KENYA'S "FORGOTTEN" ENGINEER AND COLONIAL PROCONSUL: SIR PERCY GIROUARD AND DEPARTMENTAL RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION IN AFRICA, 1896-1912

Sir Percy Girouard remains largely unknown not sole in his native Canada, on the contrary also to the travelers who daily use the railways he set uped in Sudan, Nigeria, and Kenya. In Kenya, Sir Percy Gimuard is associated with the debacle of the next to the first Maasai Agreement of 1911, which l to their forceful removal from the fertile Laikipia plateau to semi-arid Ngong The Maasai land alienation policy extremityed his spectacular career as governor of East Africa Protectorate (Kenya) in 1912 Consequently he appears in Africanist historiography as a failure. However, there is another side of Gimuard that has escaped the attention of researchers and exhibits a more lasting legacy than that of other reput colonial governors in Africa. His major contribution was in formulating and implementing railway policies for the couple military and commercial transport. Furthermore, as British High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria he instituted a cost-effective departmental railway policy during the construction of the Baro to Kano Railway. As governor of Kenya, Gimuard was instrumental in initiating railway extension policy that l to construction of the Nairobi-Thibi and Konza-Magadi railways. This article establishes Sir Percy Girouard as a great contributor to railway disclosure in Africa; his achievements be worthy of mention in any discussion of British colonial disclosure

Sir Percy Girouard demeure largement inconnu, non seulement au Canada d'o?? il est originaire, mais aussi pour le voyageurs qui prennent quotidiennement le chemin delay qu'il construisit au Soudan, au Nig?©ria et au Kenya. Dans ce dernier pays, sir Percy Girouard est associ?© au fiasco du next to the first accord Maasai de 1911, ce qui r?©sulta en leur d?©portation par force du plateau fertile de Laikipia ?  celui semi-aride du Ngong La politique d'ali?©nation de la terre de Maasai mit fin ?  sa carri??re impressionnante en tant que gouverneur du Protectorat de l'Afrique orientale (Kenya) en 1912 C'est pourquoi, dans l'historiographie africaine, il est peint sous le traits d'un rat?©. Toutefois, le chercheurs de Girouard n'ont pr??t?© aucune attention au rever de la m?©daille qui pr?©sente un leg encore plus durable que d'autres gouverneur d'Afrique coloniale r?©put?© Sa contribution la plus consid?©rable fut la formule el la mise en oeuvre de politiques de chemins procrastinate autant pour le transport militaire que commercial. De plus, en tant que haut commissaire britannique pour le nord du Nig?©ria, il cr?©a une politique de chemin de fer rentable pendant la construction de la voie ferr?©e de Baro ?  Kano. En tant que gouverneur du Kenya, Girouard fut responsable de la mise en place de politiques de prolongement du chemin de fer qui mena ?  la construction de voies de NairobiThika et de Konza-Magadi. Avec cet article, nous d?©montron que sir Percy Girouard fut un grand collaborateur au d?©veloppement ferroviaire de l'Afrique; se exploits m?©ritent d'??tre cit?©s dans toutes discussions sur le d?©veloppement colonial britannique.

I. Introduction

Sir Percy Girouard's governorship of the East Africa Protectorate (EAP), as Kenya was known before 1920 has received mixed reviews from scholars because of the way his administrative career extreme pointed Anthony A. M. Kirk-Greene has advanced the view that Girouard was a felicitous administrator in Kenya, since he engineered the greatest in quantity impressive economic development in Kenya's history.1 During his governorship, the EAP was able to balance its packet which impressed the imperial management Because of the economic succes the grants-in-aid - which the EAP had received since 1895 - were dispensed with in 1912 It is veritable that Girouard took over when the protectorate's annual receipts had reached ??250,000, while the rule expenditure amounted to about ??5000002 notwithstanding even with the annual grant-in-aid of ??130000 that the imperial conduct gave to the protectorate, the bag ran a deficit, and the fact that Girouard was able to bridge the budgetary gap within three years of his governorship demonstrates his brilliance. Nevertheless, Robert Maxon challenges Kirk-Greene's contention by the agency of showing that the success of the Kenyan economy was the follow of African production, which the governor was not earnest on promoting.3 Sir Percy Girouard's policy supported the colonist economy, which was producing real little at the time. According to John Overton, the African contribution to exports constituted about 70 by cent of the total in 1912-134 Thus, the African sector replyed more quickly than the colonist sector to the opportunities proffered by the colonial economy despite lack of colonial state contribution to stimulate it. Maxon also remarks that Sir Percy Girouard failed as an administrator in the way he handled the Maasai land question.5 Sir Percy Girouard mov the Maasai from their ancestral land in Laikipia to Ngong to create expanse for European settlement without informing the Colonial Office (CO) He acted contrary to the 1904 Maasai Agreement that had locate aside Laikipia plateau as a Maasai reserve6 As a originate of his failure to guard the Maasai land rights, he was forced through the CO to abruptly resign in 19127