Imperial British East Africa Company
In 1888 the privately financed Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) headed by Sir William Mackinnon was given a royal charter to administer the British sphere. At about this time, the British government concluded that the occupation of Egypt would be long-term and that control of the Uganda region, where the headwaters of the Nile rose, was desirable. A new Anglo-German agreement in 1890, under which Germany secured the island of Helgoland in the North Sea, placed Uganda completely within the British sphere. The German claims to the Witu enclave were dropped, and recognition was given by Germany to a British protectorate over the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.
Events in Uganda were soon to become an important factor in determining British policy in Kenya. At government urging, IBEAC extended its operations to Uganda in 1890. Failure to find highly profitable trade items there and heavy expenses in administering the area added to the company's already serious financial problems — caused by an initial undercapitalization and the relatively small amount of business on the coast. Because of strong parliamentary opposition, however, the government was unable to offer financial help, and in 1891 it appeared likely that the company would have to abandon Uganda. This brought an outcry from missionary groups, whose efforts had been fairly successful in Uganda, that a British withdrawal would lead to massacres of Christians by the Muslims. Loud opposition to withdrawal was also voiced by the press, and some official fears existed that the French might move to fill the vacuum.
As a result, the British government established the Uganda Protectorate in 1894. Creation of a protectorate so far inland raised questions concerning communications lines to the Kenya coast and the ability of IBEAC to control the interior. The company was experiencing difficulties in the coastal strip, which it managed under a 50-year lease from the sultan of Zanzibar, as the result of free trade provisions imposed by the British government in 1892. Negotiations were initiated, therefore, for the government to take over all IBEAC responsibilities.
An agreement was reached in June 1895, and on July 1 the East Africa Protectorate was officially established. The new protectorate, which was placed under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office, comprised in general the territory of present-day Kenya lying between the coast and the eastern edge of the Rift Valley and included the leased coastal zone, over which the sultan had expected — and sought in vain — to regain sovereignty.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
