Decolonization in East Africa was a regional affair that required the remaking of temporal orders. The staggered independence timelines of Tanganyika, Uganda, and Kenya caused considerable consternation due to transnational solidarities and visions for East African Federation. The interminable delays of Kenyan decolonization also threatened the linked economy of the region and diluted the sovereignty of neighboring states. At issue was “liminal sovereignty,” with polities and people languishing between normative legal orders. Against expectations about self-determination, East Africans found themselves in partial control of their collective endeavors. I analyze the tactics of temporal activism by Africans who aimed to undo British control over the pacing, sequencing, and synchronicity of decolonization. The indeterminate geography of decolonization was linked to uncertain temporalities of independence which threatened to subvert self-determination. In East Africa, federation was a style of claims-making and chronopolitics intended to orchestrate the distribution of rights, resources, and authority in a new layering of sovereignty between postcolonies.

东非的非殖民化是一项地区性事务，需要重建世俗秩序。由于东非联邦的跨国团结和愿景，坦噶尼喀、乌干达和肯尼亚交错的独立时间表引起了相当大的恐慌。肯尼亚非殖民化进程的无休止拖延也威胁到该地区的相关经济并削弱了邻国的主权。问题是“阈限主权”，政体和人民在规范的法律秩序之间徘徊。与自决的期望相反，东非人发现自己可以部分控制他们的集体努力。我分析了非洲人的临时激进主义策略，他们旨在取消英国对非殖民化进程、顺序和同步性的控制。不确定的非殖民化地理与不确定的独立时间相关联，后者威胁要颠覆自决。在东非，联邦是一种提出主张和时间政治的风格，旨在在后殖民地之间新的主权层次中协调权利、资源和权威的分配。