Mackinnon-Sclater road
Encyclopedia
The Mackinnon-Sclater road was a 600mile/1000km ox cart track from Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

 to Busia
Busia, Kenya
Busia is a town in Western Kenya. It is the largest town in Busia District, Kenya and the district headquarters are located there.-Location:Busia, Kenya is located in Busia District, in Kenya's Western Province, approximately , by road, west of Nairobi, Kenya's capital and largest city...

 in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 started in 1890 by the British East Africa Company (IBEAC). It superseded earlier caravan routes used by slave traders and explorers of the interior.

The part of the road called the "Mackinnon road" linked Mombasa and Kibwezi
Kibwezi
Kibwezi is a town in Makueni District, Eastern Province, Kenya.Kibwezi town is the headquarters of Kibwezi division, one of 15 administrative divisions in Makueni District. The division has a population of 80,236, of whom 4,695 are classified urban. The division has four locations: Kikumbulyu,...

. It was built by an Australian called George Wilson. It was named after and partly financed by Sir William Mackinnon, 1st Baronet a founder of the IBEAC who wanted to increase trade with Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

.

Captain B. Sclater of the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....

 continued the road from Kibwezi to the Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 border at Busia.

The road as a means of long distance travel fell into disuse between 1896 and 1901 after the Uganda Railway
Uganda Railway
The Uganda Railway is a railway system and former railway company linking the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean at Mombasa in Kenya.-Origins:...

overtook it. Many of the cars later used in the interior were transported there by rail because the road journey was long, slow and difficult.
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