Examine the factors behind the decline of Chartered Company rule in Africa.
Qn. Why Chartered Company administration in Africa did not live longer.
Company rule did not meet their responsibilities, they achieved very few objectives contrary to what was expected by their mother countries. In 1900’s many Companies did not continue with their administration and therefore they transferred all their political administrative rights to the governments in their mother countries.
REASONS FOR THE FAILURE OF CHARTERED COMPANY RULE
There were several reasons which led to the failure of the Chartered Companies in Africa as follows:
Financial problems.
Many of the Chartered Companies later on ran bankrupt. The bankrupt was due to the fact that home government did not support much the /company Also the Companies had many responsibilities to fulfill, for example Suppressing resistances and construction of infrastructures. Generally, this led to failure of these Companies.
African resistances.
The Companies also faced many resistances from the natives. This was due to the fact that, Africans were not happy with the presence of the For example G.E.A.CO faced a Stiff resistance from the Coastal people led by Abushiri and Bwana Heri in 1888 – 1889. Also I.B.E.A.CO faced stiff resistance from the Nandi in Kenya. This contributed to the failure of the companies.
Lack of Experienced and skilled administrators.
The companies recruited most of the staff outside East Africa without much regard of their experience and Also, much of the Company officials and traders were less competent in their responsibilities hence failure of Company rule.
Chartered Company
Presence of tropical diseases.
This limited the penetration of the company officials to reach the interior. For example Malaria killed many E.A.CO and I.B.E.CO officials something which resulted into shortage of officials hence failure of the companies.
factors behind the decline of Chartered Company rule in Africa.
Language problem (barrier).
There was language barrier between Africans and the Company Officials. It was difficult to communicate between the two groups( Africans and Europeans) as each group found the language of other being Hence, decline of Company rule.
Lack of transport and communication facilities.
This was another problem that faced Chartered Company administration to the interior was not easy as some area lacked good and variable transport This made the exploitation of resources and administration in general to become difficult. Hence, decline of Company rule.
Harsh Climatic Condition (Bad climatic condition).
The climatic condition of various parts of Africa was not conductive to Europeans. For example in East Africa the climate was not friendly and favarable to Company Officials hence failure of Company’s
Insufficient knowledge about Africa.
Most of the Company Officials lacked sufficient knowledge about the areas where the companies were For instance, the I.B.E.A.CO Officials were not sure on the navigability of some rivers such as River Tana and Juba
Maltreatment of the natives.
In some areas, the company rule over exploited and harassed badly the indigenous. The maltreatment of the companies created hostility with Africans, something which led to stiff For example Karl Peters (G.E.A.CO) was nicknamed as “Mikono ya Damu” by the natives in East Africa due to his brutality. He therefore faced a lot of resistances and dislike until his dismissal.
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