#HistoryKeThread: James Bond in Kenya - 1901. These words, describing the fate that befell villagers in Kîhûmbûinî in present-day Mûranga county, were etched on a diary - Kenya Diary (1902 -1906) - by its author.

#HistoryKeThread: World War 1 Action In Kenya
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Many people believe that WW1 action in Kenya was primarily focused around Taveta. However, there was arguably as much action in other parts of Kenya, including Victoria Nyanza, Kericho and Maasailand.

On Lake Victoria, for instance, the British sank the German armoured tug 'Mwanza'.

#HistoryKeThread: Sultan Fumo Bakari and The Witu Resistance
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In 1890 a group of Germans set up camp near Witu, Lamu, and started chopping down the forests that surrounded the town. The fact that they were heavily armed and spent much of their spare time engaged in military exercises led the Witu Sultan, Fumo Bakari, to fear that the foreign force was about to stage a coup.

So he stole their weapons.

#HistoryKeThread: Waruhiu’s Last Bow
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From September 1952, colonial chief of the Agikuyu in Kiambu, Waruhiu Kung’u - seen here addressing his last public rally at Kirigiti on 25th August of the same year, began transferring property to his wife and children.

📷:NMG The Kirigiti rally had been organized by local (Kiambu) and Kenya Africa Union (KAU) leaders led by Waruhiu and Jomo Kenyatta respectively, to denounce Mau Mau.

#HistoryKeThread: Rawson Macharia: Bribed To Frame Jomo Kenyatta
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The colonial government was so short of evidence with which to convict Mzee Kenyatta, that they turned to a "frail little shopkeeper" - as described Rawson Macharia - the main prosecution witness. During the trial, Rawson testified that Mzee was his Mau Mau oath administrator. He also gave detailed descriptions of how the oathing itself was carried out.

He described how he was stripped naked, made to drink human blood and make ritualistic movements on banana leaves.

#HistoryKeThread 🧵: Two Forts
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In 1890, officials of the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) - which midwifed the colony that later became known as Kenya to the British government - led by Fredrick Lugard established a military frontier post at Kîawariûa. Today, this is the area we generally call Dagoretti.

Over a period of a few weeks, Lugard supervised the construction of a new fort here. He later left for Buganda, leaving George Wilson in command of the new garrison.

#HistoryKeThread: Feeling the tax bite?

A century ago, every male in Kenya aged at least 16, employed or not, paid 12/- poll tax per year.

If married, there was an additional 12/- annual “breast tax” for the man. It was tougher for polygamous men, who paid breast tax per wife. Actually, the Agîkûyû had a name for this tax. They called it Igooti Rîa Nyondo, which literally translated to “Breast Tax”.

Africans unable to raise the tax were arrested and imprisoned. Younger ones who couldn’t pay….

#HistoryKeThread: Elijah Masinde
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Over the years, even way before ill-famed Pastor Paul Mackenzie became known, Bungoma has been synonymous with prophets and gods - Nabii Yohana, Yesu wa Tongaren, Jehovah Wanyonyi and Elijah Masinde among them. Let us focus on Elijah Masinde, who broke out earlier than the rest.

In his early years, he was employed as a court server, working at the Kabuchai African Court in 1937.

#Wikileaks has published online hitherto secret files, including a number that touch on #Kenya’s historical events and leading political leaders. 👇🏽 “Kenya Imanyara Threat” - file.wikileaks.org/file/kenya-ima…

#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.