THE DEMONSTRATIONS THAT LASTED ELEVEN MONTHS and THE DAY MOTHERS STRIPPED NAKED.
On March 3rd 1992, mothers of the political prisoners stripped naked at Uhuru park to demand for the release of their sons caught in Moi's torture chambers.
***A LONG THREAD***
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the political atmosphere in Kenya was characterized by brutal government repression and terror, under the de-facto single-party rule of President Daniel Arap Moi.
Jan 5, 2023 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Nganyi the con rainmaker from the Luhya land.
Nganyi the Rainmakers of Abanyore was untouchable & feared by many.
It was believed that he came from the hereditary line of rainmakers,who also had supernatural powers to unleash thunder on their enemies.
***THREAD***
He was also known as the high priest of the god of rain, fertility, fire, clouds and hail.
However in 1898, he was arrested by CW Hobley who frogmarched him to Mumias.
So what prompted Hobley to frog match the most feared man among the Luhyas?
Nov 11, 2022 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
Meet Memba Kenyatta, a con who used to masquerade as Jomo Kenyatta's son in Europe.
Photo: Memba Kenyatta, a Kenyan man claiming to be Jomo's son is seen with his wife Julia Gonzalez Memba, and baby inside an Italian police van in Rome in 1960.
***THREAD***
On the day the photo was taken, Memba Kenyatta was being arrested for causing trouble. Memba, claiming to be Kenyatta's son, had caused trouble at veneto by insulting and spitting on passers-by, demanding the release of his "father" Kenyatta.
Sep 8, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
The monarch tradition that would be called witchcraft if done in Africa
After Philip died he wasn't buried.Prince Phillip's body will now be removed from where it has been kept since his death in 2021 & taken to where Queen Elizabeth will be laid to rest
THREAD
In 2021 Philip's body was lowered 15 feet into the 200-year-old Royal Vault beneath St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle where it has remained to date. This was just a temporary resting place to await the death of the Queen one day.
Sep 2, 2022 • 40 tweets • 7 min read
THE FIRST BETRAYAL.
From freedom fighters to terrorists.
The betrayal of the Mau Mau fighters by Jomo Kenyatta was so loud. Let's see what Wanyiri Kihoro says.
*** LONG THREAD***
As derived from the 📖 "The Price Of Freedom" by Wanyiri Kihoro.
Did you know due to biting poverty after 9 years in prison Kenyatta's first house was constructed through contributions by Kenyans? Did you know Kenyans bought him his first land after prison?
Jul 26, 2022 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
YOU ARE ALWAYS THE FOOL.
In 2016 Raila Odinga said Jubilee and uhuru had failed, you believed that the govt had failed. William Ruto defended uhuru govt and you repeated what he said like a parrot. You believed the govt has really worked.
***THREAD***
In 2022, William Ruto tells you the govt, which he defended and publicly said has delivered, has failed. You believe him and praise like your god. Raila Odinga today tells you that Jubilee govt hasn't really failed, and like the fool you are, you have swallowed the bait.
Jun 8, 2022 • 36 tweets • 12 min read
THE CREATION OF BIG NAMES.
The families of the former colonial chiefs and guards, who were collaborators live a good life while those of the MAU MAU fighters live in abject poverty. Was it a case of colonial guards and chiefs acting smart or Mau Mau got a raw deal?
***THREAD***
It should be known that the colonialists reached a point that they knew they had to leave Kenya due to the Mau Mau war, and the world was moving toward accepting independent Africa.However, the colonialists devised a scheme that still eats Kenya upto this day.
Apr 18, 2022 • 49 tweets • 9 min read
The hurried marriage, the broken marriage vows, the fights and the betrayal that almost sunk Kenya into endless chaos & the missed golden chance of uniting Kenyans.
It is the sad marriage of Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki in 2002.
*** THREAD***
LONG THREAD ALERT
In 2002, 13 Kenyan opposition parties joined under one umbrella and formed the NARC coalition. The coalition was kenya's second "party" that was truly a nationalistic party, after KANU, simply because it had massive membership from every part of the country.
Apr 6, 2022 • 36 tweets • 7 min read
During the colonial period in Kenya, Africans were treated as third class humans & at times, dogs came higher than them in the rank.
The story of Peter Poole the first & the last white man to be hanged in Kenya on 18th Aug 1960.
***THREAD***
Long thread alert
During the colonial period, the white men killing of Africans was some sort of a favourite sport. There were some many cases but some of the notorious ones included the shooting of 21 unarmed Africans outside the Norfolk Hotel in 1922.
Mar 28, 2022 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Living the life of Deputy President William Ruto, through the life of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
30 May 1965, VP Jaramogi Oginga Odinga addressing a political rally at Kisumu, decided to respond to allegations that he was planning to overthrow Jomo Kenyatta.
***THREAD***
He said, "Jomo Kenyatta was elected leader in confidence by the people and he is a first class leader" (the same assurance DP Ruto has given to Kenyans on the 8 million people who voted for President Uhuru Kenyatta)
Mar 13, 2022 • 44 tweets • 8 min read
THE MAU MAU AND JOMO KENYATTA.
Like a daredevil holding the tiger by the tail, Jomo Kenyatta lived through revolutions making friends and discarding them at his convenience.
Was Kenyatta the national hero or a villain? Was he a nationalist or an opportunist?
