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ABSTRACT
Around the time of independence (1961–1965), Kenya’s African nationalist government organized the continued repression of the remaining Mau Mau fighters who had refused to surrender after the ending of the Emergency in January 1960. This article focuses on Meru district, in Eastern Province, where Mau Mau fighters gathered under the leadership of Field Marshalls Mwariama and Baimungi. Documents from the Kenyan National Archives, in particular the correspondence of the provincial administration and security reports, show that politicians and officials alike saw the remaining fighters in Meru as a potent political threat to the nationalist government of Jomo Kenyatta. Kenya’s government sought to deal with the Mau Mau threat by co-opting its leaders, while Kenyatta carefully distanced the presidency from the government’s choice of repressive politics. A symbolic propaganda campaign was organized to maintain the myth that Kenyatta had always been the Mau Mau leader the British arrested and jailed in 1953, despite the reality of Kenyatta’s repeated denunciation of the movement. After 1963, the President continued to ignore Mau Mau fighters’ fundamental claims over land redistribution. This article shows that the Mau Mau were not simply ‘forgotten’, and uncovers the role of the military and the silent tactics of repression organized by the Kenyan independent government.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Professor Caroline Elkins for sharing her network of contacts, which greatly facilitated my research and enabled me to conduct interviews with former Mau Mau fighters. I would equally like to thank Professor David Anderson, whose generous and insightful comments and suggestions greatly improved this article. I am also indebted to the long reports and remarks of two anonymous reviewers.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. A ‘Detention Order’ issued by the District Commissioner Meru in April 1954, Kenya National Archives (hereafter KNA), Nairobi, VQ/11/7.
2. ‘Leading Personalities in Kenya, 1978’, United Kingdom National Archives (hereafter UKNA), Kew, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (hereafter FCO) 31/2314.
3. Clough, “Mau Mau & the Contest for Memory,” 254.
4. Murray-Brown, Kenyatta, chapters 19–21.
5. Atieno-Odhiambo and Lonsdale, Mau Mau & Nationhood, 4 and Buijtenhuijs, Mau Mau: Twenty Years After, 59. The term ‘reneged’ was used by Gitu wa Kahengeri, former Mau Mau from Central Province and Chairman of the Mau Mau War Veterans Association, interview, 28 September 2015, Nairobi.
6. For further insights on the ambivalence of Mau Mau history, see Hughes, “Truth Be Told.”
7. See MacArthur, Dedan Kimathi on Trial.
8. Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 163–75. On the Kenyan decolonization negotiations see Anderson, “Exit from Empire”; Kinyatti, History of Resistance in Kenya and Kyle, The Politics of the Independence of Kenya, chapters 5 and 6.
9. Percox, “Internal Security and Decolonization in Kenya,” 102.
10. On Kenyatta’s constitutionalism see Lonsdale, “Ornamental Constitutionalism in Africa.”
11. Furedi, The Mau Mau War in Perspective, 213–14; Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, chapter 6; Kinyatti, Mau Mau.
12. See especially Furedi, The Mau Mau War in Perspective, 172–82.
13. On General China, see Osborne, The Life and Times of General China. On China’s years in Lokitaung together with Kenyatta, see Watkins, Jomo’s Jailor. On the ambiguity of Itote’s position as a Mau Mau, see also Clough, Mau Mau Memoirs, chapter 3.
14. See Branch, Kenya, 43–7, 79–85, 112–18.
15. See the interviews Kinyatti conducted with Mwariama in 1977, in Kinyatti, History of Resistance in Kenya, 337. On Chui’s role in negotiating surrender deals with the government, see Bennett, Fighting the Mau Mau, 27 and 142; and Anderson, “Making the Loyalist Bargain,” 62.
16. Kamunchuluh, “The Meru Participation in Mau Mau,” 208.
17. On the surprise among the landless at Kenyatta’s statement, see Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau. See also Wasserman, Politics of Decolonization, 48 and Greet Kershaw, Mau Mau from Below, 259.
18. Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of the Mau Mau, 171. Kenyatta remained ‘inscrutable’ as the historian Elisha Atieno-Odhiambo had described him in 1991, see Atieno-Odhiambo, “Kenyatta and Mau Mau,” 149.
