Lake Victoria, with the help of local chiefs like Apollo Kaggwa.
- He made sure that Uganda was able to support herself financially, and he encouraged the payment hut and poll taxes to reduce Uganda’s dependence on British funds.
The Uganda Railway Have you ever heard about the Uganda Railway?
The Uganda Railway was constructed between Mombasa and Kasese through Kisumu (Port Florence) by the British Government. At that time Britain had direct administrative control of the region known as British-East Africa. This region stretched from the coast of Mombasa to the Kingdom of Buganda on the North-Western shores of Lake Victoria.
Construction work started in Mombasa by 1896 and reached Kisumu (then called Port Florence) on the Eastern shores of Lake Victoria in 1901. The second stretch of the railway to Kampala Uganda, started in 1901, and it was completed in 1903.
In 1905, the railway line was extended to Kenya. This was to facilitate the work of the white settlers. The Magadi line was opened in 1912 to exploit soda ash. This line was extended to Kampala to fetch coffee, cotton, maize and labourers. An extension was made in 1913 to the Thika area. The VoiMoshi railway line was completed in 1916.
The Construction of the Uganda Railway
In 1922, the Jinja-Namasagali line was constructed to encourage the growing of cotton in Busoga and the Eastern province. In 1928, the Namasagali line was connected to Uganda railway through Tororo to reduce congestion at port Bell.
The line was extended to Thompson falls in 1929. The Mbale and Soroti lines were connected with Tororo main line to tap cattle products and ivory among others. By 1931, the railway line had reached Kampala across River Nile to ease colonial administration in the central parts of Uganda.
By 1936, the miles of the railway had grown from 572 miles to 1,625 miles. This includes major extensions as well as several branch lines, for example, from Nakuru to Eldoret town
In 1963, the railway reached Gulu to ease transportation of colonial administrators and agricultural products. By 1965, the line had reached Pakwach to tap cotton and fetch dried tobacco. It was called the Uganda Railway because all the land from Kisumu to 50 miles west of Nairobi was part of Uganda until 1902 when it was transferred to
Kenya during the redefining of boundaries. It is important to note that the railway line passed through a number of economically viable areas.
Aims of the construction of the
Uganda Railway
To support missionary activities. The railway system aimed at providing the transport network that was hindering missionary activities in East Africa.
It aimed at transporting exports and imports to and from Mombasa to the interior. That’s why it was networked to the most productive parts of East Africa.
It aimed at provision of a transport system to assist the humanitarian team involved in the abolition of slave trade in East Africa.
It was built to fulfil the clauses of 1884 -85 Berlin conference. To confirm the claim of a colony, a colonial power had to put up some infrastructural development. Therefore, Britian had to build a railway line connecting her East African territories.
For effective administration, the colonial administrators had to move from one point to another.
Therefore, the railway line was constructed to assist in the movement of colonial administrators.
It aimed at opening up the interior for development. Many towns were built at railway stations, for example, Nairobi, Kisumu, Jinja, Tororo, and Kasese among others. These have remained strong up to today.
It was for a strategic purpose. The railway line aimed at connecting the source of River Nile with Mombasa, the two key strategic points for the British in East Africa.
It aimed at the promotion and exploitation of agriculture and mineral resources in East Africa. Coffee, cotton, pyrethrum, and sisal got more market after the construction the of Uganda Railway.
Fact File about the Course of Uganda
Railway Construction
| Year | Destination |
| 1892 | Land surveyed by William Macdonald of IBEACo |
| 1896 | First bars of the railway line constructed at Kilindini, Mombasa |
| 1898 | The first bars of the railway line constructed at Kilindini, Mombasa |
| 1899 | Railway line Reaches Nairobi |
| 1900 | Railway line Reaches Nakuru |
| 1901 | The Nairobi line extended to Nyeri |
| 1913 | The Nakuru line extended northwards to Eldoret |
| 1921 | The railway line connected to Kitale |
| 1928 | The railway line extended from Kisumu to Uganda |
| 1928 | The railway line reaches Voi |
| 1928 | Namasagali line connected to Tororo and Eldoret in Kenya |
| 1929 | Tororo to Soroti line completed |
| 1931 | The railway line reaches Gulu |
| 1956 | Kampala-Kasese railway line completed |
| 1963 | The railway line extended to Kisumu |
| 1965 | Line reaches Pakwach |
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