Independent Group (Kenya) Explained

The Independent Group of Members of the Legislative Council was a right-wing political party in Kenya.

History

Led by Llewellyn Briggs,^[1] the Independent Group was a European party that called for ministerial positions to be awarded without consideration for the racial makeup of the cabinet, using the slogan "Merit and Ability",^[2] effectively seeking to exclude Africans from government.^[3] It nominated ten candidates for the fourteen European seats in the 1956 general elections, winning eight of them.^{[4] [5]}

In August 1959 Briggs formed the United Party, bringing together the Independent Group with former members of the Federal Independence Party,^{[2] [6]} which had failed to win a seat in the 1956 elections.

Notes and References

1. Richard Hughes (2003) Capricorn: David Stirling's African Campaign, The Radcliffe Press, p180
2. https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0058228 Kenya from Mau Mau to Independence
3. William Ernest Frank Ward (1963) A History of Africa: Egypt and the Sudan. Uganda. Kenya. Tanganyika, Allen & Unwin, p181
4. "Results of the General Election in Kenya", East Africa and Rhodesia, 4 October 1956, p150
5. "General Election in Kenya: Comments in the Press", East Africa and Rhodesia, 11 October 1956, p186
6. George Bennett & Carl Gustav Rosberg (1961) The Kenyatta Election: Kenya 1960-1961, Oxford University Press, p16