19. The number and strength of post-1960 Mau Mau fighters is very difficult to assess. Tabitha Kanogo observed that after independence the Kenya Land and Freedom Army was extremely small due to the absence of open membership or intimidation, but also because the movement was afraid mass recruitment would expose it to betrayal. See Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 167–8. The Special Branch nonetheless noted in 1964 that ‘a fair proportion of the “hanger-on” fraternity has resumed normal life. Very few genuine forest fighters have resumed normal life however. The total “camps” population may be of the order of 500 people, of which number, between 250 and 270 were thought be genuine forest fighters. (Regional Administration Officers put the figures considerably higher)’. Civil Secretary, Eastern Region to Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, “Proposal for Dealing with the Security Situation in the Meru District of Eastern Region, Arising from the Activities of ‘Forest Fighters’,” 6 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
20. RGA Meru to Civil Secretary Embu, 19 September 1963, KNA BB/1/149.
21. “Independence Amnesty for Kenya Prisoners,” Daily Nation, 7 November 1963, 1, and Meru District Monthly Report. November 1963, 6 December 1963 (113), KNA BB/1/149.
22. RGA Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, 28 December 1963, KNA BB/1/149.
23. RGA Meru to Civil Secretary, Eastern Region, 14 November 1963, KNA BB/1/149; P. E. Walters to G. J. Ellerton, 16 November 1963, KNA BB/1/149; G. J. Ellerton to P. E. Walters, 27 November 1963, KNA BB/1/149.
24. “Out of Hiding after 10 years,” Daily Nation, 9 December 1963.
25. See the cover photo of Mau Mau & Nationhood: Mzee Jomo Kenyatta greeting Mau Mau Field Marshal Musa Mwariama, 8 December 1963 (reproduced from David Njagi, The Last Mau Mau), photographer unknown.
26. “Warning to Forest ‘Troops’. Law Breakers Will Be Prosecuted,” East African Standard, 9 January 1964; RGA Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, 10 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
27. R.C. Catling, “Note,” 20 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
28. “Group Wanted Prime Minister as Patron,” Daily Nation, 25 November 1963; “Minister Attacks Ex-Detainee Body,” Daily Nation, 27 November 1963; and “Ex-Detainee Association Changes Names,” Daily Nation, 4 December 1963.
29. J. M. Oswald to P. E. Walters, 24 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149. The debates over the police lack of means dates back to 1963, see RGA Meru to Civil Secretary Easter Region, 30 August 1963, KNA BB/1/149.
30. P. E. Walters to Permanent Secretary Minister of Home Affairs and Defence, 11 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
31. Civil Secretary, Eastern Region to Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, “Proposals for dealing with the security situation in the Meru district of Eastern region, arising from the activities of Forest Fighters,” 6 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149. Emphasis in the original.
32. Ibid.
33. “Moves to Unite by Fighters,” East African Standard, 21 January 1964.
34. “30 Meru Youths Join the Army,” East African Standard, 13 March 1964.
35. Civil Secretary Eastern Region to Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, “Proposals for dealing with the security situation in the Meru District of Eastern region, arising from the activities of Forest Fighters,” 6 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
36. Regional Government Agent, Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, “Freedom Fighters,” 10 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149; J. Gethin (Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Internal Security and Defence) to C. Njonjo, 18 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
37. R. C. Catling, “Note,” 20 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
38. “Former Mau Mau Leaders Arrested,” East African Standard, 29 February 1964.
39. Ibid.
40. J. M. Oswald to P. E. Walters, 24 February 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
41. “Actions of Forest Fighters Condemned,” East African Standard, 8 January 1964.
42. P. E. Walters to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Home Affairs, 18 March 1964, KNA BB/1/149; Regional Government Agent Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, 6 April 1964, KNA, BB/1/149.
43. C. H. Imray to R. M. Tesh, 22 May 1964, UKNA Dominions Office (hereafter DO) 213/37.
44. “Notes of a meeting held in the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs on 15 April 1964 to consider methods of dealing with Meru Freedom Fighters,” KNA BB/1/149.
45. P. E. Walter to Regional Government Agent Meru, “Meru Forest Fighters,” 20 April 1964, KNA BB/1/149. Emphasis in original.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid.; “Notes of a meeting held in the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs on 15th April 1964,” KNA BB/1/149; RGA Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, 28 April 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
48. Ibid.
49. Regional Government Agent Meru to Civil Secretary Easter Region, “Meru Forest Fighters,” 28 April 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
50. Ibid.
51. Regional Government Agent Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, “Security Position,” 28 May 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
52. Ibid.
53. Marshall Clough gives a particularly insightful overview of the tortuous and contested making of the Mau Mau history in “Mau Mau & the Contest for Memory.”
