MAU MAU
The Mau Mau was an African nationalist movement active in Kenya during the 1950s.Its main aim was to remove British rule and European settlers from the country Kenya.
The origin of the term Mau Mau is uncertain. According to some members of Mau Mau, they never referred to themselves as such, instead preferring the military title Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA).Some publications, such as Fred Majdalany's State of Emergency: The Full Story of Mau Mau, claim that it was an anagram of Uma Uma (which means "get out get out") and was a military codeword based on a secret language-game Kikuyu boys used to play at the time of their circumcision. Majdalany goes on to state that the British simply used the name as a label for the Kikuyu ethnic community without assigning any specific definition.
As the movement progressed, a Swahili acronym was adopted: "Mzungu Aende Ulaya, Mwafrika Apate Uhuru" meaning "Let the European go back to Europe (Abroad), Let the African regain Independence".J.M. Kariuki, a member of Mau Mau who was detained during the conflict, postulates that the British preferred to use the term Mau Mau instead of KLFA in an attempt to deny the Mau Mau rebellion international legitimacy.Kariuki also wrote that the term Mau Mau was adopted by the rebellion in order to counter what they regarded as colonial propaganda.
During the conflict between the two factions, MAU MAU and the British colonizers,it is believed that Kenyan veterans with affiliations with MAU MAU were tutored non-humanly.this came into the light of the whole world when the veterans sued the British government by having a suit being filed on their behalf by the law firm Leigh, Day & Co at the High Court in London in 2009 for the bloody experiences they underwent.
In this landmark case,claimants,five Kenyans three men and two women the who are in their 70s and 80s, will traveled 4,000 miles (6,400 km) from rural Kenya to give evidence at the High Court in London which started on 6th April 2011 They had each suffered unspeakable injuries, including castrations and severe sexual assaults. These claims are test cases and it is anticipated that, if successful, they will result in community reparations for the wider group of Kenyan torture victims. However, above all else the claimants are seeking an official apology for the torture that they and so many others were subjected to.
Ndiku Mutua, one of the five claimants, said: “After 50 years it is time for justice. I was castrated and tortured whilst I was detained by British prison guards. I was robbed of my dignity and of a family and those scars have never healed. This wrong must be recognized, I and many others deserve an apology and justice at long last.”
In recent years, following detailed archival research by historians1, it has become clear that far from being the acts of a few rogue soldiers, the torture and inhuman and degrading treatment of Kenyans during this period was systemic and resulted from policies which were sanctioned at the highest levels of the British Government by the then Colonial Secretary.
The documents tabled during the hearing included:
i) Detailed accounts of the torture suffered by the five Kenyan claimants, including castrations and severe sexual abuse;
ii) Memorandums and letters between the then Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Governor of Kenya authorising the use of systematic violence and “violent shocks” on detainees;
iii) Cabinet minutes authorising the large scale detention of “passive supporters” of the Mau Mau and the approval of forced labour despite appreciating that this would be likely to breach international law.
iv) Evidence of widespread interference by the British Colonial Administration in criminal investigations into allegations of abuse and torture of African Kenyans.
v) Evidence of persistent detailed reports of the use of widespread and systematic violence by the then security forces in Kenya which were sent to London and resolutely ignored.
Martyn Day, Senior Partner at Leigh Day & Co the claimants legal representatives said that: “This is an opportunity for the British Government to come to terms with the past and apologise to our clients and the Kenyan people for this grave historic wrong. Unless this happens, the sense of injustice arising out of Britain’s brutal repression of the Kenyan independence movement will continue to burden Kenyans for generations to come.”
Is that really difficult for the British government?just asking
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