It is one year since Kenya has gained independence from the yokes of colonialism from the White Settlers and as a young nation, the country is grappling with the reality that in as much as there is achievement in gaining political independence, Kenyan African or natives find economic freedom a pipe dream.

Legislator Ngala Abok is in the Senate before the White Speaker Humphrey Slade, he is making a point on the floor to have a bill passed to empower Kenyan Africans have seat on the table of economic freedom.

“Mr. Speaker, while I have said that I want to look into the commercial and economic life of the country, one would not talk about Africans having to accommodate themselves into the business life because here in Nairobi you will find the beautiful houses, commercial houses, business houses, banks and so on are all manned by Europeans or Asians,” he submits before an pensive house.

In his statement, the youthful legislator express his discomfort with the racially divided and arrangement of business where Europeans, Asians and Blacks had different Chambers of Commerce to address only sectorial interest.

The house listened and in the following year, the three chambers were merged into one national chamber of commerce, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.It was a big fee that on te day it was passed, none other than the new President of the Republic of Kenya Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was in attendance himself.

The same year, the maverick politician and Minister for Economic Planning Joseph Thomas Mboya spearhead the Sessional Paper Number 10, of 1965 that pushed for Africanisation of businesses in newly in depended nation.

Businesses were still in European hands and Indians who had come to the country to build the railway had remained and started businesses otherwise called Dukawallas and had a good share of the country’s commerce leaving Africans with less than 10 per cent of the national business pie.

There was disquiet among Africans especially those who had fought in the World War II along the British in Burma, realizing the White man could die from the bullet wounds and having seen a World that is not necessarily controlled by the Whites.

The Africanisation programme was designed in a way to push White settlers to cede some shares in their establishments to native business giving them a chance to be directors.Parliament took a bold step and created the Trade Licence Act Cap. 497 of 1968 that provided for in cooperation of local directors or partners as a condition for registration of new companies.

“Whilst it got to a slow start with protests from settlers and European business men, the newly passed Law received major backing for the Chamber and Government that ensured it saw light of the day,” reads part of the  a new book Commerce and Industry in Kenya – A Historical Perspective by Richard Ngatia.So intense were the protests that it forced Minister Mboya to travel to London the same year to pacify Europeans. 

“I have travelled in this city but I haven’t seen any business owned by foreigners. How will you feel if in this beautiful city you had one African businessman owning a series of five businesses I the same street?” posed Mboya in the heart of the city of London.The then Minister of Trade and industry Dr Gikonyo Kiano was yet another pillar pushing for Africanisation and he made sure registration of business for African was much easier and simpler.

But Africanization faced many challenges including unscrupulous non-citizens taking advantage of Africans to co-opt Africans into their businesses for the purpose of registration but without conferring any share value t reflect their directorship.

“We can prove cases where non-citizens without licenses have continued to trade in premises, whereas a Africans with licenses for those premises are kept off,” said Chamber Chairman Z. Gakunju in a May 22, 1970 interview with a Kenyan journalist.

The book takes the reader back to precolonial times when Africans used barter trade and finally using the Indian Rupees with the landing of imperialists building the Kenya Uganda Railway upon which the Hut Tax was introduced for any native African 16 years and above.Before the British Pound was introduced here, the colonists had used the East Africa Florin Standard in 1920 and 1922 before finally introducing the Kenya Shilling that is used to date as a the currency for means of exchange.

The book with a deep historical insight takes the reader back into 1890 when the General Act of Brussels Conference was signed in as Slave treaty by order to colonists Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Persia, Denmark, Italy, USA, Holland, Sweden Russia, Portugal, and turkey.

The book, Commerce and Industry in Kenya – A Historical Perspective, also explores growth of modern agriculture in Kenya with the introduction of such crops as maize, sugar, tea, coffee, cashew nits and sisal into the country from the outside world.

“I was inspired to write the book because for a long time, the Chamber has achieved much but that story has not been told,” said Ngatia after the launch of the book at the historic Hilton Hotel graced by the Azimio Presidential candidate Raila Odinga who was accompanied by the CAS for Trade David Osiany.Rt. Hon.

Raila noted that the Chamber has done well telling his own story how he started his East African Specter that he established after buying machinery from an Indian Sikh who was running away persecuting by the Idi Amin Administration in Uganda.The book was launched at the 2022 National Delegates Conference and it it’s Second Part, narrates the achievement of the Chamber for the past three years under President Ngatia including registering over 50,000 new direct members and another 2 million members through associations such as the Jua Kali National Association.Today Ngatia is the Chamber President but also a special envoy of trade  President Uhuru Kenyatta who has written a Forward to the book, and he is also the head.