<Dl> <Dd> (The Colonial Office in London ruled that) native interests should come first; but this proved difficult to apply (in Kenya)... where some 10,000 white settlers, many of them ex-officers of the war, insisted that their interests came before those of the three million natives and 23,000 Indians in the colony, and demanded' responsible government', provided that they alone bore the responsibility . After three years of bitter dispute, provoked not by the natives but by the Indians, vigorously backed by the Government of India, the Colonial Office gave judgment: the interest of the natives was' paramount', and responsible government out of the question, but no drastic change was contemplated--thus in effect preserving the ascendancy of the settlers . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> (The Colonial Office in London ruled that) native interests should come first; but this proved difficult to apply (in Kenya)... where some 10,000 white settlers, many of them ex-officers of the war, insisted that their interests came before those of the three million natives and 23,000 Indians in the colony, and demanded' responsible government', provided that they alone bore the responsibility . After three years of bitter dispute, provoked not by the natives but by the Indians, vigorously backed by the Government of India, the Colonial Office gave judgment: the interest of the natives was' paramount', and responsible government out of the question, but no drastic change was contemplated--thus in effect preserving the ascendancy of the settlers . </Dd> <P> In the Second World War (1939--45) Kenya became an important British military base for successful campaigns against Italy in the Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia . The war brought money and an opportunity for military service for 98,000 men, called "askaris". The war stimulated African nationalism . After the war, African ex-servicemen sought to maintain the socioeconomic gains they had accrued through service in the King's African Rifles (KAR). Looking for middle class employment and social privileges, they challenged existing relationships within the colonial state . For the most part, veterans did not participate in national politics, believing that their aspirations could best be achieved within the confines of colonial society . The social and economic connotations of KAR service, combined with the massive wartime expansion of Kenyan defence forces, created a new class of modernised Africans with distinctive characteristics and interests . These socioeconomic perceptions proved powerful after the war . </P> <P> British officials sought to modernise Kikuyu farming in the Murang'a District 1920--45 . Relying on concepts of trusteeship and scientific management, they imposed a number of changes in crop production and agrarian techniques, claiming to promote conservation and "betterment" of farming in the colonial tribal reserves . While criticised as backward by British officials and white settlers, African farming proved resilient and Kikuyu farmers engaged in widespread resistance to the colonial state's agrarian reforms . </P>

Why did it take so long for foreigners to enter the land now known as kenya