Love, Waiyaki and ensuing massacre over dowry dispute

Signing of treaty Muthamaki Waiyaki wa Hinga and Lugard on 10th Oct 1890. [File, Standard]

The raiders had been led by Kinyanjui Gathirimu, who had been accommodated by Waiyaki when he arrived from Kandara in Murang'a after he was excommunicated from the area after he committed a crime.

In a fit of rage, the invaders shot every armed man in Githiiga, a development that greatly annoyed Waiyaki wa Hinga who was the indisputable leader. Waiyaki was accused of having tipped the people of Githiiga about the planned raid.

When an angry Waiyaki went to Fort Smith to confront Purkis over the massacre of his people in Githiiga, he was overpowered and chained to a pole. He later died on his way to Mombasa where he was supposed to face trial for the insurrection. Waiyaki's death on August 14, 1892 marked the rise of Kinyanjui who became a paramount chief and was a force to reckon with up to the time of his death in 1926 at the age of 64 years.

Besides being among the first Africans to buy a car, which he proudly drove clad in his traditional regalia, Kinyanjui made a lasting impression on Karen Blixen, the pioneer settler when he gulped down a huge amount of whisky as one would a calabash of fermented porridge, only to pass out for a few hours.

This put Karen in a fix because she feared if Kinyanjui died in her home on account of taking alcohol, she would be in hot soup for administering a white man's drink to a native, something which had been prohibited by the Berlin conference of 1884.