“The Instruments of Colonial Propaganda in the Nyanza Province of Kenya during World War II”

“The Instruments of Colonial Propaganda in the Nyanza Province of Kenya during World War II” Abstract This paper examines the tools of colonial propaganda in the Nyanza Province of Kenya during the World War II. Nyanza Province was one of the main provinces in Kenya that bore the brunt of war during World War II. Thousands of young men from the province served in various units of the colonial army far away from home, and in far-flung places such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Madagascar, North Africa, the Middle East, and Burma, among others during the war. These men served for many years in the war. Some of them even gave up their lives for the colony during the war. The question is this: how did the colonial government manage reach out to these men to serve in the war? How did the colonial spread information about the war to these men, and not only to the men themselves, but also to their immediate family members, extended relatives, and friends? How did these men hear about the war? How did they receive information or news about the war? In short, what were the tools of colonial propaganda in the province during World War II? What instruments did colonial authorities use to entice, convince, or lure these men to enlist for military service? What about civilians? What types of media did the colonial authorities use to mobilize civilians to support the war? This paper seeks to answer these questions by focusing on the Nyanza Province of Kenya, a province that produced many men to serve in the war. Although there are many studies on colonial propaganda in Kenya and elsewhere in the African continent during the war, such studies usually tend to focus on large areas, whole countries for example, thereby proving only wide, overarching surveys of colonialism, propaganda and the war; too sweeping and too general to be as informative as they should. This paper seeks to deepen our understanding of colonial propaganda and World War II in Africa by focusing only on a small locality of the continent—the Nyanza Province of Kenya. Instead of a wide area, it focuses only on a small region. It will therefore provide an intensive examination of the tools and instruments of colonial propaganda in Africa during the war. By focusing on Nyanza Province, a small area of the continent, the paper will enhance and deepen our knowledge of how colonial authorities produced and spread their propaganda and how they were ultimately able to reach the young men of Africa and to get them to serve in the war. The paper will also contribute to the literature on colonial propaganda in Nyanza Province during the war since there is currently no such publication. The paper is largely based on oral interviews and archival sources. It will therefore provide first-hand accounts of the war from Nyanza Province.