54. “Freedom Fighters under Control Senate Assured,” East African Standard, 29 July 1964.
55. “Embu Gives Warm Welcome to Mr. Kenyatta,” East African Standard, 22 August 1964.
56. Ibid.
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid.
59. “Forest Men ‘Spoil Uhuru’ Meru’s Reputation Marred Says Premier,” East African Standard, 24 August 1964.
60. Ibid.
61. “Embu Street to be Named for Premier,” East African Standard, 9 September 1964.
62. “Kenya Prays for Prime Minister,” East African Standard, 19 October 1964; “Day of Jubilation for Kenyatta Nationwide Homage to Mr. Kenyatta,” East African Standard, 20 October 1964.
63. “Former Detainees on Premier’s Platform,” East African Standard, 21 October 1964.
64. EAS, “Freedom for 82 Marks Kenya’s Day of Joy,” East African Standard, 21 October 1964.
65. Kiburu Marete and M’Murungi M’Kobia, former Mau Mau and bodyguards of General Baimungi, interviews, 5 and 6 November 2015, Makutano (Meru). The interviews were semi-structured and relied on previous archival research. All oral information referring to events that could not be verified was excluded from the analysis. The interviews were conducted in Ki-Meru and were translated simultaneously into English by John Kirugia, from the Meru National Museum, who assisted the author during her research in Meru. See also Kinyatti, History of Resistance in Kenya, chapter 8.
66. Regional Government Agent Meru to Civil Secretary, Eastern Region, 28 April 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
67. M’Murungi M’Kobia, interview.
68. Regional Government Agent Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, 10 September 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
69. Kinyatti, History of Resistance in Kenya, 365–6.
70. “Out of Hiding after 10 Years,” Daily Nation, 9 December 1963.
71. RGA Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, 28 April 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
72. Ibid.
73. P. E. Walters to Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Internal Security and Defence, 6 May 1964, KNA BB/1/149. This version was confirmed in both interviews with Kiburu Marete and M’Murungi M’Kobia.
74. RGA Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, 7 May 1964, KNA BB/1/149.
75. RGA Meru to Civil Secretary Eastern Region, 28 May 1964, KNA BB/1/149. It is worth noting that ‘Chui’ means ‘leopard’ in Swahili.
76. Defence Adviser Nairobi to Ministry of Defense Army, 11 January 1965, UKNA DO 213/159; Defence Adviser Nairobi to Ministry of Defense Army, 18 January 1965, UKNA DO 213/159.
77. Interview with M’Murungi M’Kobia. To the question, “What do you remember of the day Baimungi was killed,” M’Murungi M’Kobia, Baimungi’s former bodyguard replied:
It was six o’clock in the morning. The police came at night. They were shooting, there were fights. About twelve [people were in the camp … .] Baimungi tried to hide himself. After he came out of the forest and then returned to hide, he knew the situation was not good. But then, they were ambushed, their camp was surrounded by the police. [Baimungi was shot] by a police officer from Meru.
78. Ibid.
79. “Baimungi Killed In Forest,” Daily Nation, 27 January 1965.
80. “Baimungi Had Gone Back to Old Ways,” Daily Nation, 28 January 1965.
81. “Baimungi Killed In Forest,” Daily Nation, 27 January 1965.
82. “Baimungi Had Gone Back to Old Ways,” Daily Nation, 28 January 1965.
83. Ibid. On anti-Mau Mau propaganda during the Emergency, see Klose, Human Rights in the Shadow of Colonial Violence; and Osborne, “The Rooting Out of Mau Mau.”
84. “Baimungi Had Gone Back to Old Ways,” Daily Nation, 28 January 1965.
85. Ibid.
86. Ibid.
87. Note of the Emergency Meeting held at the Provincial Police Headquarters Nyeri, 23 January 1965, KNA BB/1/48.
88. Ibid.
89. Ibid.
90. Eliud Mahihu to Duncan Ndegwa, 30 January 1965, KNA BB/1/48.
91. Ibid.
92. “Government Is Urged to Honour Freedom Fighters,” Daily Nation, 9 April 1965.
