61
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
шш
Reference :---
C.O.885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
19 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
60
lat practically no expense to Govern- The people would effect their own removal ment, and have expressed themselves as willing to assist in erecting grass bandas for a segregation camp, but for superintending the latter and also the building of bandas for the Medical Officer and his staff an Indian carpenter would be required. A staff of camp sweepers would be necessary, and also men to act as camp police.
With regard to the question of food, in their present locations there is alun- dance of food, but on removal to a new locality there would probably be a shortage at first before new crops could be cultivated and reaped; this would have to be provided against.
The following is a provisional estimate of the expenditure which would pro- hably be incurred for the 8 months from August, 1908, to March, 1909:—
1 Medical Officer, at £400 per annum
camp allowance, £50
1 Hospital Assistant, at £96 per annum
4 Dressers, at Rs. 10 per mensem each
4 Sweepers, at Rs. 4 per mensem each
3 Water carriers, at Rs. 4 per niensent each
1 Headman, at Rs. 6 per mensem ...
2 Cooks, at Rs. 4 per mensem each
1 Interpreter, at Rs. 20 per mensem
4 Natives, to act as police, Rs. 4 per mensem each
3 Wood boys, at Rs. 4 per mensem'each
1 Carpenter (6 months), at Rs. 90 per mensem
Drugs and equipment
...
Material for building, doors, windows, &c.
Travelling expenses of Medical Officer from England,
carriage of goods, &c.
Food to natives, including labour for planting
£
s. d. 300 0 0
61
0.0
21
68
8 10
8
8 10 8
6 8
6 8
3
∞∞∞0000++OOD
1 0
4 5
10 13 4
36 0
100 O
120 0
60 0
0
250 0 0
£999 6 8
In North Kavirondo, south of the Nzoia and Yala Rivers, in the chieftain- ships of Kadimu, Sakwa, Gemi, Asembo, Uyomo, Semi, and Sari, there is a con- siderable number of cases of sleeping sickness. An investigation was carried out in November last by the District Commissioner and Dr. Forster. A hut to hut inspection was made and 276 cases of the disease were found, the number of deaths during the past two years was stated by the chiefs to have been 2,131. and the present population was estimated at 35,000.
These chieftainships skirt the northern shore of Kavirondo Gulf. The inhabi- tants formerly lived almost entirely by catching fish, which they transported by canoes to Usoga and sold for bananas.
In recent times, however, having had many deaths from sleeping sickness, a great many have moved their villages inland, relinquished to a large extent the fishing industry and taken to agricultural pursuits.
The chiefs state that the disease is dying out, and there is a considerable amount 'of evidence in favour of this statement. In 1903 there was an average of 100 cases of sleeping sickness in the Sleeping Sickness Hospital at Old Kisumu, and the numbers of admissions since then have decreased so greatly that 18 months ago there were only two patients who were transferred to the General Native Hospital, and the Sleeping Sickness Hospital was closed.
I have been informed by the members of the Church Missionary Society Mission in North Kavirondo that the people would be difficult to move to another location, that any attempt in this direction would meet with a good deal of individual resistance, and, if carried out, would have to be done by force.
There is not a very large number of cases in the locality, and I am of opinion that if the villages still remaining on the lake shore were moved a mile or a mile and a half inland and their watering places seen to and thoroughly cleared of scrub (they all draw water from the lake or the Yala River) the disease would be effec- tually checked and gradually die out. In this connection I would suggest an Officer of the Administration being detailed to superintend the carrying out of these measures.
The complete removal of these people would be an onerous and difficult under- taking, and would mean the moving of 8,800 huts and the population of at least 35,000 souls.
The Secretary
to the Administration.
Enclosure 2 in No. 12.
I have, &c..
J. WILL, Principal Medical Officer.
MEMORANDUM of discussion on possible procedure in connection with sleeping sickness in Kavirondo, between the Provincial Commissioner, Kisumu, the Honourable the Principal Medical Officer, and the District Commissioner, Kisii, held in the Provincial Commissioner's Office at Kisumu, on the 27th April, 1908.
The Honourable the Principal Medical Officer explained that he had been requested by His Excellency the Governor to take up the matter with a view to the introduction of measures to deal with sleeping sickness cases in Kavirondo.
The first point dealt with was Dr. Milne's report on his recent visit to Karungu District. Mr. Hemsted (the District Commissioner, Kisii) explained that sleeping sickness cases were on the increase in the Karungu part of his District, and the natives had already requested him to ask the Government to do something. He was of the opinion that by careful management the natives might be induced to move away from the infected areas without serious trouble.
The Provincial Commissioner pointed out that the arcas extending south from the Sio River past Gangu Swamp and including Kadimu, Sakwa, Uyoma, Sembo, Semi, and Sari, were infected areas, and that the south bank of the Yala for some miles up the river was reported affected, and suggested that any scheme dealing with the disease should include these areas.
It was pointed out that a fairly large amount of land on both sides of the railway from Muhoroni beyond Kibigori was at present unoccupied, and was believed to be free of "fly." If, on inspecting, this land was found to be favour- able, it might be considered as a possible area on which to locate the natives of the infected locations north of the Kavirondo Gulf.
Mr. Hemsted pointed out that there were available areas in the Karungu District which might be used for moving the Karungu infected natives to.
The Principal Medical Officer stated that in his opinion the only way at present to deal with the sickness was to form isolation camps at places free from fly and far enough removed to preclude the possibility of natives returning to the rivers or lake to resume the work of fishing, this occupation being the principal means of coming into contact with the fly.
It was the undoubted opinion that if isolation camps are formed they should he located at places available for settlement so as to enable the natives concerned to settle down permanently away from the fly-infected arcas.
The question of the removal of the natives was seriously considered. It was recognised that a strong love of country (district or location) exists among the Kavirondo, and when it is remembered that those natives affected have for all known time indulged in fishing both as a pastime and as a means of procuring food, and that their migration will entail their severance from this pursuit, it can be readily understood that their removal will not be free from dilliculties. Indeed, in so far as the people north of Kisumu are concerned the Provincial Commissioner has already had enquiries made, and amongst other methods has taken advantage of a recent visit by the Reverends Willis and Pleydell to Kadimu to find out the native mind on the subject. These missionaries are of the opinion, as a result of their enquiries, that while no organised resistance would be offered to any Government effort to remove the people, yet individual resistance would be universal. They are of the opinion that coercion would be necessary, but con- sidered that a scheme of removal could be carried out if dealt with in detail, i.e., removal of a village at a time.
It was generally conceded that any personal influence would count for a great deal in any scheme of removal. In Karungu Mr. Hemsted has a considerable amount of such influence. In the districts north of Kisumu, however, such influence is not possessed by Government officials, because no one of the officials here has been It might be long enough as yet in the country to inspire suflicient confidence,
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.