Why forgotten Mau Mau songs are resounding across the mountain

There is a sense of despair bordering on defiance, especially around Mountain Kenya, manifesting itself in songs and dances stressing the Mau Mau fighting spirit. Various Mau Mau-related songs have received a new lease of life and some them, like “Kirinyaga ya Itungati”, are spreading fast. They are acquiring ‘gospel’ or anthem characteristics and are arousing emotions in people who feel victimised. The Mau Mau spirit, instrumental in William Ruto’s election in 2022, is anguishing.

It is not the first time in post-colonial Kenya that people have felt desperate and turned to art to vent their frustration by sounding defiant. In the build up to multi-partyism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Wahome Mutahi alias Whispers staged plays in Gikuyu with defiant themes that attracted large audiences to various entertainment joints because they addressed intense concerns about the fate of the people of the Mountain. Touching on the Mau Mau spirit, the plays aroused a sense of Gikuyu nationalism and probably inspired entrepreneurial ideas in Rose Kimotho who went on to found the popular Kameme FM, also known as 'Kayu ka Muingi'.

The current wave of artistic defiance, rooted in a sense of political desperation, is deeper in appealing to the Mau Mau spirit. In 2022, for instance, politicians in Dr Ruto’s UDA openly identified themselves as children of the Mau Mau to counter President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government that was seemingly unconcerned by the plight of the weak.

Rigathi Gachagua of Mathira and Ndindi Nyoro of Kiharu, the most vocal Mau Mau children, were joined by Kimani Ichung’wah of Kikuyu in rejecting Uhuru as 'dynasty' and in embracing 'Hustler' Ruto. Uhuru belatedly tried to warn the Mountain that it was making a big mistake but he did not sound convincing in part because he was portrayed as anti-Mau Mau.

In Ruto’s new administration, the Mau Mau children initially appeared to do well with Gachagua as Deputy President, Ichung’wa as leader of the Majority in Parliament, and Ndindi as chairman of the Budget Committee. Within two years, with the Ruto government performing poorly, the Mau Mau jubilation turned into lamentation. It took time for the Mau Mau children to realise that they had problems and they became divided.

Gachagua, slow in catching up with reality, reportedly ignored advice, and made costly mistakes. He was obsessed with being ‘king’ of the Mountain, made statements that raised questions about his leadership maturity, and mistakenly imagined he was like Ruto in Uhuru’s government or that Ruto was like Uhuru. Since Ruto’s policies seemed draconian and as if they targeted the Mountain for poverty creation and wealth reduction, self-proclaimed Mau Mau children in government found themselves in a fix and had problems raising their concerns.

The supposed leaders of the Mountain split between those raising the concerns of the public and those defending the Ruto policies that were deemed harmful. Ichung’wah projected himself as the Mountain champion of everything Ruto, vowed to fix Uhuru, and could see no merit in people grumbling. He became Ruto’s whip in the Mountain.

Gachagua drifted from Ruto, tried to make peace with Uhuru, and complained when policies in Nairobi appeared to target Mau Mau children. In Gachagua’s orchestrated impeachment, many MPs voted out of fear, bribery, ethnic hatred of the Mountain or as strategy to get rid of Gachagua to get Ruto.

The seeming unfairness of the Gachagua impeachment increased Gachagua’s popularity, sparked the feeling of being collectively victimised, and aroused the spirit of the Mau Mau evident in the songs and dances. Since Ndindi abstained from voting and appeared to identify with Gachagua, he appeared to be drifting from Ruto. Ichung’wah, Ruto’s seeming anti-Mau Mau whip, demanded that Ndindi be removed from being chair of the Budget Committee which makes Ndindi good in Mau Mau books.

The spread of the Mau Mau spirit symbolises trouble for Kenya.