Was the fight for independence in Kenya a lost cause?

The reason why our forefathers took up arms and went to the forest to fight the colonial government was primarily against dispossession of their lands. Colonialists in the guise of propagating ‘civilization’ through Christianity and education started taking up all productive land from Africans relegating them to unproductive areas.

In 1929 the colonial government legislated an act legalizing the dispossession of African land. This was followed by creation of native reserve lands which were mainly unproductive and densely populated. It was done purposely to impoverish communities so that they could become a source of cheap labour for the sustenance of the colonial economy.

Immediately after the Second World War due to population increase in the native reserve lands the living and working conditions were becoming unbearable. And because of experience gained while fighting in the War Africans were now ready to take up arms. This was only after exhausting all other peaceful avenues. Now the famous Mau Mau War began, which was basically about Kenyans fighting to get back their lands and dignity.

By 1952 the Mau Mau War had really achieved much, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency and acceleration of land dispossession targeting perceived Mau Mau fighters , their families , sympathizers or associates .This led to the creation of concentration camps otherwise know as ‘British gulags’ . Many family heads, youth and women were thrown into those camps and others were detained in far-flung areas like Shimo la Tewa , Manyani and Lamu. All this was being done by colonial collaborators under the watch of their white masters.

After the Mau Mau fighters had succeeded in their quest to make Kenya inhabitable for Her Majesty’s government and so the colonial administrators handed over the reigns of power to their Kenyan collaborators and servants. This is how the fight for self-rule was first hijacked and the quest to get back African lands was scuttled, as the fighters and their families were to later realize.

First, the new African government did not recognize the efforts and the cause of those gallant sons and daughters who had fought for independence. The Mau Mau movement remained banned and labeled as a terrorist group until 2003 when the ban was lifted. Many of the freedom fighters remained in the concentration camps many years after and some still do to date. These camps are still mar the landscape of Kiambu County, the richest in the country. Families living in these camps suffer even worse living conditions and indignity under the watch of successive African governments.

The very existence of these camps and deplorable living conditions negates the very reason why our forefathers took up arms to liberate themselves, their children and generations to come from shackles of colonialism, poverty, landlessness and indignity. This has led to emergence of post-colonial freedom fighters who try to finish what our forefathers by shedding of their innocent blood.

It’s upon the incumbent regime to decide whether to address the pre-independent dream of land justice peacefully or face a bloody rebellion like their colonial masters. The point to note is that Kenya is not far off from these rebellions with emergence of rebel groups such as the Sabaoti Land Defence Forces, Mungiki and Mombasa Republican Council.

To echo the words of Kenyan hero and mighty freedom fighter Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi, ‘It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees’. The struggle for land justice in Kenya continues.

For the National Land Accord Movement
Elijah Mburu and Shadrack Mwongera
Email: [email][email protected]