Why Kenya continues to be haunted by her history

By Amos Kareithi

NAIROBI, KENYA: When Britain’s war time Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared that history would be kind to him for he intended to write it, he hit an unquestionable truth about some leaders. And when he implored humankind to “study history” for in history lies all the secrets of statecraft, he had no idea how this would resonate with Kenya, 50 years after independence.

This year as Kenya marks its 50th birthday since many men and women paid the ultimate price to liberate their motherland, there is a lot to reflect on. While accolades are being heaped on the famous and prosperous freedom fighters who were jailed, there was little mention of the more than 40,000 men who took up arms and confronted the British colonialists head on.

However, although the echoes of the freedom fighters battle cries and gunfire from improvised weapons have faded from the country’s collective memory, Kenya will continue to be haunted by this history and the shabby treatment of these heroes.

Monetary assistance

Back in time when Kenya was readying herself for independence in 1963, a number of deals were cut between the incoming President, Jomo Kenyatta and the outgoing British colonialists and their Government in London.

Some of the deals were from a military and security perspective, a major boom for a country that was facing myriad problems. These ranged from the 1963 secession occasioned by the quest for a bigger Somalia and the military mutiny of 1964. This was spiced by the insurrection staged by Mau Mau. Charles Hornsby, in Kenya, A history since Independence writes that Kenya and Britain agreed that the colonialists would help Kenyatta establish a national army and navy.

Besides offering monetary assistance, British officers would continue occupying top positions in security apparatus after independence.

This arrangement galled the Mau Mau who had hoped that when Kenya finally gained independence they would take over the military and the police.

Their generals hoped they would automatically exchange their rags with military uniform and live a dignified life. However, when Mau Mau freedom fighters affiliated to the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) attempted to join the national army they were in for a rude shock.

Mau Mau’s quest to forcefully take over some of the land in Rift Valley formerly occupied by the colonial settlers was met with Government force.

One such disillusioned freedom fighter who like his colleagues had expected to be appointed a general was General Baimungi, also known as Marete M’Ikandi, son of Ikandi M’Gatungwa.

Shortly before independence, Kenyatta had pardoned all the freedom fighters who agreed to come out of the forest. This was at a time when many loyalists and homeguards who had committed atrocities against freedom fighters and their families lived in fear of retribution from Mau Mau.

On the other hand, thousands of Mau Mau were not keen to come out of the forest for they still received intelligence that the white police and military officers were still operational in Kenya.

Expected respect

 Some of the freedom fighters who had survived the bombing and superior colonial firepower had expected respect from the loyalists.

There were reports, according to Hornsby that some Mau Mau leaders had allegedly flogged an MP and a senator for failing to give them a lift in his car. In Meru, things turned nasty when an amnesty declared by Kenyatta for the freedom fighters to surrender expired.

Some freedom fighters opted to return to Mt Kenya forests where they engaged security forces in open war with the Government.

Historian Maina Kinyatti graphically captures the building tension and the inevitable faceoff between Kenya’s security forces under the direction of Kenyatta and KLFA.

In his book, Agikuyu: 1890-1965: Waiyaki-Kenyatta-Kimaathi, the historian relives the tumultuous period as allies who had been on the same side during the liberation struggle slaughtered each other.

Kenyatta, the historian argues, had on a number of occasions held meetings with the Mau Mau generals in a bid to persuade them to surrender their arms and resume civilian life. One such meeting, according Prof Kinyatti took place on December 30 1963 at State House, Nakuru.

During the meeting the Mau Mau who were now fighting under the KLFA banner were led by General Baimugi, and included General Mwariama, General Ruku and General Chui. The Government side comprised of Kenyatta, Munyua Waiyaki, Jackson Angaine, Njoroge Mungai, James Gichuru and Jesse Kariuki.

“Kenyatta opened the meeting by stating that the freedom fighters ought to surrender their guns so that they could give his Government a chance to serve the people. The Africans, Kenyatta said needed an opportunity to celebrate their triumph,” Kinyatti writes.

