The Mackinnon-Sclater road was a 970 km (600 mi) ox cart track from Mombasa to Busia in Kenya started in 1890 by the British East Africa Company (IBEAC).
[1][2] It superseded earlier caravan routes used by slave traders and explorers of the interior.
[4] 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.
[7][8] The road as a means of long distance travel fell into disuse between 1896 and 1901 after the Uganda Railway 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.