#HistoryKEThread: Parties Here, There, Everywhere

In 1955, the colonial administration granted Africans the right to found political parties. The parties, however, were subject to the District Commissioner’s approval, and their activities allowed up to the district level.

According to veteran historian Prof. Bethwel Ogot, by causing the creation of political mouthpieces in the grassroots for Africans, the colonial administration hoped to isolate and undermine the Mau Mau movement.

Dozens of parties sprung up. Among them were the Abaluhya Peoples Association, Mombasa African Democratic Union, Nairobi District African Congress, the Abagusii Association of South Nyanza, Nakuru African Progressive Party and Taita African Democratic Union.

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Oct 16, 2021

#HistoryKeThread Trophies Of War
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When the colonial government in Kenya in response to the Mau Mau insurgency declared a state of Emergency, Mervyn Cowie (pictured) was Kenya’s Director of National Parks.

Cowie offered the military from his team a significant number of rangers and professional trackers, arguing that they could far better than ordinary security forces track fighters hiding in the Aberdares and Mt. Kenya forests. The government took up the offer.

In the early stages of the Emergency, British Royal Air Force (RAF) jets bombed the forests. The authorities hoped the bombing would lead to mass surrenders or deaths of Mau Mau fighters.

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Aug 24, 2021

#HistoryKeThread: Sharpened Senses Of The Mau Mau

Here is a photo of Gen. Kariba and an unknown female freedom fighter after he was captured together in Mount Kenya forest in 1954.

Kariba was convicted and hanged by colonial authorities in 1955.

This next pic is of an oathing ceremony at an unknown location at the height of the emergency.

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Aug 19, 2021

#HistoryKeThread: Sir Charles
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Soon after President Moi took over the reins of leadership of the Republic of Kenya in 1978, he released many detainees that his predecessor, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, had sent to jail.

In Parliament, outspoken Rift Valley MPs Koigi Wamwere and Jean Marie Seroney hailed the move by Moi to release the detainees.

In the same House, while demanding that landless former freedom fighters be compensated, Nyeri MP and Assistant Minister Waruru Kanja, once a Mau Mau himself, accused Attorney General Charles Njonjo and CID Chief Ignatius Nderi as the men behind the 1970s wave of detentions.

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Jul 25, 2021

#HistoryKeThread: Glimpses Of The Northern Agîkûyû
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British-Canadian William Scoresby Routledge visited East Africa in 1902 and spent about a year living among the Agîkûyû.

He would make a return to central Kenya in 1904, this time accompanied by his wife, Katherine.

Thanks to Routledge’s early 1900 photos, we get visual glimpses of the way of life of his host community.

For example, this iconic photo of Karûri wa Gakure of Metumi, which is the area we now know to be Murang’a county today, was taken by Routledge.

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Jul 23, 2021

#HistoryKeThread: Gama Pinto’s Murder Suspects
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Following the killing of Pio Gama Pinto in 1965, the country was shocked when the police presented young murder suspects to court.

They were two teenagers, Kisilu Mutua (pictured in 2001) and Chege Thuo, at the time officially claimed to be aged 18 and 19 years respectively.

Those who followed Kisilu’s murder trial believe that he was the fall guy, and that the real killer was someone else more powerful.

It was also claimed that Chege Thuo must have been an undercover agent of the Special Branch, post-independent Kenya’s intelligence service.

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