Establishing colonial rule in Kenya and attempting to turn the country into a white settlement area had a profound affect on the local African population. Not only did the alienation of African lands (for European settler occupation) disinherit and dislocate many Africans, but the subsequent development of settler plantations and mixed farms created a demand for a large number of wage labourers. But, since no African labour force was readily forthcoming, the colonial government adopted a combination of financial and political measures to create the required labour supply. Attempts to coerce Africans into seeking wage employment included imposing taxes, creating reserves, disrupting local economies and denying Africans the right to grow major commercial crops.

This is a study of the genesis, evolution, adaptation and subordination of the Kikuyu squatter labourers, who comprised the majority of resident labourers on settler plantations and estates in the Rift Valley Province of the White Highlands. The story of the squatter presence in the White Highlands is essentially the story of the conflicts and contradictions that existed between two agrarian systems, the settler plantation economy and the squatter peasant option. Initially, the latter developed into a viable but much resented sub-system which operated within and, to some extent, in competition with settler agriculture. This study is largely concerned with the dynamics of the squatter presence in the White Highlands and with the initiative, self-assertion and resilience with which they faced their subordinate position as labourers. In their response to the machinations of the colonial system, the squatters were neither passive nor malleable but, on the contrary actively resisted coercion and subordination as they struggled to carve out a living for themselves and their families.