DEGREE EXAM UCCC 1101 COMMUNICATION SKILLS SKILLS

SECTION A: COMPULSORY QUESTION (30 MARKS) 1. Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow. CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF COLONIAL KENYA The contrast between the lifestyles of White farmers and Africans was stark, to say the least. As a child, I witnessed the suffering and squalor in the reserves and heard stories of the comforts and excesses of the Whites. The settlers had a fairly universal daily itinerary and standard of life, with only a few exceptions. The African cook would wake up the settler at 5 a.m. and deliver a steaming pot of tea to his bedside. The houseboy would then prepare a hot bath and the cook, a breakfast buffet. By this time, the gardener would be out cleaning the vehicles, tidying up the garden and setting up the garden furniture. After breakfast, the White farmer might take a stroll around the farm, or go on horseback to survey the estate. He would return at mid-morning to be served tea in his beautiful garden. After tea, the settler would attend to business in town before meeting friends for a sumptuous lunch in a “Whites Only” hotel. In Nyeri there were then two such hotels, the Outspan and the White Rhino. Whites also had their own hospitals. In Nyeri, they established their own Mt. Kenya Hospital. Meanwhile back at the farm, as the White farmers in town carried on with their excesses, the young White managers would be terrorizing African labourers, squeezing the last ounce of energy out of them. They were assisted in this task by their “loyal” African supervisors and headmen. The White farmers returned home late in the afternoon in time for high tea served on the lawn. A few hours later, an extravagant buffet dinner would be served, washed down with gallons of alcohol. What a wonderful life! Needless to say, the settlers had no intention of transferring power or land to Africans and thus changing this status quo. But settler farmers were not the only Whites in the Kenya of my childhood. There were also businessmen, missionaries and, of course, colonial administrators. The businessmen were here to exploit Africans absolutely. I remember many missionaries I encountered as being kindly and selfless. Most of them interacted positively with Africans, even learning the local vernacular language – an undertaking which strengthened our good relationship with them. They assisted with social and infrastructural development, establishing schools and hospitals, facilitating the building of roads and bridges and providing piped water to the local people. In Nyeri, missionaries are also credited with modernizing the areas in which they established their stations, such as Mathari, Tumutumu and Karima among other places. Whites were also present in the administration, where they occupied all positions above the rank of Chief. At the District level, the District Commissioner (DC) was the highest-ranking administrator. Beneath him, hierarchically, were District Officers (DOs). All these officials, their secretaries and other subordinates were white. The colonial administration’s main Page 3 of 4 policy for governing Africans was clearly geared towards providing support for the settlers. Indeed, the settlers and the administrators ruled together in cahoots. Any nascent signs of discontent and uprising were stamped out with brutality, as was the case with Waiyaki wa Hinga, who was buried alive in Kibwezi apparently for his protest against the behaviour of some settlers. The Chiefs were used by the colonial administrators to implement the wishes and demands of the colonialists. They represented the final link in the chain of colonial oppression. They were selected from well-known, wealthy and respected leaders. Wambugu, our immediate neighbours at the Muruguru farm, was one such man and he became the Senior Chief of the area where I grew up. Wambugu was very wealthy. He had over sixty wives and huge tracts of land which extended all the way to Nyeri town and stretched from the Kagumo to the Chania rivers. When Senior Chief Wambugu retired, his son, William Mathangani inherited his position. Many of his other sons also became Headmen. An extract adapted from Kuguru, P. (2008). Trailblazer: Breaking through in Kenya. Transafrica Press, Nairobi (pp. 19-20). (a) With the aid of examples from the passage, identify four roles of Africans in the lives of White settlers . (4 marks) (b) Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the passage: i. With only a few exceptions (para.1) ii. Buffet (para. 1) iii. Status quo (para. 2) iv. Cahoots (para. 4) v. Nascent (para.4) (5 marks) (c) Describe three types of activities or actions undertaken by Whites that are regarded favourably by the writer. (3 marks) (d) Africans contributed to the oppression of fellow Africans in colonial Kenya. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Provide clear support for your response with two examples from the passage. (3 marks) (e) Without engaging in plagiarism from the passage, write a five-paragraph expository essay titled The chain of administrative oppression in colonial Kenya. (15 marks)