The fight for Kenya’s independence was an onerous task – and one that began long before freedom rang out in 1963. With an uphill climb ahead, Kenyans had all hands-on deck in the struggle against colonialism. Amid these agitations, Kenyan-Asian Manilal Ambalal Desai was determined to use his voice – and particularly his newspapers – to further the cause.
Mouthpieces of Revolution
Desai found his start as an editor at the newspaper Indian Voice in 1911. The paper’s stories focused on fraught relations between settler Europeans and South Asian communities. Like many Kenyan-Asian newspapers then, it had an English section as well as a segment printed in Gujarati. This practice appealed to multilingual readers. But they also made the papers somewhat puzzling for colonial officials strictly monitoring communications among Asians and Africans.
By 1919, Desai had found his sea legs in journalism and was on to his next venture. He formed an anti-colonial newspaper known as the East African Chronicle which focused on appealing to the working class. The editor continued to focus on topics he knew well: issues workers faced, and the toils caused by imperialism.
Raging Against the System
Further development of the newspaper was catalysed by a close friendship formed between Desai and Harry Thuku in the 1920s. Thuku was an African nationalist and key player in a movement called the Young Kikuyu Association (YKA) formed in 1921. This organisation often made demands on the colonial government. And what better way to make these announcements than through a newspaper printed and distributed to the masses? In realisation of this, Thuku and Desai struck a bargain – YKA would set up shop at East African Chronicle’s offices. Thuku was then welcomed to use office equipment to print his Tangazo pamphlets in Kiswahili. No other publisher was prepared to risk the raids and harassment that came with printing such material.
Integration led to a change in the newspaper’s politics. With Thuku’s influence, the East African Chronicle published statements made by members of YKA. The Indian writers there penned bold written statements against the demeaning tools of control used by Europeans. These articles drew comparisons with slavery and championed dignity and honour for Africans.
Refusing to Back Down
In June 1921, Africans were steadily demanding the end of the degrading Kipande system. Consequently, East African Chronicle printed a resolution reeling against the Registration of Natives Ordinance that created the system. The Ordinance made it mandatory for Africans to carry an ID or kipande everywhere. East African Chronicle likened this to making natives branded cattle and the resolution strongly denounced the system. These criticisms travelled far and wide and the newspaper caught the attention of the colonial government. With no intention of granting freedom of speech to Africans, they plotted against what they viewed as an unfathomable threat.
Desai had single-handedly united African and Asian progressives who met at East African Chronicle offices. Under his wing, budding revolutionaries found their footing in speaking out and even publishing their own papers. A swift retaliation from the British followed. Desai and his team faced nine charges on March 20, 1922. There were three publishing-related charges. These included the offence of printing for Harry Thuku, supporting him financially and defending his actions at the government’s expense. Later in the year, when the fog cleared after a scathing libel suit against the paper, Desai lost his second journalism venture after four years in operation.
A Legacy of Resilience
Not one to be down and out for long, the same year East African Chronicle closed, Desai joined Sitaram Achariar in setting up a weekly newspaper called The Democrat. Achariar was a firebrand who British authorities watched like a hawk. In fact, British authorities had already deported him to India in 1915. But Achariar returned to Kenya more determined than ever to bring down colonial powers. Even under surveillance, he edited and published articles with equality and human rights at their core. The articles focused on anti-imperialism and corresponded with the paper’s name by calling for democratic rights for all. The paper’s writing often rubbished the idea that one race was above South Asians and Africans.
In 1930, Achariar faced a fate all too common to those who dared to speak out against colonial wrongs. Officials arrested him for furthering rhetoric seen as dangerous. According to the Europeans in charge, Achariar printed a ‘disparaging editorial’ on women settlers in Kenya. With his imprisonment came The Democrat’s end.
Whatever came, the unyielding minds behind the very first Kenyan-Asian newspapers refused to bow to colonial pressure. They took up arms in the face of certain ruin and carved the beginnings of the freedom movement in Kenya.
Have you heard of any of these newspapers or the names behind them? Let us know in the comments!
Read the next story in the series here!
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