However, Baimungi countered that Mau Mau could only surrender its guns if KLFA was recognised as the legitimate national army.

He also wanted all homeguards and loyalists to be kicked out of Government and British military officers to be relieved off their duties and sent back to their homeland.

Renegade generals

Baimungi too demanded that sons and daughters of freedom fighters be employed by the Government and those in schools to be allowed to learn free. The general had further proposed that the Government give all those maimed during the independence struggle and that Mau Mau Day be marked on October 20.

The uncompromising Kenyatta refused to yield any ground and declared that these things could only be debated when the Mau Mau still holed up in the forests surrendered. Kenya was unwilling to open old wounds and opted for ‘forgive but do not forget policy’.

A stalemate ensued for Baimngi and his colleagues also vowed to remain in the forest until their demands were met. They also declared war on the Kenyatta Government unless the demands were met. With this the meeting broke off. According to Kinyatti, the President again reached out to the freedom fighters on March 24 1964 when he summoned General Mwariama for a meeting.

This meeting took place the following day where Mwariama held discussions with Kenyatta, Koinange, Angaine, Mungai and Munyua and some other key politicians. During the meeting, Mwariama, who was leading 300 KLFA fighters agreed to surrender on condition that the Government would assist his followers.

After the meeting he was transported back to Meru in a Government vehicle and retreated back to Mt Kenya Forest. “The day after the meeting the Government pitched camp in Meru. Angaine was dispatched to the forest with money and military uniform. Each soldier was given Sh333.  Mwariama was given Sh335.

However, there was no such luck in dealing with Baimungi, Ruku and Chui who refused to come out of the forest. Kinyatti writes that before Kenyatta unleashed the full force of his Government on the renegade Mau Mau generals, there was a meeting in Gatundu.

This meeting was held on March 31 1964, where Kenyatta, Munyua Waiyaki, Gichuru, General China and General Mwariama represented the Government. The rebels included Baimungi, Chui and Ruku.

Mwariama later confided to Kinyatti that the meeting started at around 10am. At one point, Kenyatta offered to give each of the remaining freedom fighters in the forest Sh600 if they surrendered.

They were also to get five acres of land each in Timau, a Kanu membership card and a national flag which they would be allowed to hoist in their compound to show they had contributed to Kenya’s independence struggle.

Like before, the generals turned down the money offer insisting they wanted KLFA soldiers to be incorporated in the national army while windows, orphans and all those maimed during the war be compensated.

Predictably, the meeting did not resolve the differences and Gen Baimungi and his group left Gatundu for Meru and into Mt Kenya.

Soon after, the two sides engaged in deadly warfare as Kenyatta reiterated his position by dispatching Government troops to hunt down the stubborn Mau Mau fighters.

“A curfew was declared in all parts near Mt Kenya in Meru, Nyeri and Laikipia districts.

The Government through the radio also announced through the radio that anybody found collaborating with the generals would be dealt with ruthlessly,” Kinyatti explains.

After six months of heated war, the rag tag rebels were cornered and driven deeper into the forest.

Ultimately, on January 26, 1965, the Government troops dealt a crippling blow to the rebels when Gen Baimungi, Chui and Ruku were gunned down during a raid on their command headquarters.

Maximum force

Their bodies were later paraded in public as warning to other freedom fighters that the new Government would not hesitate to use maximum force to deal with open rebellion.

With the Mau Mau rebellion finally broken, Kenyatta was not in hurry to sanitise a group that like the Shifta menace had tested his might even before he had constituted his own fighting forces. General Baimungi’s role in fighting for his motherland and championing the plight of the voiceless has been muffled.

His name however lives in the hearts of those who fought with him in different mountains hills and valleys of this country to banish the oppressive colonialists. And as Kenya celebrates 50 years of independence, spare a thought for the thousands of uneducated and unemployed masses and their descendants, condemned to a lifetime of misery by General Baimungi’ failure.