Bantu Beliefs and Magic / With particular reference to the Kikuyu and Kamba tribes of Kenya Colony; together with some reflections on East Africa after the war

by C. W. Hobley

Although it may appear somewhat beyond the scope of the foregoing inquiry, which was mainly conducted before the war occurred to interrupt it, I consider that it may be of interest to examine the effect of the great world conflict on the native races, and to assess the present position with regard to black and white in that region.

The outbreak of war came as an unexpected shock to the natives as a whole. The up-country tribes had very little conception of the distinctions between the various white races, and were somewhat puzzled by the conflict. The coast people, who were in daily touch with Germans and Austrians, were a little clearer, but, of course, had no conception of the casus belli, and although they knew that the daily lives of the two sections were apart, yet they saw them mix at the clubs and never dreamt that Europeans among themselves ever resorted to arms. The internment of the enemy subjects in Mombasa was the first material sign, and it was hailed with acclamation by the Swahilis of Mombasa, who treasured up resentment at the arrogant behaviour of the Germans prior to the war. The conflict was therefore a great blow to the solidarity of the white race, but this effect was not immediately apparent.

On the whole the tribes behaved in an exemplary manner, but enemy agents produced some active unrest among a coast tribe which for some years past had been unfavourably disposed towards Government. [[287]]

Like most of our countrymen, the natives naturally had no conception of the magnitude of the struggle or its possible duration. They thought that it would be over in a few months, and responded with alacrity to calls for porters, and for recruits for the K.A.R. They also made no demur to the numerous restrictions which a war imposes on the people involved.

The war, however, dragged on year after year, the calls for labour became more and more insistent, the poor carriers suffered hardships and died in tens of thousands, from the diseases inseparable from a campaign in an unhealthy tropical region, dysentery and pneumonia being the two main causes of death.

In a campaign of this character, where troops of mixed races are employed, the close contact between black and white is an undesirable and unavoidable feature.

The black troops soon came to realise the physical disabilities of the Europeans and their vulnerability. They saw Europeans shot down and even bayoneted by enemy black soldiers, they realised that very few Europeans were crack shots, they noted the inferior marching capacity of the white man, his inability to find his way about in the bush unaccompanied by a native guide, and in some cases they even saw that the courage of the white was not greater than that of the black. After all this can it be wondered that the prestige of the white race has suffered in the war! Is it surprising that the attitude of many of the blacks to the white man has altered?

The black has always been quick to realise who is in authority and who is not, and will still accede outward respect to a representative of the Government, but that is not the test, and the real criterion is his attitude towards the ordinary farmer or settler; this has been considerably modified during the war, and it is doubtful if the old traditional wide respect of white by black can ever be entirely restored.

The might of the Government has been demonstrated [[288]]during the war to an unheard of extent, and to some extent Government has unconsciously traded on this impression, for it has boldly imposed restrictions on the black, and a degree of taxation which it would have hesitated to do before the war.

There are two schools of thought in existence regarding the governance of the black races in East Africa.