The colonial conquest of Kenya at the end of the nineteenth century followed many centuries of the exploitation of the country’s resources by external interests. The conquest effectively ushered in the penetration of capitalist systems of production into the country. Capitalist penetration of Kenya dates to the period of Arab mercantilist activities along the Indian ocean dating back to the nineth century onward and later succeeded by modern western European intervention from the fifteenth century onward. The Indian Ocean trade mainly involved the acquisition of slaves, gold, ivory, and other tropical products whose demand was expanding rapidly in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. By the nineteenth century, Arab influence had generally declined as it was mainly confined to the coast, but conversely, European influence had penetrated deep into the interior facilitated by the activities of Christian missionaries, traders and explorers who were keen to tap resources of the interior for the benefit of western capitalist interests. The establishment of colonial rule at the end of the nineteenth century was therefore the inevitable outcome of centuries of interaction between societies in Kenya and external forces whose major interest was the economic exploitation of the country. The establishment of British colonial rule radically restructured indigenous modes of production for the purpose of expanding capitalism. The colonial economy in Kenya was generally characterized by the desire of the colonial regime to transform the country into an enclave of capitalist production. This led to the encouragement of settler production, while African systems of production generally suffered neglect by the state. However, the growth of colonial capitalism was a process that was enmeshed in numerous contradictions as settler production that was perceived to be the backbone of the economy never lived up to the expectations of the colonial state and other western capitalist agencies.
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