The Kenyan government response may have been inspired by the counter-insurgency efforts taken by the British during the Mau Mau Uprising, which had been spearheaded by the Kikuyu, who now ironically dominated the Kenya African National Union-led government. In 1967, Kenyan fears reached a fever pitch, and a special government committee was created to prepare for a full-scale war with Somalia. The government also adopted a policy of compulsory villagization in the war-affected area. In 1967, the populace was moved into 14 "Manyattas", villages that were guarded by troops (some referred to them as concentration camps). East Africa scholar Alex de Waal described the result as "a military assault upon the entire pastoral way of life," as enormous numbers of livestock were confiscated or killed, partly to deny their use by the guerrillas and partly to force the populace to abandon their flocks and move to a "Manyatta". Thus, made destitute, many nomads became an urban underclass, while educated Somalis in Kenya fled the country. The government also replaced the dynastic Sultans, who were the traditional leaders, with low-ranking government-appointed chiefs.