The NFD’s eastern half was Somali while western areas were ethnically mixed

Evidence

This left the situation in the Northern Frontier District of Kenya to assess. This ethnically and administratively distinct region of Kenya contained a population (according to the 1962 Census) of just under 400,000, considerably more than half of whom were Somali. The ‘District’ in fact comprised six separate administrative Districts with headquarters at Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, and Moyale. Widely dispersed and thinly concentrated on the ground, the Somali pastoral nomads occupied almost the whole of the eastern part of the region (Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera Districts), being cordoned off from their neighbours and ethnic kinsmen the Orma and Boran Galla by the ‘Somali line’, which ran southwards from east of Moyale to the Tana River. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 459 (#expands, via linked claim)

This was that evidence had been collected ‘on the premise that there can be no question of secession before Kenya gets independence’. This assumption derived, apparently, from the Commissioners’ confidential instructions. It was not included in the previous Colonial Secretary’s announcement of the decision to set up the Commission made at the Kenya conference, and it appeared to be in conflict with the undertaking given then that a decision would be taken before Kenya became independent. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 476 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Kenyan NFD held nearly 400,000 people, mostly Somali in its eastern districts. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 459; The NFD demanded the same self-determination Britain granted British Somaliland; Britain secretly precluded NFD secession before Kenya’s independence — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 476 (+1 more)

Related

• The Kenyan NFD held nearly 400,000 people, mostly Somali in its eastern districts. (similarity 0.92)
• N.F.D. Somalis comprised 62 percent and nearly unanimously backed secession (similarity 0.86)
• The NFD demanded the same self-determination Britain granted British Somaliland (similarity 0.84)
• Britain secretly precluded NFD secession before Kenya’s independence (similarity 0.83)
• N.F.D. Somalis sought autonomy from Kenya to unite with the Somali Republic (similarity 0.83)
• Britain placed the N.F.D. into Kenya’s regional constitution, rejecting secession (similarity 0.82)
• Kenyan parties opposed Somali secession for fear of tribal separatism and with Ethiopian backing (similarity 0.81)
• Pan-African opinion legitimized Britain’s refusal of N.F.D. secession (similarity 0.80)
• The N.F.D. commission was secretly instructed to rule out pre-independence secession (similarity 0.80)
• Macmillan’s 1960 pledge seemed to promise the NFD self-determination (similarity 0.80)
• Colonial Kenya restricted northern Somali movement almost as strictly as South African apartheid (similarity 0.78)
• Britain shifted to insisting Kenyan consent governed the N.F.D.’s fate (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The Kenyan NFD held nearly 400,000 people, mostly Somali in its eastern districts. #expands (0.85) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 459
• The NFD demanded the same self-determination Britain granted British Somaliland #expands (0.60)
• Britain secretly precluded NFD secession before Kenya’s independence #complicates (0.50) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 476