Kenya achieved independence from Britain in 1963, and thereafter followed a period of volatility in African and Asian relations. Asians, along with Europeans, were given two years to acquire Kenyan citizenship which in turn would renounce their British passports. Out of approximately 180,000 Asians and 42,000 Europeans in Kenya at the time, fewer than 20,000 had submitted their applications by the deadline.
[5] This in turn led to growing animosity and distrust from Africans, and those who failed to take up Kenyan citizenship were deemed disloyal by their fellow countrymen.
[6]
Those without Kenyan citizenship soon became subject to increasing discrimination by the ruling government. Asians in the civil service were sacked in favour of Africans, the Kenyan Immigration Act 1967 required them to acquire work permits, whilst a Trade Licensing Act passed in the same year limited the areas of the country in which non-Kenyans could engage in trade.
[7] In the late 1960s and early 1970s, faced with a dim future in Africa, many Asians choose to utilise their British passport and settle in the United Kingdom. There are now sizeable communities of Kenyan Asians in London and
Leicester.