Roots of the Mau Mau Rebellion

* Roots of the Mau Mau Rebellion

- Kikuyu did not use name Mau Mau generally

-> called it Muingi ("The Movement"), Muigwithania ("The Understanding")

-> people who participated took the Oath of Unity - Muma wa Uiguano

- the Kikuyu Central Association (KAU) and political organization

-> since WWII, Kikuyu Kenyans believed that Britain would grant independence

-> Kikuyu soldiers returned from service more worldly

-> British-educated Kikuyu understood politics and British home sentiment to favor

independence

=> Jomo Kenyatta a key leader of the KAU

=> KAU mixed political organization along with some revolutionary preparation

+> clearly involved in the oathing, but not clear that would turn into "Mau Mau"

- economic roots

-> Kenya had a large number of White settlers compared to most other African

colonies

-> settlers had taken the best lands, including significant parts of Kikuyu territory

=> landless and poor Kikuyu worked as laborers and sharecroppers for White settlers

=> many, if not most, settlers were incompetent farmers and relied on Kikuyu labor

+> very frustrating for Kikuyu to work land of those who stole it

-> overpopulation and crop restrictions created agricultural crisis in Kikuyu homelands

=> in general, Kikuyu not given access to lucrative export crops

=> having too many people on too little land made successful farming impossible

-> WWII had seen a quick burst of relative wealth, but this evaporated in post-war

recession

- social roots

-> intense White racism

=> settlers were particularly bad, but even British gov saw Africans as unready for

independence

=> particularly frustrating to well-educated Kenyans and returning soldiers

-> Kikuyu were just one of the ethnic groups of Kenya, but they were large and

traditionally rich

=> their homeland had been disproportionately stolen by settlers

-> Kikuyu social structure required youth to get land in order to become full members

of society

-> added together, Kikuyu had no reason not to revolt

Sources:

Elkins, Caroline, Imperial Reckoning - The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2005.

Wikipedia, "The Mau Mau Rebellion" (Accessed 1/28/2007)