The Mackinnon-Sclater road was a {{cvt, 600, mi, km, adj=on, disp=flip ox cart track from

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

to Busia in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

started in 1890 by the

British East Africa Company The Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) was a commercial association founded to develop African trade in the areas controlled by the British Empire. The company was incorporated in London on 18 April 1888 and granted a royal charter by Q ...

(IBEAC). It superseded earlier caravan routes used by slave traders and explorers of the interior. The part of the road called the "Mackinnon road" linked Mombasa and

Kibwezi Kibwezi is a town in Makueni County, Kenya. Kibwezi town is the headquarters of Kibwezi division, one of 15 administrative divisions in Makueni County. The division has a population of 80,236, of whom 4,695 are classified urban. The division has ...

. It was built by an Australian called George Wilson. It was named after and partly financed by

Sir William Mackinnon, 1st Baronet Sir William Mackinnon, 1st Baronet, (13 March 1823 – 22 June 1893) was a Scottish ship-owner and businessman who built up substantial commercial interests in India and East Africa. He established the British-India Steam Navigation Company and ...

a founder of the IBEAC who wanted to increase trade with

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. The road was “of the simplest kind, Road surface,

unmetalled A road surface (British English), or pavement (American English), is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, hoggin, cobble ...

, and in fact, the roughest track along which a bullock-cart would go” Captain Bertram Lutley Sclater of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

continued the road from Kibwezi to the

border at Busia. The road as a means of long distance travel fell into disuse between 1896 and 1901 after the

Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the lin ...

overtook it. Many of the cars later used in the interior were transported there by rail because the road journey was long, slow and difficult.1995:AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF MOTORING IN KENYA by Gavin Bennett accessed from http://www.oocities.org/motorcity/flats/2014/motoringkenya.html, on 30-Dec-2013

References

Roads in Kenya

See also

References