***THREAD***
Jomo Kenyatta, the young man who fled Kiambu at the onset of the World War II to avoid conscription, had a sharp mind and exploited the earliest opportunity that came his way and he had a knack for spotting trouble.
Feb 26, 2022 • 40 tweets • 7 min read
President Uhuru Kenyatta is nearing his end to active politics.But how was he introduced to politics? A look back at his 1997 loss to Moses Mwihia,a man who worked with little known Moses Kuria to pull a first one on Uhuru.
**THREAD**
From Irungu Thatiah's "Hard tackle" & more.
The 1997 race for the Gatundu south member of parliament was getting hotter than expected, it was a race between a perceived "hustler" in Moses Mwihia, and a perceived "dynasty" in Uhuru Kenyatta. It was a race where political wit and propaganda was employed at full throttle.
Feb 25, 2022 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
11 charges Raila Odinga was slapped with, after the 1982 abortive coup de 'etat.
Sources:: the Flame Of Freedom by Raila Odinga.
***Thread***
The first charge was that, in mid-July 1982, at Nairobi, Raila loaned Senior PrivateHezekiah Ochuka his Peugeot 504, registration number KVZ 642, to assist him in making preparations to overthrow the government.
Feb 21, 2022 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
THE HANDSHAKE THAT NEVER WAS...
Did you know apart from the golden handshake between Raila Odinga & Mwai kibaki in 2008 & the March 9th 2019 handshake between Raila Odinga & Uhuru Kenyatta,there was another attempted handshake of 1978 that failed? Why did it fail?
***thread***
After Kenya gained self rule in 1964, nobody imagined of a bitter divorce between the founding fathers of the nation Mzee jomo Kenyatta and his old friend jaramogi Oginga Odinga. The bitter fallout was caused by several factors that were precipitated by external forces.
Dec 29, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
A clip showing University of Nairobi students protesting the murder of JM Kariuki on 14 March 1975. One banner read;"Mafia Boss,Where is JM?".The students protests were led by James Orengo & former CJ Dr Willy Mutunga.
UoN students back then were the society's light & mouthpiece
But JM Kariuki wasn't always the good man people saw in him. his mistake was that he was running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. He was the ultimate king of double-crossers. He castigated lang grabbers when himself at some point benefited from grabbed land.
Dec 24, 2021 • 44 tweets • 8 min read
THE POLITICS OF ABDUCTION IN KENYA.
As we head to the 2022 elections,Kenyans will be treated to both real & stage managed kidnapping of politicians. The fake ones, are always funny but they always win them votes.
***THREAD***
A story from Irungu Thatiah's "Hard tackle" and more.
The 1997 race for the Gatundu south member of parliament was getting hotter than expected, it was a race between a perceived "hustler" in Moses Mwihia, and a perceived "dynasty" in Uhuru Kenyatta. It was a race where political wit and propaganda was employed in full throttle.
Nov 6, 2021 • 29 tweets • 5 min read
In the wake of schools fires & students unrest,we need remind them about a night of Horror or what Kenyans came to refer as the black Sunday. The events of night of 13th-14th July 1991 at St Kizito sec school in Meru county.
The death chamber that was a dormitory
***Thread***
St. Kizito was a coeducational boarding secondary school in Akithii Location, Meru County. It was named after Saint Kizito. The school was established in 1968. Initially, it began as an all-boys school and began admitting girls in 1975.
Oct 20, 2021 • 29 tweets • 11 min read
Scores of Kenyans gave life,limb & liberty to ensure that we attained the ability to govern ourselves.
Some of these heroes have been forgotten in the sands of time but we must never let them be forgotten.
Here are a few Shujaas. Happy Mashujaa day to them.
***THREAD***
CMG Argwings-Kodhek (1923-1969)
CMG attended St Mary’s School, Yala, Makerere and Cardiff Univ where he obtained a Law degree and got admitted to the bar (Lincoln's Inn) in 1951.
Offered a third of what whites were getting at the Attorney General's office, CMG declined.
Oct 6, 2021 • 74 tweets • 12 min read
THE LARI MASSACRE OF 26th MARCH 1953
The battle of the haves and the haves not as it happened in Lari, in the then Kiambu district.
The life, the cause, the killings, the retaliation and the aftermath of the massacre.
***THREAD***
(Long thread alert)
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND.
The
settlement
of Lari,nestling
in
the shadows
of
the Aberdares
forest
in the
northern
part of
Kiambu district,
was
to be
the site
of
the
greatest
bloodletting
of
the
entire
Mau
Mau
war.
Aug 22, 2021 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
The Kenyatta grave mystery.
Jomo Kenyatta died 43 years ago today. But three months after Mzee Kenyatta died, in November of 1978, his mausoleum played host to unusual visitors one Sunday night.
***THREAD***
Via HistoryKe
What is known is that Lt. Gen (Rtd) Daniel Opande, then a Lieutenant Colonel, received a call from Kenya’s military chief, Gen. Mulinge. The latter wanted to know who was the commanding officer of the army unit responsible for guard duties at the mausoleum.
Aug 7, 2021 • 23 tweets • 4 min read
At exactly the time of this post, at 1030HRS twenty three years ago, on 7th August 1998, guards at the rear entrance of the United States of America embassy building in downtown Nairobi waved down a truck for routine inspection.
It was halted as its occupants tried to force their way into the rear entrance of the embassy building, situated at the busy junction of Nairobi’s Haile Selassie and Moi Avenues.