The Mau Mau Grows
The basic dilemma in Kenya becomes more sharply defined. The upsurge of barbarism called for severe measures, and they were taken. But the arrests, interroga- tions, " cleansings " and the impounding of cattle seem to have had little effect on the spread of Mau Mau's influence throughout the Kikuyu : on the contrary, there are signs that it is spreading fast to other tribes around the borders of Kikuyuland as well as to pockets of Kikuyu in Mombasa and elsewhere. Mr. Michael Blundell, leader of the European elected members in the Legislative Council, has complained that the Government's action has not been swift, drastic or effective enough, and he pointed out that unless the emergency can be brought to an end and the country's produCtive capacity restored, the expansion of social services for the Africans— education in particular—may have to be curtailed. If that happens, 'then the ground will simply be made more fertile for Mau Mau and the likelihood of more general unrest (and its consequences) increased. The situation is more serious now than it was when the state of emergency was declared over a month ago. Effective police action is made difficult by the gulf between black and white in Kenya and the consequent problems of coming to close quarters with such a wide-spread and loosely knit organisation as Mau Mau. This inevitably leads to rough and indiscriminate rounding-up and interroga-. tion and to the alienation of many of the innocent caught in the net. There is also the difficulty of bringing it home to the great mass of illiterate Africans that the Government has plans to better their condition. But people outside Kenya are in no position to offer advice to the sorely tried Europeans there. Sympathy at the moment is more appropriate.
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