#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.

#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.

#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.

#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.

#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.

#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.

#HistoryKeThread: Today marks 52 years since Thomas J. Mboya was assassinated in downtown Nairobi. He died aged only 39. But even before he reached the age of 29, Mboya was a widely travelled leader. At the age of 28, and by virtue of being Chair of All-African People's Conference, Mboya visited the United States in 1959 on a five-week tour.

Thread: Someone shared this screenshot with us. But the info on this tweet isn’t entirely true so we will thread our perspective, which we know is the correct one, and which can be corroborated from other dependable sources 👇🏽. Although Mzee Kenyatta was the Prime Minister, he didn’t jail Mwariama for “holding illegal meetings with Mau Mau fighters…”

#HistoryKeThread: The Kamba and Mau Mau On 14th May 1954, the British newspaper Daily Telegraph ran a headline:

“Kenya Fears Mau Mau Has Won New Tribe”.

#HistoryKeThread

In 1907, Winston Churchill (pictured), Britain’s Under Secretary Of State For The Colonies visited several African colonies among them British East Africa (Kenya), a territory that had about 2,000 European settlers at the time. Perhaps looking for “safety in numbers”, the settlers pressured him to have the settler colony declared by London “White Man’s Country”.

Appeal Thread:

#OkoaParkNaSoo Intended to rely on gate fees and occasional support from local and foreign governments, Nairobi’s August 7 Memorial Park is facing permanent closure.

The park needs our help to keep its gates open. With as little as KES 100, we can save the park.

bit.ly/30ul1Zm

#HistoryKeThread Pre-Colonial Coastal Administration
—— In the photo above, which was taken in the late 1890s, the then Liwali (Governor) of Mombasa, Salim bin Khalfan, is seated third from left.

#HistoryKeThread: Snippets Of Murang’a History

This is an early 1900s pic of Agîkûyû women from Fort Hall as Murang’a was known as in those days. When the WW1 broke out, the colonial administration in Fort Hall, which is today Murang’a town, issued orders to help get people to join the military.

#HistoryKeThread: Succeeding Kenyatta

In the second half the 1970s, Mzee’s health began to deteriorate. Thus the matter of his succession took centre stage.

There emerged a group of powerful individuals who, opposed to Vice President Daniel arap Moi taking over the reins of leadership from President Jomo Kenyatta, called on the Constitution to be amended.

#HistoryKeThread: Mwangeka’s Blood

This first pic is of a view taken from high up in the Taita Hills. In the late 19th century, Mekatilili’s Giriama were not the only community from present-day Coast province that rose against imposition of white rule by gun-toting Europeans. The Taita of Mwanda, too, did.

#HistoryKeThread: Kieleweke and Tangatanga Of The 1970s
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Kenya’s politics often have revolved around alliances and personalities. In the late 1970s, when it was felt that President Jomo Kenyatta was aging and would leave the scene anytime, there were Kieleweke and Tangatanga movements.

Well, sort of.

#HistoryKEThread: Is History About To SAP Us Again?

In 1963, after more than a decade’s episode of violent struggle for freedom, Kenya attained her independence.

Then in 1991, roughly 28 years later, Kenya momentarily lost her independence.

Technically, somewhat. The circumstances in 1991 and those of today were similar. The one thing Kenya didn’t suffer from in the 1990s was the effects of a worldwide pandemic. Otherwise, history is repeating itself.

#HistoryKeThread: The Man Who Built Chiromo

Once there lived a man in Kenya - a man born to break rules. And norms. And records. He was as daring as he was rebellious to authority. Yes, a bully even.

His name was Ewart Scott Grogan, the 14th of 21 children of William Grogan.

#HistoryKeThread The Northern Frontier District The above words were uttered in 1960 by Ahmed Farah, a member of the LegCo in Kenya, representing the Somali community.

#HistoryKeThread: Raid On Fort Machakos In 1892, Fort Machakos had an administrator, George C. Leith.

#HistoryKeThread: Solidarity Rivalries

Ghana’s leader Kwame Nkrumah addresses the 1958 All African People’s Congress (AAPC) meeting in Accra, Ghana.

Seated cross-legged behind him, dressed in a dark suit, is Tom Mboya, the AAPC Chair. It is worth noting that earlier on, Mboya had expressed displeasure at the heavy-handed tactics that Nkrumah’s administration employed against Ghana’s Trade Union Congress (TUC).