93. Maina Macharia, interview, 15 May 2014.
94. On Ngei’s complex political trajectory see Grignon, “Le Politicien Entrepreneur en son Terroir: Paul Ngei à Kangundo, Kenya, 1945–1990”; and Osborne, “‘The Cat with Nine Lives’: Paul Ngei and the Making of Modern Kenya,” 196–210.
95. Minutes of Provincial Commissioner’s Meeting held on 15 and 16 February 1966, KNA BB/49/59.
96. M’Murungi M’Kobia, interview with the author.
97. Eliud Mahihu to Duncan Ndegwa, 11 March 1964, KNA BB/1/158.
98. Ibid.
99. Eliud Mahihu to Duncan Ndegwa, 5 March 1965, KNA BB/1/158.
100. Kiburu Marete, interview.
101. Special branch weekly intelligence report for the period 18–24 May 1965, 27 May 1965, KNA BB/1/159. See also Special branch weekly intelligence report for the period 2–8 March 1965, 12 March 1965, KNA BB/1/159; and Branch, Defeating Mau Mau, Creating Kenya, 191–207 for further detail on Kaggia’s protests and the land issue.
102. Special branch weekly intelligence report for the period 1–7 June 1965, 10 June 1965, KNA BB/1/159.
103. Secret. Eliud Mahihu to Duncan Ndegwa, “Security Assessment in the Eastern Province,” 5 March 1965, KNA BB/1/158.
104. Thung’u is mentioned in Kaggia, Roots of Freedom. The information has also been confirmed by Maina Macharia, interviews on 5 and 15 May 2014. Thung’u was later accused of the killing of J. M. Kariuki in 1975. See Kaikai, “When Kenyatta and Jaramogi Were Caught Up in Cold War Intrigues,” Daily Nation, 14 December 2013.
105. Duncan Ndegwa, Walking in Kenyatta Struggles, 275. For an account of China’s complex personality and reputation as a collaborator, see Osborne, The Life and Times of General China, 1–39.
106. R. M. Purcell to T. J. Bellers. 17 December 1970, UKNA FCO 31/597; T. J. Bellers to R. M. Purcell, 29 December 1970, UKNA FCO 31/597.
107. T. J. Bellers to R. M. Purcell, 17 November 1970, UKNA FCO 31/597.
108. “Mathenge in Kikuyuland” by R. W. Newman, 7 March 1972, UKNA DO 226/11.
109. According to M’Kobia, these bodyguards were ‘not real Mau Mau’, interview.
110. Gitu wa Kahengeri, interview, 28 September 2015, Nairobi.
111. On the Africanization of the provincial administration, see Branch, Defeating Mau Mau, Creating Kenya, 162–74. As Branch noted, the ‘rapid promotion’ of the prominent members of the post-independence administration has remained quite under-researched.
112. Extract from minute 32/60, P.C’s Meeting of 27 and 28.9.60, KNA BB/1/247. See Terence Gavaghan autobiography, Of Lions and Dung Beetles, chapters 20 and 21. See also Elkins, Britain’s Gulag, chapter 10.
113. Directory of the Government of the Republic of Kenya (1965), K.354.6762002, KNA Library. Other prominent loyalists who were trained by Gavaghan and later joined the Kenyatta top administration were P. K. Boit, E. Mahihu and I. Mathenge and J. Musembi (Provincial commissioners), J. M. Malinda (Director of Personnel, Office of the President), P. Shikuyah and G. Gachati (permanent secretaries in the Ministry of lands), J. Michuki (Treasury), see “African District Commissioners, Appendix ‘A’,” KNA BB/1/247. Interestingly, Keireini, as he wrote in his recently published biography A Daunting Journey, worked under Gavaghan’s supervision as a rehabilitator in Mau Mau camps, and was even promoted by the latter to be in full charge of rehabilitation in the Mwea Camp (98). Thereafter, he was posted in Meru from 1958 to 1960 as a district officer, where he was in charge of land consolidation in the district. See Kiereini, A Daunting Journey.
114. For the question of land the negotiations of independence see Harbeson, “Land Reforms and Politics in Kenya,” 231–51; Leys, Underdevelopment in Kenya; Wasserman, Politics of Decolonization; Coldham, “Land Control in Kenya”; Swainson, The Development of Corporate Capitalism in Kenya; Leo, Land and Class in Kenya.
115. Angelo, “Becoming Minister for Lands.”
116. Osborne, The Life and Times of General China, 36.
117. Parsons, “Being Kikuyu in Meru,” 65–86.