Public letters and the culture of politics in Kenya, c.1960-75

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite only a minority of Kenya’s African population being literate at the time of independence, letter-writing constituted a significant form of engagement between grassroots political participants and national leaders during decolonisation. This paper sets out to ask why individuals and collaborative groups of writers sent large quantities of letters to their leaders, what they wrote about, and their expectations of the effect of their correspondence. It argues that these letters constituted a public sphere in decolonising Kenya. Through their letters, Kenyans debated development policy, critiqued the actions of the new governing elite, and set out their hopes and fears for independent rule. Furthermore, letter-writing also provided the opportunity for large groups of authors, often including those without sufficient literacy to write in their own name, to reach consensus among themselves on otherwise contentious issues. Just as importantly, the responses – at first constructive and later suspicious - of state officials to these letters illustrates the continuities and changes in the nature of governance during decolonisation. Letter-writing became less effective and more anachronistic as the post-colonial period progressed as the post-colonial state became reliant upon other rituals of political participation.