Why did the British government begin decolonizing Kenya in 1959?

The British government’s decision to begin decolonizing Kenya in 1959 was driven by the realization that maintaining a colonial presence had become unsustainable due to the high costs and political pressures resulting from the Mau Mau Rebellion.1

While the rebellion was militarily suppressed by 1956, the uprising demonstrated that the colonial administration could not indefinitely ignore the widespread grievances of the Kenyan people. The conflict, which involved significant human rights abuses and a brutal counterinsurgency campaign, forced the British to recognize that their continued rule would come at too high a cost. Consequently, the government implemented incremental political reforms to address these grievances and began taking steps toward establishing a government in which Indigenous Kenyans held the majority.213

By 1959, these efforts included a program to buy land from European settlers for redistribution to the African population, signaling a shift toward the eventual independence that was achieved in 1963.21