FROM COLONIAL ELITISM TO MOI'S POPULISM: THE POLICIES AND POLITICS OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN KENYA, 1949-2002 Michael Mwenda Kithinji A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2009 Committee: Apollos Nwauwa, Advisor Kefa M. Otiso Graduate Faculty Representative Lillian Ashcraft-Eason Douglas Forsyth © 2009 Michael Mwenda Kithinji All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Apollos O Nwauwa, Advisor This study explores the evolution of policies on access to university education in Kenya between 1949 and 2002. The process of democratizing access during the period under study proceeded unevenly due to the changing economic and political dynamics that conversely affected the university policies. The first twenty years of university experience in East Africa, between 1949 and 1969, witnessed very modest gains in access to university. During this period, the colonial inter-territorial policy severely limited access to university. The inter-territorial university policy was initiated by the British as part of the colonial reform efforts aimed at creating a new kind of imperial partnership with the subject people in the post-Second World War world. The implementation of the inter-territorial policy in East Africa led to the establishment of the University of East Africa with three university colleges of Makerere in Uganda, Dar-es-Salaam in Tanganyika and Nairobi in Kenya. Britain insisted on the inter-territorial policy in the late 1950s and early 1960s even when it was apparent that it planned to grant independence to its East African colonies territorially. This study shows that the inter-territorial policy was a mechanism to ensure the continuation of British influence in East Africa in the post independence period. The realities of independence, however, conflicted with the inter-territorial policy. The increasing demand for more university opportunities by East Africans put pressure on their governments towards expansion of institutional facilities. Consequently, the East iv African governments responded by discontinuing the inter-territorial policy in 1969, allowing for the creation of national universities. The Kenyan government established the University of Nairobi and its constituent, Kenyatta University College in 1970. For the next two years, Kenya witnessed tremendous expansion of university enrollment. But beginning in 1973, the Kenyatta government suspended the expansion process on claims of scarcity of finances. Despite the prevailing high demand, the Kenyatta government retained the colonial elitist mentality that limited university access to only the cream of the Kenyan society. All this changed with the coming to power of President Moi in 1978. When Moi succeeded Kenyatta in 1978, the entire education system was reviewed and reformed. Policies that were intended to democratize access to university education were introduced. The reform strategy involved changing the education structure from the British model that promoted elitism and severely restricted access to the more egalitarian American model. By the time he left office in 2002, the number of universities and students enrolments had increased tremendously. This study is not merely a history of the foundation of universities in East Africa or in Kenya. Rather, it utilizes historical research methods to investigate the reaction of the successive governments in Kenya to the protracted demands for university access. In doing so, it explores the connections between university access and lingering controversies on East African regional integration, quality and relevance, university autonomy, academic freedom, brain drain, university financing and funding, student activism, university diversification and privatization. v DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my grandparents: Samuel Anampiu Jennifer Anampiu Maritha M’Inoti Hezekiah M’Inoti (Late) Through your narratives about the past and dedication to education, you inspired me to pursue knowledge unrelentingly even when the going seemed tough and uncertain. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Limited space makes it difficult to mention everyone who helped me in my academic journey. Those that I do not mention should know that I appreciate their contributions. First, I would like to thank my parents, Paul and Penina Kithinji, for their sacrifices to ensure that I received the best possible education. I am also indebted to members of my extended family, especially Uncle John Gituma, who made possible my dream of coming to America in search of higher education. I am also grateful to my father and mother in-laws for their encouragement as I undertook this project. A special note of gratitude is appropriate for Dr. Peter Nayenga who, as chair of the history department at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, provided me with an opportunity to pursue a Masters degree in an American institution. Words alone cannot express my gratitude to my advisor and Chair of my dissertation committee, Dr. Apollos Nwauwa, and his wife Helen for showering me and my wife with support, encouragement and compassion during the course of my doctoral program. Due to Dr. Nwauwa’s intellect and unwavering commitment, I was able to reach great heights of intellectual discovery beyond the horizons of what I considered normally possible. This work would not be possible without Dr. Nwauwa’s rigorous criticism and enlightened guidance. I am truly grateful to other members of my doctoral committee- Dr. Lillian Ashcraft-Eason, Dr. Douglas Forsyth and Dr. Kefa Otiso for their support and extraordinary dedication to my work. I also extend my gratitude to the history department at Bowling Green State University for providing me with an opportunity to pursue and earn a PhD especially with vii the generous resources and professional opportunities extended to me throughout the course of my program. To Tina Amos and Dee Dee Wentland, thank you so much for all your support and encouraging words. I would also like to acknowledge my former graduate colleagues, Camilla Rodgers, Anthony Mutai and Dr. Ogechi Anyanwu of Eastern Kentucky University, for their emotional and intellectual support that made completion of this program possible. I want to thank Dr. Alice Taylor Colbert and all my colleagues in the History Department at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, for having confidence in my abilities as a scholar and teacher even as I spent enormous amount of time completing this dissertation. Lastly, thank you, my wife, Makena, for your love, endurance and understanding while I completed this program. Above all, thanks to the Almighty God! viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. THE STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF POLICY: BACKGROUND TO UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN KENYA……………………………………………...18 CHAPTER II. COLONIAL POLICIES AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EAST AFRICA, 1953-1963…………………………………………67 CHAPTER III. ELITIST POLICIES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF EAST AFRICA, 1962-1968………………………………………..121 CHAPTER IV. THE BIRTH OF A NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: THE CRISES OF RESOURCES, ACADEMIC FREEDOMS AND STUDENT ACTIVISM, 1964- 1978………………………………………………...……………...…………………....165 CHAPTER V. POLITICAL CHANGE: THE ERA OF POLICY SHIFT AND RAPID EXPANSION OF UNIVERSITIES, 1972-1985………...……………………………...216 CHAPTER VI. ELITISM AT BAY: THE CHALLENGES OF MASSIVE EXPANSION OF UNIVERSITIES, 1982-2002………………….……………………………………263 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………309 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………326 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ASO: Agikuyu Student Organization A- Level: Advanced Level ACCCAST: Advisory Committee for Colonial Colleges of Arts, Science, and Technology ACEC: Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies ACNETA: Advisory Committee on Native Education in Tropical Africa B.ED: Bachelor of Education BESS: British Expatriate Supplementation Scheme CDWA: Colonial Development and Welfare Act CHE: Commission for Higher Education COCAST: Council for Overseas Colleges of Arts, Science and Technology CO: Colonial Office CUGAC: Colonial University Grants Advisory Committee EACSO: East African Common Services Organization GMAS: Gandhi Memorial Academy Society HELB: Higher Education Loans Board IUC: Inter-University Council for Higher Education in the Colonies IMF: International Monetary Fund JKUCAT: Jomo Kenyatta University College of Agriculture and Technology JKUAT: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology KACE: Kenya Advanced Certificate of Education KAU: Kenya African Union x KADU: Kenya African Democratic Union KANU: Kenya African National Union KASU: Kenya African Students Association KCSE: Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination KPU: Kenya Peoples Party KUC: Kenyatta University College KCA: Kikuyu Central Association KNA: Kenya National Archives MIME: Mombasa Institute of Muslim Education NARC: National Rainbow Coalition NCEOP: National Commission on Education Objectives and Policies NUKS: National Union of Kenya Students NUSO: Nairobi University Students Organization PAYE: Pay As You Eat RTC: Royal Technical College SDA: Seventh Day Adventist SAP: Structural Adjustment Programs SONU: Student Organization of Nairobi Union UEA: University of East Africa UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization USAID: United States Agency for International Development U.K: United Kingdom U.S.S.R: Union of Soviet