What Was the Mau Mau uprising?

The East African country of Kenya was settled by Europeans in the early twentieth century. The settlers concentrated in the fertile central highlands, mainly farming coffee and tea. They displaced large numbers of the Kikuyu tribe who had worked the land as migrant farmers for centuries. 

When Kenya became a crown colony of the British government in 1920, the settlers were able to impose a number of restrictions on land ownership and agricultural practices to protect their own interests and push the Kikuyu out. Forced from their traditional tribal areas, many disgruntled Kikuyu migrated to the capital Nairobi.

Captured Mau Mau suspect: Members of a British Army patrol search for a captured Mau Mau suspect
In the Kenyan jungle: British army soldiers in the jungles of Kenya during the Mau Mau rebellion in 1952 or 1953.

During the early 1950s, resentment grew among the Kikuyu tribe against European settlement and their lack of political representation. This was first shown in attacks carried out in the latter half of 1952 by the outlawed secret society Mau Mau against Kikuyu loyal to the government. Strongly paramilitary in nature, Mau Mau used secret ceremonies to enforce allegiance among its members and launched a campaign targeting European settlers in their isolated farms. Armed groups of Mau Mau formed forest gangs in the Aberdare and Mount Kenya areas from which they would emerge to carry out attacks against civilian authorities and settlers. These attacks increased and a state of emergency was declared by Governor Evelyn Baring in October 1952. Leading members of the Mau Mau organisation, including future Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta, were arrested by the authorities.

The Mau Mau stepped up their attacks on European settlers and the Kikuyu, culminating in the attack on the village of Lari in March 1953 in which 84 Kikuyu civilians, mainly women and children, were murdered. British troops began to reinforce local forces to try to counter these attacks. The National Guard was strengthened and security measures began to be put in place on the Kikuyu reserve to protect civilians and livestock.

Kikuyu tribesmen working as members of a resistance group tracking down Mau Mau rebels. The work involved impersonating Mau Mau to gain information.

The British military operations began to concentrate on areas where Mau Mau was most active. These included ‘Operation Anvil’ in Nairobi in April 1954, the mass screening, arrest and detention of large numbers of Mau Mau and its supporters. Large-scale sweeping took place in the Aberdare and Mount Kenya areas during 1955. British intelligence on the Mau Mau also improved with the introduction of pseudo-gangs, led by Kikuyu-speaking Europeans disguised as Africans, who infiltrated the forest gangs.

Although the declared state of emergency was to continue until 1960, British military operations effectively ceased in November 1955. By this time, thousands of Mau Mau members had been arrested and they had suffered over 10,000 casualties.

Skriv en kommentar

Din e-mailadresse vil ikke blive publiceret. Krævede felter er markeret med *