HC Deb 17 July 1907 vol 178 cc682-4
MR. CATHCART WASON (Orkney and Shetland)

I beg to ask the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies if he can state the extent of land which has been reserved for the Natives in the Kikuyu district in East Africa: and if it is clearly understood that this reserve will be retained for the natives.

THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. CHURCHILL, Manchester, N.W.)

The ߤ See(4) Debates, clxxvii, 346-7. land which has been declared reserves for the Kikuyu tribe amounts to about 14,000 square miles in the Kenya Province, and about 350,000 acres in the Ukamba Province. There is no present intention of rescinding this reservation.

MR. CATHCART WASON

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether it is not within his knowledge that practically all the native troubles have arisen through land grabbing, and would it not tend to the peace of that country—

*MR. SPEAKER

The hon. Member must give notice of that Question.

MR. CATHCART WASON

Will the right hon. Gentleman take this matter into consideration and see into it?

*MR. SPEAKER

The hon. Member must give notice.

MR. MYER (Lambeth, N.)

Will the right hon. Gentleman take steps to render the sale of reserved lands—?

*MR. SPEAKER

That does not arise out of the Question.

MR. CATHCART WASON

asked what the right hon. Gentleman meant by "no present intention."

MR. CHURCHILL

Some of these tribes have hitherto pursued a perfectly nomadic course over large areas of country; but it is the absolute intention of my right hon. friend the Colonial Secretary to secure for them ample location in which they may live and multiply.

MR. ASHLEY (Lancashire, Blackpool)

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman was not aware that the Kikuyu was not a nomadic tribe; and whether it would not be possible to place their lands in the hands of trustees so that they should not be alienated.

*MR. SPEAKER

That is a matter of policy; and hon. Members must give notice of all such important Questions.

MR. CATHCART WASON

I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can state the extent of land from which the Masai were removed for the benefit of a syndicate, and a comparative estimate of members of the Masai; and how many English, Irish, and Scottish settlers have replaced the Masai.

MR. CHURCHILL

The area from which the Masai were removed was nominally about 920,000 acres. I say "nominally" because the Masai, being a nomad pastoral tribe and having no fixed abode, occupied at one time or another all grazing land in that part of East Africa, the areas so occupied being however very much in excess of their present requirements. Three hundred and twenty thousand acres of the land in question were granted to the East Africa Syndicate and the remainder made available for other settlers. The Masai affected by this arrangement numbered about 11,200 souls. The number of white settlers in the area is at present forty-eight, of whom ten are Boers and the remainder of British descent, but this number will no doubt be increased as white settlement progresses. I should add that the Masai have been granted ample lands in two reserves, and that they have acquiesced in the arrangement.

MR. CATHCART WASON

Do the forty-eight settlers include women and children —

MR. CHURCHILL

I believe not.