Chapter 122 Northern Development
February 11, 1868.
The town of Omorate is located on the east bank of the Omo River in Kenya and is currently the northernmost immigrant settlement in the East African colony.
With the full support of the Nairobi government, a large number of immigrants were transported here to settle down in a short period of time, and the current population is more than 800 people.
The Nairobi government organized all the vehicles to transfer the immigrants who landed in Mombasa and headed west to Nairobi to the Omorate area.
The poor Nairobi government has gained nothing from the East African chess game. Instead, it has continued to support other parts of Kenya, slowing down local development.
As the capital of Kenya in the previous life, the city that had the same experience as Nairobi is Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania in the previous life. The two are truly brothers in distress. The more dazzling they were in the previous life, the more lonely they are now.
Of course, Dodoma is in a much better situation than Nairobi because it was developed earlier. At least it has accumulated enough population. In the early days of Nairobi's construction, a part of its people were diverted to the north to build coffee plantations. Now, they are still not idle and have to support the development of Omorate Town.
The status of these two cities cannot be compared with that in the previous life. Of course, this is the current situation of the East African colonies. The closer the colonies are to the center, the slower the city develops.
Instead, a large number of cities on the edge of the colony have been fully developed, and Omorat is such a marginal city.
Omorate was the first nail driven into East Africa's attempt to seize the Omo River Basin. In order to gain control as soon as possible, there was not even enough time to clear out the local indigenous people.
As for why Omorate was chosen as the northernmost city at present, it is because the geographical conditions here are good, the land is flat and easy to develop.
As you go north along the Omo River, there are mountains and plateaus, making development very difficult. Due to the terrain, the upper reaches of the Omo River can be said to be winding. The phrase "twists and turns" is not enough to describe the twists and turns of the Omo River.
It is no wonder that Ethiopia had to build a hydroelectric power station upstream in the past, as its water resources are indeed abundant.
The southern part of Omorate is close to the Omo River Delta and is about thirty kilometers away from Lake Turkana.
The Omo River Delta is inhabited by indigenous tribes who make a living by fishing, so Omorate bypassed the Omo River Delta and chose to build a town further north.
This location is very good. Compared with the delta map, it is not prone to waterlogging disasters, and the land is also fertile. The local indigenous people have no planting experience.
Therefore, the land here has never been developed. With the nourishment of the Omo River and thousands of years of accumulation, both banks are fertile.
The establishment of Omorate Town follows the same pattern as previous expansions in East Africa, which is to first enclose the land and then slowly ask the original owners of the land to leave.
The land within the circle completely became the East African colony's own land. Ernst used this trick to encircle the entire inland plateau of Tanzania.
Using Mwanza, Kigoma, Mbeya, Karonga and other large cities surrounding the Tanganyika region (a general term for the inland plateau) as strongholds, Tanganyika was separated from other forces.
Then they used immigrants to completely occupy the land in the circle, and gradually the Tanganyika region fell into the hands of the East African colonies.
As for Kenya, it was plundered through war, so this is not the case.
Now, the establishment of the town of Omorate once again demonstrates the East African colonies' most adept means of expansion.
From the moment the town of Omorat was established, it completely separated the various forces in Ethiopia (including the Abyssinian Empire) from the land south of Omorat.
Once the village strongholds under Omorate were established and completed, these forces, their connections and access to northern Kenya were blocked by the East African colonies.
The vast land along the shores of Lake Turkana (about 500,000 square kilometers) became the property of the East African colony, which could slowly digest the area in the middle from both the south (Nairobi) and the north (Omorate).
Turkana is a saltwater lake, and there are not many tribes and indigenous people around it. After being isolated and helpless, they can only become lambs to be slaughtered.
The precipitation in the Omo River basin is between 1500mm and 2000mm, so Omorate in the downstream has no shortage of water resources. In this area, rice can be grown on a large scale to feed the immigrants.
Lake Turkana south of the town of Omorate and the Kenyan area east of Lake Turkana are not suitable for large-scale food cultivation.
