Edward Carey Francis is his given name. He joined the First World War at the age of 17 and fought his way up to the rank of lieutenant before receiving a Trinity College scholarship to study at Cambridge, where he became a famous mathematician of all time. He was a devout Franciscan missionary who devoted his life to God and nation. Carey quit a lucrative job at Cambridge to teach at a Kenyan junior secondary school. There have even been claims that the decision was made out of rebuffed love rather than love for humanity.
Aside from the numerous ideas, Edward Carey Francis’ action occurred at a time when he held the entire world in his hands. Carey Francis’ molding of young Kenyans to serve her majesty’s government, ironically, hardened the brains that would ultimately overthrow British control in Kenya. His task was to build compliant colonial system servants, not elites. He despised the majority of Alliance High School’s pioneering students. Despite convincing his students that they were born to serve the British Empire and to distrust politicians, he unknowingly shaped the political fate of this country.
The schools he helped establish, Alliance and Maseno, became the foundation for the first generation of politicians who would later oversee the transition from colonialism to self-rule. Some of his former students shaped Kenya’s destiny and continue to rule the public and corporate spheres. Carey Francis utilized his power to ensure that the African lads in his care understood their place in society. He had no sympathy for those who questioned the order of things. He oversaw Alliance High School as principal. During his tenure, pupils went barefoot to class and only wore shoes on Saturdays. Carey Francis caused a stir when he first went to Alliance from Maseno by imposing severe rules on instructors and students.
The school uniform was the first to go. Previously, the uniform included knee-length khakis, shorts, and shirts, as well as a maroon fez. Carey Francis instantly removed the headgear. Shorts were also mandatory for African teachers. When students were notified that they would be expected to grow vegetables in their allotted gardens, the produce would be donated to the war effort, there was outrage. The enraged students reacted by removing the message from the board, and no amount of questioning revealed the offender. The headmaster retaliated by caning and banishing all of the students, and they were only readmitted after admitting in writing that they were wrong and thanking the punishment.
Carey Francis reorganized the school discipline structure to include prefects, who watched their classmates’ social lives, in response to the issue. Teachers were not immune. Those who challenged his authority, particularly Africans, were sacked. Carey thought that Africans were not supposed to attend university, but when he saw people like Eliud Mathu return to Kenya with a degree, he was disappointed, and Carey Francis refused to raise Mathu’s wage. Mathu left in protest and moved to Waithaka to open his own school. James Gichuru, the second African to teach at Alliance, was also forced to retire after a disagreement with Carey Francis. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, a renowned author, was educated by Carey Francis.