The Indian Community in Kenya

A section of the Kenya-Uganda Railway during Construction

The Indian community migration into modern day Kenya began with the construction of the Uganda railway between 1896 and 1901. About 32,000 labourers were recruited from British India. Construction of the railway proved a remarkable feat of engineering. However, many of the labourers perished in the course of the construction with the figure standing at 2,500 labourers or four for each mile of track laid, and became notorious for the Tsavo man-eater lions. Today, the Indian community in Kenya stands at about 100,000.

A.M Jevanjee

Image of Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee

By the 1920s, there existed a sizeable Asian population who demanded a role in the developing political life of what became Kenya Colony. At the forefront of the early pioneers was Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, who established Kenya's first newspaper, today known as the The Standard.  It is the oldest newspaper in the country owned by The Standard Group. Currently, The Standard is one of the largest newspapers in Kenya with an estimated market share of 30%. Only the Daily Nation, owned by the Nation Media Group (NMG), commands a bigger market share, at 53%.

 

The Jevanjee Gardens with A.M Jevanjee statue in the background

 Mohamedally Rattansi

Mr Mohamedally Rattansi and his wife Maniben

 Mohamedally was born in 1882 in Chavand, a village in Kathiawar, India.  His father Rattansi Nanji, a Shia Ismaili, owned a small shop selling basic merchandise, such as salt, sugar, and dates to villagers and neighbouring farmers in India. They were to later move into Kenya, then part of British East Africa Protectorate.  In 1956, Mr. Mohamedally together with his wife Maniben, after spending over 50 years in East Africa decided to establish an Educational Trust to help needy students. The Trust was based in Kenya where he had lived most of his life, before retiring to his farm in Uganda. The Trust established in colonial Kenya, helped all regardless of race. Many prominent Kenyans have benefitted from this trust, amongst them; Raju Batavia of Batavia Enterprises Ltd., Mombasa, the late Justice J.M. Gachuhi of Court of Appeal, Mohamed Hyder, a former Professor of Zoology and Principal, College of Biological and Physical Sciences, University of Nairobi, J.B. Karagu,former Attoney General, B.E. Kipkorir, former academic and Kenya’s ambassador to the United States and Sadru Ramji of Wyco Paints, Nairobi. Many more needy Kenyans continue to benefit from the Trust to date.

The 1950s saw increased sentiment against the inequalities of colonial rule, and many Asians were at the forefront of the push for increased rights. These included: Pio Gama Pinto founder of the Kenya African National Union newspaper, Makhan Singh who is regarded as laying the foundations of Kenyan trade unionism, and A.R. Kapila and Fitz de Souza renowned in the legal profession for their representation of those accused of Mau Mau links.

Malkiat Singh

Iconic publisher Malkiat Singh during a book launch

Anyone who has gone through the Kenyan education system in the last three decades must have come across the name Malkiat Singh. So omnipresent have titles bearing the name been in all subjects that some may have initially concluded ‘Malkiat Singh’ is a publishing house, before probably realising it is one person responsible for such prolific publication. 

Currently, he has over 24 titles approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) – previously known as the Kenya Institute of Education – for use in primary schools

Business

There are many Indian owned businesses in Kenya; some of them comprise biggest business entities in the country. A walk down Biashara Street in Nairobi SBD, Kenya’s capital, will reveal how entrenched the community is in Kenya’s business landscape. ‘Biashara’ is Swahili for Business and almost all business enterprises along the street are Asian owned.

Business mogul Vimal Shah

There are globally renowned and prominent businessmen such as Naushad N. Merali, founder of the Kenyan mobile service provider Kencell along with French media giant Vivendi (today known as Airtel Kenya) , Manilal Premchand Chandaria, chairman and CEO of the Comcraft Group of Companies, a billion dollar enterprise that has a presence in over 40 countries and Vimal Shah of Bidco Oil; who was recently valued at $1.7 billion by New World Health, making him the richest Kenyan and one of the richest globally.

Other notables include Chamanlal Kamani, Deepak Kamani, Rashmi Chamanlal Kamani and Sudha Ruparell of Kamsons Group which owns numerous luxury hotels at the Kenyan coast, Raju Sanghani, Francisco D'Souza of Cognizant, Atul Shah of Nakumatt Supermaket Chains, Vijay Dodhia of Ukwala Supermakets and many more.

The Indian community encompasses variant sectors within the Kenyan social and economic set up. By sector, the following Kenyans of Indian descent are household names; 

Law

Kenya's Deputy CJ Kalpana Hasmukhrai Rawal

Kalpana Rawal, Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya, Yash Pal Ghai, Kenyan Consitutional lawyer, former chairperson of Constitution Commision of Kenya  and the current chairman of the Constitution Commision of Fiji; Sharad S. Rao, Chairman of the Kenya Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board and Fitz Remedios Santana de Souza, a lawyer and ex-politician who was an important figure in the campaign for independence for Kenya, a member of the Kenyan parliament in the 1960s and Deputy Speaker for several years. He helped provide a legal defence for those accused of Mau Mau activities including the Kapenguria Six, and he was one of the people involved in the Lancaster House conferences held to draw up a constitutional framework for Kenyan independence.

Sports

Former rally driver Joginder Singh and cricketers  Chandrashekhar "Shekhar" Mehta, Aasif Yusuf Karim, Dipak Nanalal Chudasama, Sandip Gupta, Sheikh Basharat Hassan, Brijal Jagdish Patel, Malhar L Patel, Zahid Sadiq, Rajeshwar Sharma, Mohammad Sheikh, Alpesh Vallabhdas Vadher and many others.

Media & Film

Salim Lone, Ruhila Adatia-Sood, Kiran Shah, Eve de Souza, Fareed Khimani, Moyez G. Vassanji, Ali Velshi, Imran Yusuf, Gurinder Chadha, Pinky Ghelani, Smriti Vidyarthi and many more.

Politics

Prominent Kenyan Politician, Lawyer and journalist P.G Pinto

Shakeel Shabbir Ahmed, M.P Kisumu Town East, Irshadali Mohamed Sumra, M.P,Embakasi South, Abdul Rahim Dawood,M.P North Imenti, seasoned politician Kamlesh Pattni and Sonia Birdi former nominated M.P.