THE NAIROBI ROUND-UP
SIR,--I believe I can detect in your report on " The Nairobi Round-Up " the familiar note of deprecation and apology, with which it is customary to report any firm measure undertaken against the Mau Mau, at home.
I fully sympathise with the liberal inspira- tion of this attitude, but I would suggest that it is totally out of place with regard to the situation here. If I may be permitted to draw an analogy, it will be remembered that, during the recent war, the independent and freedom- loving, citizens of Britain submitted uncom- plainingly to a whole host of restrictions, which under normal circumstances they would have resented fiercely. Mass evacuation was a commonplace, so were identity checks, and nobody objected to becoming part of a "herd," when the object was to find shelter in the shortest possible time. Why then, in circumstances scarcely less threatening in Kenya, are Africans undergoing vitally, neces- sary identity checks, conceived of as " herds of cattle " ?
The majority of these Africans are peace- loving people; those of them, and unfortu- nately their number is considerable, who have taken the Mau Mau oath. have almost all dole so under pressure. They are frightened to use the buses, Asian restaurants, and even to smoke in the streets. African house-boys dare not go down into the locations. There are none who would be more glad of the firm rule of law than these same " herds of cattle." ,
At the moment, the African locations are in the process of being wired in. It is no longer a question of something of the sort having, " no doubt," to be done ; unless much more of the 'sort is done, without qualification of any sort, virtual anarchy must prevail.— Yours faithfully,
Box 1222, Nairobi, Kenya
K. CARTER
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