Yesterday Kenya woke up with sad news of the passing away of Mukami Kimathi, the wife to Mau Mau Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi.
Dedan Kimathi led a fierce Mau Mau group that went into the forest in 1952 after which the colonial government declared the state of Emergency, a guerilla war that lasted for almost 8 years. The central issue was land and freedom.
White men came to Kenya to settle in the early 1900s, they decided to settle in white Highlands (fertile land around Nairobi and central Kenya). In order for them to get some settlement land, they displaced the local community and pushed them to reserves like Lari while some were sent far away to Rift Valley like the Olengurueni team. The African land owner now became landless and now servant in his land. Freedom was curtailed including freedom of association, participating in elections and even movement. Identification cards were introduced famously known us Kipande system that we still use up to date. You had to confirm that you are a citizen of your country and this confirmation you were to do it to a white foreigner who was a refugee in your country in the first place.
Life in the forest was not easy, it’s determination and absolute sacrifice that made fighters to go into the forest. I have met one old veteran woman who narrated to me how they coexisted with wild animals, how they were sleeping in dug holes(caves), how sometimes they could go days without food supply, how they could be rained on and how sometimes they could get injured but with no medical attention.
Up to date, there are veterans with some injures, those castrated same to women, those raped and molested while there are those who were convicted and hanged. Around 1090 bodies including of Dedan Kimathi were hanged and buried at Kamiti maximum prison. Over 475 skulls are still in the National Museum and in my recent visit to the museum, I can confirm that.
It’s time these heroes and heroines get heroic send off, reparated and Restitution must also follow.
Thank you Maitu Mukami for your fight for our freedom, may you and your spirit join our ancestors in peace and tell them that we are not yet free, the freedom they fought for was betrayed, their sons and grandsons are still landless and hopeless languishing in poverty and that we are doing our best to fulfill their vision for Liberation.
Uhuru Comrades!!
Comrade Pigbin Odimwengu from Kenya
The Revolutionary Comrade 👊🏿✊🏿