June 8th 1963
The bill passed!
After holing myself in the office the whole of yesterday, it wasn't until late noon that the now dubbed 'settler's bill' was passed.
It was quite surreal watching Oginga passionately defend something he never did in the original timeline.
He called Mzee immediately after, and even got an early invite to his campaign trail set to commence once this bill becomes law.
All eyes are now on the Governor General.
Only he can sign a legislative bill into law. Unfortunately, this bill did not pass unanimously.
There was sharp resistance from house representatives whose communities were dealt the brunt of colonialism. This is one reason Mzee is planned to traverse the whole country.
The common man can't grasp this bill. But Mzee in his usual flair, now with Oginga in tow, would conclude a series of political rallies all over the country, especially in 'politically sensitive' areas, getting ahead of the message before anyone else sows seeds of discord.
It is a move the colonial government wholly supported. Now, we can't be so sure.
The discussion of this bill was quite a surprise to many settlers. None ever thought the new Prime Minister would rule by law.
Dispossessing them by force seems more his style.
However, requests to the immigration office have dropped sharply. It seems many settlers are rethinking departure, but the idea of dividing their lands remains unappealing.
White settlers in Kenya became quite the experts in Agricultural research and large-scale commercial farming. Lord Delamere developed a more resistant wheat variety for cultivation in the Rift Valley.
After their exit, we lost important human resource together with vital overseas markets for cash crops and other agricultural produce.
The same could happen again. But if we could retain half their original number, our future problems won't be so dire.
Malcolm has yet to send me any missive. This bold move by Mzee definitely got him reevaluating on some things.
Also, there was a scheduled meeting with other East African heads of state, Milton Obote of Uganda and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.
The agenda was about merging the three countries, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania into one.
Originally, Mzee fled the idea of uniting the three countries. He lied about it and got a harsh rebuke from Nyerere.
Is that why our neighbors harbored a general disdain towards us?