On June 11
1920, Kenya was colonized by the British for their fertile land. They became
part of British Africa with little to no advantages on their sides and
experienced an unjust period for around 42 years. Their lands robbed, taxed
heavily, and the people forced into labor work. Needless to say, it created
resentment between the British and Kenyans. Many revolted, with the most
significant one the Mau Mau Uprising. While they are regarded as terrorists, it
was this uprising that ultimately led to the independence of Kenya.
The Mau Mau first
started as a nationalist group dominated by Kikuyu people. The Kikuyu is the
largest ethnic tribe in the colony and they suffered the most in the hands of
the British. They pressed the British for their lands back, but with little to
no results. As time progressed, radical members of the Mau Mau created a
splinter militant group which used violence to drive away British authority. To
be a part of that group, the native African had to take an oath. It was
believed that if one break that oath, the repercussion would be death.
As the
British didn't want the world to know that they were the reason for the war,
they portrayed the Mau Mau as the culprits. In British news and media, they
represented the Mau Mau as a barbaric and cult-like group who made it their job
to raid both English settlers and local people alike. Meanwhile, they portrayed
themselves as "saviors" and claimed to help the locals against the
Mau Mau with weapons and soldiers. They labelled the locals that worked with
them as loyalists, so it sounded like the war is between the Mau Mau and
loyalists. They showed the British's compassion towards the locals in the
broadcasts, such as British troops honoring a fallen local tribe leader, and predicting
the Mau Mau's positions with Kenyan locals. In these broadcasts, there were no
words about the British coming to Kenya to claim the lands. Now that we're able
to gain more information about what really happened, we can see who the real
culprit is. It was the British who was the real perpetrator of violence in
Kenya.
It was true
that Mau Mau killed thousands of their own tribe, those who are loyal to the
British. However, the British also caused a great deal of deaths that they
didn’t report. Many Kikuyu men were rounded up and sent to concentration camps
with little food and poor sanitation and some were killed without trials, just
because they were suspected to be part of the Mau Mau group. I think it’s a
pity that so many lives were lost in the Mau Mau uprising, but at least the
movement freed the Kenyans from the rule of the British.
Thus, I
consider the Mau Mau as heroes of their country. Their determination for
independence brought more troubles to the British than its worth. Even when the
British had caught the Mau Mau's leader, Dedan Kimathi, the Mau Mau did not
dwindle and continued to fight. While the British came for fertile land to
plant crops, all they'd done is waste money on these wars. This results in the
British granting them independence 3 years later.
If I were a
Kikuyu, I would feel upset to be framed as a villain. I fought for my
independence, then why would I be the "bad guy"? However, it is also
difficult to judge an organization in times of war, as information may be hard
to achieve. If the whole world listened to the British news during the time of
war, I think many people would believe that the Mau Mau are
terrorists. I am pleased that more information about the Mau Mau were
discovered after the war and we can see their point of views about the event. It’s
interesting to see that historical perspectives about a historical event could
change greatly in years after. It’s always crucial to keep this in mind and be
critical for new evidence and facts.
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| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau_Uprising |
