Britain created multiracial legislative councils in Kenya (1944), Tanganyika and Uganda (1945), Northern Rhodesia (1948), and Nyasaland (1949). They had the opposite of their intended effect, spurring African nationalism as Africans rejected the colonial concept of multiracialism.
Beginning of university education in region. The pace of university construction was still too slow. Makerere University was founded in 1949. By 1960, many more Africans from the region were seeking higher education abroad.
The Groundnut Scheme harvest proved to be very disappointing. Similar big development projects were being funded throughout the continent, but results were rarely positive.
The Matthew Commission reported on constitutional developments in Tanganyika. A legislative council was proposed, to include seven African, seven Asian, and seven European members.
The Mau Mau rebellion broke out on Sept. 11, 1952, and a state of emergency in Kenya was declared in 1953. Rebellion was sparked by discontent among the Kikuyu over land lost to Europeans and was heightened by general discontent over government regulation of peasant farming and urban nationalist aspirations. In 1953, Jomo Kenyatta and five others were convicted of “managing” the Mau Mau, but the conviction was overturned by the Kenya Supreme Court. Then the East African Court of Appeals upheld the conviction. Political associations were prohibited during the state of emergency. Thousands of Africans died in the rebellion and the British military campaign to crush it.
