By 1939, the European population in Kenya stood at about 21,000 while the African population was estimated at 4.5 million, in a paradox the historian Levi Izuakor calls “The Un-paramount African Paramountcy”. In spite of the paucity of settler occupation, the doctrine of European paramountcy remained the cornerstone of the colonial policy in the country.
The settlers themselves, conscious that they enjoyed the support of the colonial government, nursed the ambition of establishing “a new, loyal white dominion”.