Deserts and grasslands are intertwined, so they are planned as pastures. Pastures are the land use form with the lowest economic value in East Africa.
The entire East African Plateau has a tropical savannah climate, so there is no shortage of grassland. Moreover, there is more rainfall in the south, and the grass and water are more abundant.
In addition, there is currently a large amount of undeveloped land in East Africa. Even in the most densely populated upper coastal areas, there are large amounts of grasslands and forests.
Therefore, the natural conditions in northern Kenya are not good enough. It is only for the purpose of immigration that the choice of pastures is inclined towards northern Kenya.
And grazing is not that easy. In East Africa, "armed" grazing is practiced.
Except for the Sahara Desert, which is a truly barren land, almost all areas of Africa are inhabited by wild animals. Even the Kalahari Desert in the south is a paradise for wild animals.
No matter how bad the conditions are in northern Kenya, there are still a lot of animals, including lions, leopards, hyenas and other animals.
As a large ranch planned in East Africa, the population in northern Kenya is destined to be not too large, and the number is certainly not enough to compete with the wild animals.
And the wild beasts would certainly threaten the safety of the livestock in the colonies. In this era, there were no barbed wire or electric fences to separate the two.
Even if there is, East Africa cannot afford it under the current economic conditions. So what can East Africa afford? It is the gun in its hand.
The number of guns in the East African colonies was around 100,000, almost one for every five people.
Carrying a gun while herding is definitely economical and safe, and East Africa can produce this on a small scale.
The plan of the East African colony was to first select a good pasture and then organize personnel to physically eliminate the beasts and wild animals within the pasture.
Then some immigrants formed herding groups, with each group responsible for its own area.
Unlike farmers, herders are equipped with weapons to patrol pastures and prevent wild beasts and savages from harassing the pastures.
Speaking of wild men, herders are also obliged to capture those who break into the pastoral areas, and then their superiors will escort them to the south.
In this way, northern Kenya is covered by large and small pastoral areas, and the living space of the indigenous people naturally becomes smaller and smaller. If they resist and break into the pastoral areas, they will be captured by the East African colonies.
The day when Kenya is covered with pastures and plantations will also be the day when the indigenous people are completely cleared out.
This was a crude plan by the East African colonies to develop northern Kenya, simple but effective.
Unlike the vast area of northern Kenya, the town of Omorate has its own unique political and economic status.
This is an agricultural planting area, bordering Ethiopia and extending directly to Sudan in the northwest. It has very high strategic and economic value.
At the same time, occupying the region is also a consideration for the future, just like the headaches that ordinary Americans had in the past about the smuggled immigrants from South America.
East Africa will definitely face this situation. The ethnic group in northern Ethiopia is not too bad. Many of them are Arabs or North African whites with light skin.
Ethiopia and southern Somalia are populated by a large number of pure black people, which is something Ernst, who is committed to clearing out the black population, has to guard against.
Based on Ernst's experience in his previous life, the skin color of black people is very conspicuous wherever they are (except at night). If one wants to prevent the appearance of black people in the East African colonies in the future, it is impossible to do so by simply clearing out the black people in one's own country.
It is also necessary to clean up the blacks in the areas near the colonies. Otherwise, the natives of these backward areas will definitely flee to East Africa in the future. Based on Ernst's understanding of the bureaucrats and capitalists, they may do it at any time.
Just like when American politicians granted legal status to illegal immigrants from Latin America, the people at the bottom of the society suffered in the end (the U.S. government also wanted ordinary people to roll up their sleeves, and if Latin American immigrants were obedient, they could also split the unity of the bottom... Anyway, for the upper class, it was a hundred benefits and no harm, and for the bottom-level people in the United States, it was a hundred harms and no benefit.)
Anyway, it doesn't matter whether the American people suffer or not, the upper-class parasites will never suffer. They will only make more or less money. Even if the United States is ruined by them, they can open up a new battlefield (profiting the world) with the capital and military force in their hands.
(End of this chapter)
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