Dedan Kimathi just minutes before he was sentenced to hang by a court and jury on his bedside at Nyeri Hospital. At the age of fifteen, he joined the local primary school, Karuna-ini, where he perfected his English skills. He was a Debate Club member in his school and also showed special ability in poetry. He later joined Tumutumu CMS School for his secondary learning. According to Wikipedia, Kimathi however balked at any discipline or control, and was constantly in trouble with his teachers. In 1940, Kimathi enlisted in the British army. He was discharged after one month for drunkenness and persistent violence against his fellow recruits. He joined KAU around 1947 or 1948. By 1950 he had become secretary to the KAU branch at Ol Kalou, which was controlled by militant supporters of the Mau Mau cause. As the groups influence and membership widened it became a major threat to the colonialists. Upon taking the oath of the Mau Mau, Kimathi in 1951 joined the Forty Group, the militant wing of the defunct Kikuyu Central Association. As branch secretary, Kimathi presided over oath-taking. He believed strongly in compelling fellow Kikuyu by way of oath to bring solidarity to the independence movement. To achieve this he administered beatings and carried a double-barrelled shotgun. His activities with the group made him a target of the colonial government. Later, he formed the Kenya Defence Council to co-ordinate all forest fighters in 1953. In 1956, on 21 October, exactly four years to the day after the start of the uprising, a group led by Ian Henderson arrested Kimathi in the Nyeri forest, at present-day Tetu. His capture marked the end of the forest war. In the early morning of 18 February 1957 he was executed by hanging at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. He was buried in an unmarked grave, and his burial site remains unknown. Reports say that the British authorities know exactly where he was buried at Kamiti. Perhaps one day, some confidential UK government records will be declassified and that spot will be known. However, successive post-independence governments havent been aggressive in pressing the UK government to make public the spot on which he was buried. To this day, hordes of ex-MauMau are buried at Kamiti.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 18:12:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015