“Straddling” was a term invented by the Kenyatta-era 1960s bureaucratic elite. It referred to the practice, then becoming common in the civil service, of running a business while still in office.
Taking advantage of the government’s Africanisation policy, as well as the many opportunities created by hurriedly departing white settlers selling for a song their farms, businesses and other assets, the new African elite was beginning to make a fortune, when the practice was called into question.
