Remember ‘Mau Mau?’Well, I still do!
What you need to know:
Well, I was! That was when ‘freedom fighters’ (denigrated as ‘terrorists’ or ‘rebels’ on the other side of the socio-econo-political divide) in what was then Kenya colony next door wanted the colonists out of their ancestral land.
The question in the headline is presumptuous — assuming as it does that my readers were ‘around and about’ this side of heaven more than 60 years ago.
Well, I was! That was when ‘freedom fighters’ (denigrated as ‘terrorists’ or ‘rebels’ on the other side of the socio-econo-political divide) in what was then Kenya colony next door wanted the colonists out of their ancestral land.
The name and style ‘Mau Mau’ — under which the Kenyans ‘fought’ for freedom and (political) independence — is believed to be the ki-Swahili acronym for ‘Mzungu Arudi Ulaya, Mw-Afrika Apate Uhuru...’
Reportedly, this was a clarion call demanding that colonists hightail it back to Europe so that the ‘natives’ could freely manage/mismanage their own affairs! However, the authenticity of this ‘interpretation’ is open to question, and could very well be an afterthought!
The ‘Mau Mau’ formally referred to themselves as the Kenya Land & Freedom Army (KLFA). This sounded ‘swallowable’ enough to be stomached by sympathisers at the UN and other interventionist fora...
However, the ‘Mzungu aondoke’ view is sufficiently appropriate to fill in the gaps. After all, the end did justify the term: the colonists finally vamoosed, granting independence to Kenya in 1963!
The Mau Mau thing was a military conflict in Kenya roughly between 1952 and 1960, involving Kikuyu (‘KYUK’) tribe-dominated anti-colonial groups ranged against colonial forces. These latter included the British army, the Police Force, and Home Guard (natives and white settlers) auxiliaries ‘loyal’ to the colonists.
The strife was most intense in the early 1950s, tapering off with the capture by the colonial administration of one militant leader, Dedan Kimathi, on October 21, 1956. This signalled the ultimate ‘defeat’ of Mau Mau – at least on the guerrilla battlefield! I was in my early ‘teens then, and clearly recall some troubled nights at my maternal granny’s place in Mamba ko-Kirie on the slopes of world-famous Mount Kilimanjaro.
Colonial forces in hot pursuit of Mau Mau fighters at times forced the latter to cross the national border into the then-Tanganyika to escape capture, torture and possible death.
Both countries were under British rule, and we’d been led to believe that the Mau Mau were desperadoes who showed no mercy for other humans regardless of colour, creed, clanship or other affinity. So, when administrators this side of the border spread the ‘news’ that the ‘Dedan Kimathi people’ were in the neighbourhood, villagers bolted themselves indoors till the ‘all-clear’ was given... Boy! In due course of time and events, we’re told, 12,000 ‘Mau Maus’ had been killed over the years; 2,633 captured, and 2,714 ‘surrendered!’ [Are we splitting hairs here, between ‘captured’ and ‘surrendered?’
They all ended in custody, didn’t they? But, no matter here...!] One would’ve thought that, with Independence 50 years later, the Mau Mau ghost had been laid to rest... Well, it hasn’t – and in a positive sort of way! I’ll explain...
Nearly 60 years after the Mau Mau went into action in earnest — only to lose out to the Brits — the latter now find themselves having to pay millions of pounds sterling to Mau Mau remnants as damages for...
Sorry, I’ve run out of editorial space here, Cheerio till next time!
