THIS IS NARRATIVE ABOUT THE GOOD SIDE OF TERRORISM
The bourgeoisie of the whole world, which looks complacently upon the wholesale massacre after the battle, is convulsed by horror at the desecration of brick and mortar.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
The Mau Mau rebellion contributed to the quickness of Kenyan independence. 2013, legal suit against the British government on behalf of the Mau Mau survivors paid out £19.9m to 5,228 Kenyans who were victims of torture 2016 – new legal suit against the British government on behalf of those affected by additional offenses (e.g., false imprisonment, forced labor, interruption to their right to education) Most colonies had an African elite who had a European education initially supportive of mother country but later became leaders of independence. During the world wars, the colonies were needed to provide resources (foodstuffs) and soldiers.
British established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895. White settlers took the best land for their own purposes. In 1920, it became known as the Kenya Colony. Africans, especially the Kikuyu who traditionally occupied the most fertile lands, were forcibly removed and placed in resource-poor areas.
Numerous economic and social changes resulted either directly or indirectly from the Mau Mau uprising. A land-consolidation program centralized the Kikuyu into large villages the Mau Mau’s. Throughout the 1950s, foreign investment in Kenya continued.
Nationalists like Jomo Kenyatta of the Kenya African Union (KAU) had been pressing the British government in vain for political rights and land reforms, with valuable holdings in the cooler Highlands to be redistributed to African owners.to give them. In October 1952, the British declared a state of emergency and began moving army reinforcements into Kenya. Officially the number of Mau Mau and other rebels killed was 11,000, including 1,090 convicts hanged by the British administration. Just 32 white settlers were killed in the eight years of emergency. However, unofficial figures suggest a much larger number were killed in the counter-insurgency campaign. The Kenya Human Rights Commission has said 90,000 Kenyans were executed, tortured or maimed during the crackdown, and 160,000 were detained in appalling conditions.
David Anderson, professor of African Politics at Oxford University, says he estimates the death toll in the conflict to have been as high as 25,000. He said: “Everything that could happen did happen. Allegations about beatings and violence were widespread. Basically you could get away with murder. It was systematic.”
As Martyn Day, (A Solicitor) proclaimed that the firm “its clients suffered terribly in detention camps or at the hands of British-led soldiers. He also spoke to the court “They were put in camps where they were subject to severe torture, malnutrition, beatings. The women were sexually assaulted. Two of the men were castrated. The most severe gruesome torture you could imagine. A lot of the officers involved were white, they were controlling the violence against these Mau Mau. It wasn’t just isolated individual officers. It was systematic.” The whole purpose was to break the Mau Mau. But, as explained by Leigh Day & Co the case is an “opportunity for the British government to come to terms with the past and apologize to the victims and the Kenyan people for this grave historic wrong”.
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has backed their cases. “In my view, the British government’s attempt to pin liability on Kenya for British colonial torture represents an intolerable abdication of responsibility,”
The Mau Mau uprising began in 1952 as a reaction to inequalities and injustices in British-controlled Kenya. The response – of the colonial administration was a fierce crackdown on the rebels, resulting in many deaths. By 1956 the uprising had effectively been crushed, but the extent of opposition to the British regime had clearly been demonstrated and Kenya was set on the path to independence, which was finally achieved in 1963. SAHO@20
The four main causes of the revolt were:
Low wages,
Access to land,
Female genital mutilation (FGM)
Kipande: identity cards that black workers had to submit to their white employers. The whites that explores refused to return them or even destroyed the cards, making it incredibly difficult for workers to apply for other employment.
The great British plan to end the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya was presented to the country’s legislature. General China, captured in January, was to write to the other terrorist leaders and suggest that nothing further could be gained from the conflict and that they should surrender to British troops. British authorities in Kenya admitted that the “General China operation” legislature failed. Leaders of the Mau Mau including Jomo Kenyatta went to prison.
Kenyan opposition to British imperialism was there from the start. E.G, the Kikuyu opposition of 1880–1900—though it bears emphasis that, in military terms, armed uprisings during the opening scenes of British colonialism in Kenya were never successful. Kenyan employees were treated by their British employers, even beaten to death by them, with some settlers arguing that Africans “were as children and should be treated as such.” Kenyan, employees were often poorly treated by their European. The Kenya Human Rights Commission has said 90,000 Kenyans were executed, tortured or maimed during the crackdown, and 160,000 were detained in appalling conditions. This is far more likely.
The U.K. said it not a valid because: Any liability rests by the Kenyan authorities. A big, fat, juicy, lie. Prof Anderson at Oxford University who notes that one of the things marking the battle against the Mau Mau was the number of hangings, with capital offences extended during the emergency to include “consorting” with Mau Mau.
Even though the Mau Mau were defeated by 1960, reforms that nationalists had been pressing for before the uprising had started and, by 1963, Kenya was independent.
Prof Anderson explains: “There was lots of suffering on the other side too. This was a dirty war. It became a civil war – though that idea remains extremely unpopular in Kenya today.” Even though the Mau Mau were thoroughly defeated by 1960, there were the exact reforms that nationalists had been pressing for before the uprising had started and, by 1963, Kenya was independent. Hoo-ray!