[1][2] The party was established at a meeting on 7 March 1914 as the East African Indian National Congress (EAINC),[3] and initially aimed to represent Indian interests across British East Africa, although it largely focused on Kenya.
[4] It called for equality between Indians and Europeans, advocating for the inclusion of Indians on the same roll as Europeans in elections and that Asians be allowed to farm in the White Highlands.
[3] The EAINC encouraged Indian immigration to Kenya, and became involved in humanitarian work in the 1930s, providing aid to victims of disaster in India and other countries in the region.
[3] The party failed in an attempt to form an alliance with the Kenya African Union (KAU) in 1950, but the two combined to oppose plans by the Elector's Union to maintain European control of the colony.
[4] In 1960 the Kenya Freedom Party (KFP) was formed by a group of Indians who believed that the KIC was not sufficiently supportive of independence.