Despite their sacrifices in the liberation struggle, there is still no elaborate documented list of the Mau Mau Generals, men and women who paid a heavy price for what we now enjoy as freedom.
There has been a deliberate attempt by our former colonisers Britain and the Government of Kenya to not give a truthful account of British colonialism and about these men and women.
I'm sure many of you have never heard of a MauMau General called Kurito ole Kisio who led freedom fighters in Narok. Very little has been told of this gallant General who destabilised the colonialists so much that they captured his pregnant wife and tortured her until he was lured out of his hideout and killed.
The MauMau army had 3 Field Marshalls, that is Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi, Field Marshal Musa Mwariama and Field Marshal Muthoni Wa Kirima.
Under the Field Marshalls were the Generals such as Hituchi Kabutu, Matenjagwo, Itina Itheri, Kahiu Itina, Kamami, China, Muriuki Kamotho alias Tanganyika, Hika Hika, Baimungi, Mohammed Kinuu, Salim Mugira, Muchori and many more.
You probably don't know of General Tanganyika who led the raid on the home of a white settler called Gray Leakey in October 1955. This raid brought fame to the MauMau due to the fact that the freedom fighters took the captured Leakey to the forest and buried him alive.
It's always said that the Queen of England pleaded with them to return his body to his family. They never did.
Anyway, this post is about Dedan Kimathi.
The Field Marshall had organised the MauMau in such a way that the army was governed by two key councils, that is;-
1. THE NYANDARUA DEFENCE COUNCIL which formulated policy and appointed gang heads.And;
2. GIKUYU NA MUMBI ITUNGATI ASSOCIATION (Gikuyu & Mumbi Welfare Ass') led the war effort, planning raids, tactics, assaults & targets using guns fashioned from odd scraps of iron pipes, bolts, rubber bands & bits of wire, while running 100km through the forest barefoot in a single day.
Kimathi had long before any street, high school, university & monument named after him, bestowed upon himself the title KCAE (Knight Commander of the African Empire) in a forest ceremony.
Kimathi was nicknamed "Njangu" (rough & treacherous) due to his proficiency in the violence deptmtIt is also said that he was so authoritative that dissenters in his army were strangled with a rope and left for the hyenas to eat.
His brothers Wambararia and Wagura (from same mother but different fathers) were not spared either and faced the same fate that befell dissenters. Kimathi enjoyed being called "Prime Minister Sir Dedan Kimathi" & enjoyed comforts like a wooden bed, new clothes, medicine & was guarded by 60 plus handpicked MauMau devotees.
For relaxation, traditional dancers were on the cards from young kikuyu girls abducted from the reserves. Among his craft of decrees was that no one bedded MauMau girls - without his permission - ie if one was not a Field Marshall or General.
This life of luxury was however dwindling as time went by due to more MauMau fighters being captured by the colonial army, police & homeguards. The "passive" wing of MauMau in reserves, towns and farms were broken by imperial forces, gradually thinning supplies of information, arms, food, clothing and medicine to the military wing in the forests.
These dwindling of forces forced Kimathi to not be guarded by his coterie of bodyguards whom many had to be given other assignments due to lack of personnel. These factors forced Kimathi to live within the available means.
Many were the times that he didn't have bodyguards and was forced to do some menial jobs himself like going out into the reserves to look for food and even spy on the colonial army. It was while running these kind of errands that on October 21,1956, while donning his camouflage regalia of a leopard skin that his path and that of Ndirangu Mau crossed.
Ndirangu says that on that fateful day he and his fellow tribal police colleague called Njiru were doing a patrol in the forest when at around 6:30am, they saw a glimpse of something. It was a man attempting to cross a ditch carrying a bundle.
Ndirangu avers that he and Njiru shouted at the man to stop but the man started running. It was then that Ndirangu fired the first shot and missed. Ndirangu ran after Kimathi & fired again & missed as Kimathi disappeared into the woods.
Ndirangu could hear the footsteps of his prey in the distance, he continued to follow & caught sight of him as he tried to jump another ditch. Ndirangu fired & this time he didn't miss.
Ndirangu heard his victim howl in agony. He raced after him but with caution as he was wasn't sure what condition he was in. It was then that Ndirangu found some disturbed shrubs that indicated his victim had passed there. Ndirangu approached the ditch with his gun trained, ready & on the trigger.
At first there was nothing.
Ndirangu thought his prey had escaped & then he looked down again and that's when he saw a man lying in the ditch bleeding. It appears Kimathi had belly crawled into the trench. Ndirangu saw that he had shot Kimathi on his right thigh. He was wearing a leopard skin. His bundle of sugarcane was lying next to him. He was holding a panga in one hand.
It was at this point that Ndirangu asked the man in Gīkūyū while studying him: "Wee nīwe ūū?" (Who are you?) Kimathi replied "Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi Waciuri". There was an awkward silence then Kimathi asked Ndirangu in Gìkùyù " Nìwe wandatha?" (Are you the one who shot me?) Ndirangu replied " Īì" (yes).
Kimathi then said " Nì wega" (Its okay) and resigned to his fate and pain.
What followed next changed the course of the MauMau movement in Kenya and Kenya's history. Ndirangu yelled for back up and several other homeguards appeared on the scene.
They were astounded by Ndirangu's catch. They made a stretcher from wood and helped carry the wounded freedom fighter to the Ihururu camp. Kimathi was charged in Nyeri with being in possession of a firearm, a 38 Webley Scott revolver even though you can recall that Ndirangu found nothing on him but a panga.
On November 27,1956, Kimathi was sentenced to hang.
He was subsequently executed on Feb 18,1957 at Kamiti Prison.
*** *** ***
You can follow @historykenya101 on Twitter for more of Kenyan history. (Source: https://threader.app/thread/1395312001971273730
Post a Comment