At last, in March 1963, it fell to Mr Duncan Sandys, the new British Colonial Secretary, to announce his government's decision. To the satisfaction of the Nairobi and Addis Ababa governments, but to the chagrin of Somalis, this was that the N.F.D. was to be brought into Kenya's regional constitution. A new, predominantly Somali, North-Eastern Region was to be created in which Somalis would enjoy the same degree of local autonomy as had already been accorded elsewhere in Kenya's other six Regions. This decision, which gave effect to the recommendations of the Kenya Regional Boundaries Commission29 rather than to the findings of the special N.F.D. Commission, not only ignored the Somali secessionist demand but also cut off from the new Region several Muslim tribal groups which shared the Somali aim.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 478