Thread by @wmnjoya

In the 19th century, the Giriama prophetess Mipoho predicted the coming of the white man as she sank into the ground. She said that that people like butterflies would come with machines that soar in the sky and roll on the land.

Prophetess Mipoho said that the white man would would teach the youth to reject the ways of the Giriama.

When Mekatilili was inspiring the resistance in 1913-14, the Giriama believed that she was fulfilling Mipoho's prophecy.

Imagine that. Two generations of women's resistance.

The resistance of 1913 is an amazing story. It reminded me of a few days ago when I said that people do not look for employment. Employment hunts them down.

For the Giriama, the British applied all the tricks in the book to force them into employment and the Giriama refused.

These were the underhand methods of the British that backfired.

1. Recruitment of men as soldiers: the men would hide in the bush when the recruiters came. Eventually, the British resorted to burning empty homes and confiscating the livestock (colonialists were so savage)

2. Hut tax. The idea was that taxes would force the Giriama to work for the settlers, but again, the Giriama outwitted the British. They would trade in grain and other goods with the Arabs and Indians at the coast, and then use the money to pay the taxes without being employed.

3. Land displacement: The British ordered the Giriama to move north, thinking that squashing them into a corner would make them desperate enough to get employed. The Giriama refused because of the location of their kayas. The British initially told them to relocate the kayas

The arrogance! The British expected to return and find the relocation done, but the Giriama said it wasn't possible to move the kayas.

So in August 1913, the savage British officers blew up the kayas. That's when the Giriama said they'd had enough.

Mekatili wa Menza and Wanje wa Mwadori mobilized the Giriama resistance by administering an oath in which the people promised to attack the British, their headmen and askaris. The Giriama burned down British installations, unprooted telegraph wires and attacked collaborators.

The British hit back in their usual way: wanton destruction. They burned down homes and confiscated livestock. But they never broke down the spirit of the people. And in 1914, the British needed to fight WWI because the Germans had invaded from Tanzania up to Taita.

So they asked for a negotiated settlement to which the Giriama agreed, because the Giriama were tired of the destruction.

One of the terms the British demanded was that they move up north as earlier agreed.

But the Giriama never did. They'd made their point. 💪🏿✊🏿 ✊🏿 ✊🏿