ABSTRACT
The fact that only some benefited led to the eventual destruction of Meru tribal unity. These few Meru men organised the marketing of coffee, the collection of taxes, and the purchase and sale of European manufactur~d goods. They and their families began to exhibit a life style that was markedly different from the average Meru peasant. They dressed in European clothes, they built cement houses with tin roofs, and they drank scotch and beer instead of home brew. They also, not coincidentally, were Christians who went to the local churches on Sundays and sent their children to the Mission schools.
