MISSIONARIES SOFTENED THE AFRICANS FOR COLONIALISM - PROF. MACHARIA MUNENE

Colonialism was an exercise in imperial conquest, implemented at the tip of the bayonet. The Africans resisted but the forces raged against them bore superior arms and strategies. In this extensive interview, famous Kenyan historian Prof. Macharia Munene, gives a deep lesson on how colonialism took place in Kenya and Africa and the role of missionaries, soldiers, administrators, anthropologists, and even a former American President who once visited Kenya at the dawn of colonialism. He explains the rationale behind the Berlin Conference of 1885 - bringing order and discipline among European powers for the smooth exploitation of the African continent. He also traces the rise of grievances and political dissent among the Africans as a result of the alienation of their land, the imposition of punitive taxation, the denial of political representation, the conscription of African young men to fight European wars, and wanton discrimination, all culminating in armed resistance such as Mau Mau in the case of Kenya. He sweeps through the history of slavery, African-American history, and the rise of comprehensive Pan-Africanism and shows how Pan-African thinking inspired the resistance in Kenya and African and vice-versa.