What is most interesting to me about this subject is how each lady not only paved the way for the next but also personally participated in her success. Each generation of women in Gikuyu music fed the next in turn. Today, women in mugithi are celebrated. Their position in Gikuyu music has always been essential, as we shall now see.

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Margaret Waitherero

Typically, in a lot of Gikuyu songs from the Ngogoyo era, a woman would be featured either singing a response verse, backing vocals or even the hook. Regardless of her contributions, she would not be credited as an individual. After all, this era of music was ruled by bands. On this Substack, we have spoken about Joseph Kamaru, John Ndichu, CDM Kiratu and other Ngogoyo legends. Their legacy would have looked quite different without the contributions of a lady by the name of Margaret Waitherero.

She hails from Kangema in Murang’a just like Joseph Kamaru and although Waitherero had singing ambitions from a young age, her Christian mother said, “Not in this house!” Her patience and close friendship with Kamaru’s younger brother Kahiga paid off when she auditioned at Kamaru’s City Sounds, leaving everyone in awe of her vocal prowess. After that audition, hers became the most sought-after voice in music.

She immediately contributed heavily to Wahome wa Maingi’s album, singing on the classic Jimmy (Njira Ndukandiga). Ciira wa Mama Ciru, which we discussed at length in Kamaru’s top ten songs, also featured Waitherero. She plays the role of Mama Ciiru, John Ndichu’s estranged spouse who was being reconciled back to her husband by Kamaru and other artists- a verse she sang with her whole heart. (In the Spotify album, the songs Ciira wa Mama Ciiru and Binadamu are wrongly titled. Waitherero, however, contributed to both tracks)

Muhiki wa Mikosi, another Kamaru classic, leveraged Waitherero’s beautiful voice. It is interesting to note how much renown this song brought Kamaru, but I bet you did not know whose female vocals are featured.

Waitherero worked with the likes of CDM Kiratu and D.K wa Maria throughout the 80s, solidifying her sound as an industry staple. Some of her most notable collaborations were with Joseph Kang’ethe, better known as ByLaw. Together they made Utonga ni wa Ngai, Ithe wa Kiume and my favourite, Mumbi. To be honest, Waitherero’s verses are the reason I’m hooked on most of these songs.

With the birth of Mugithi in the early 90s, many bands died as a result of this sudden transition. Waitherero and ByLaw’s duo would not survive this either. Still, she continued to contribute to the performance art of the genre at ballrooms in Hilton and other high-end venues. Emerging acts like Queen Jane and Wangari wa Kabera would soon eclipse Waitherero, especially because she stopped recording and focused more on performance.

Even when she too eventually switched to Gospel music and achieved relative success, her mark on the secular world of Gikuyu Music is indelible. Rather than compete with them, Margaret Waitherero supported and platformed many female artists and is considered the pioneer of the female voice in Gikuyu music.

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Queen Jane

This legend needs no introduction. Also from Kangema in Murang’a, she joined Musaimo’s Mbiri Young Stars band as a backup performer. Queen Jane had very high musical ambitions. The sort that could not be content with being just a backup performer. With his blessing and support, she started recording her own music in the 90s. This started with the formation of her own band, Queenja Les Les.

Queen Jane then kicked off one of the most iconic music careers in Kenya. Her hit song Mwendwa KK became the new anthem for heartbreak in Nairobi. You see, male Gikuyu artists had sung several POVs criticising the conduct of women in relationships and marriage. Now here was Queen Jane ready to inject them with a dose of their own medicine.

On Tiga Kwiyamba, she calls out men who get a lot of pride from their wealth, by reminding them that wealth comes from God. She does this using carefully crafted lyrics and the familiar folktales and proverbs that give Gikuyu music its personality. Muthuri Teenager, which literally means ‘ a teenage man ’, criticises men who still reason and behave like teenagers even in their old age.

My favourite track from this legend has got to be Arume ni Nyamu, which translates to ‘Men are animals’. In the verses, she vents about men’s habitual dishonesty and infidelity. Indeed, she compares men to animals, citing their tendency to ‘change women like clothes’.

Queen Jane was famously unselfish with her spotlight. The Queenja Les Les band was a development crucible for many of the mugithi pioneers and legends that we celebrate today. Mike Rua, Salim Junior, JJ Gitahi and Wangari wa Kabera were once all part of her band. Her sisters, Lady Wanja and Princess Aggie, were also celebrated musicians. Her voice and songs are timeless and maintain relevance to this day.

Unfortunately, the end of Queen Jane’s life was quite tumultuous. She got married unofficially to a certain James Kariuki. According to an article in The Star, she was deeply unhappy in this childless union. She developed chronic depression that led to meningitis. She passed away on June 29th 2010. The matter of her burial was a dramatic rollercoaster involving court cases and scandals.

Wangari wa Kabera

When we talk about women in the industry uplifting others, Wangari wa Kabera’s career comes into perspective. First of all, she received her stage name from none other than Queen Jane herself. Hearing her sing at different venues, Queen Jane got invested in her career, inviting her to sing in her band. From the first time Queen Jane heard her voice, she dubbed her ‘wa Kabera’, aligning with the lyrics Wangari was singing.

Many know her for the hit song, Matatu Cia Gwitu. This has become a mugithi staple that has stood the test of time. It is still an anthem to this day. What many do not know is that Matatu Cia Gwitu is a cover. The original song titled Njira Nyinuke, appeared on Kamaru’s album Marua ma Gathoni and was performed by Margaret Waitherero! Talk about a full circle moment.

Wangari made a stellar career for herself, dropping bangers like Niukurera Shifta and Arume ni Thahabu. Wangari wa Kabera paid the favour forward by holding many female mugithi artists’ hands and sharing her spotlight and platform. Joyce Wamama, one of the leading voices in today’s mugithi scene, is a beneficiary of this. Joyce would step in for some of Wangari’s performances, growing her confidence and artistry until she was ready to venture out on her own.

Conclusion

Some of the leading mugithi artists in the industry today are ladies but this has not always been the norm. Through the talent, resilience, and open-handedness of the ladies we’ve discussed above, more and more women felt confident enough and had the means to launch and sustain their own careers.

Award-winning singer Joyce Wamama is my personal favourite with bangers like Wendo ni Uriru and Hinjio ni Maku as well as collaborations like Wendo wi Cama with Samido. Kareh B has also made shockwaves with her collaborations with Jose Gatutura titled Tuirio Twega and Mwari wa Muthamaki. Wanja Asali, Shiko Beiby and Jane Mungai have also made names for themselves in this trying and ever-evolving music industry.

To all my mugithi lovers, I have great news! Hinges of Time has collaborated with Meet Me to bring you: A Love Letter to Mugithi. This will be an amazing Music experience where we will not only sing and dance along to Mugithi, but we will also trace the history of this wonderful genre through the decades. This Saturday at Zahabu! Purchase your ticket via this link.

The Gikuyu were spiritually bonded with nature. They believed that the supreme being, Ngai, lived on Mt. Kenya. They prayed facing Kirinyaga, in reference to its snow cap, or Kirimara. It’s interesting to think that most of the rainfall experienced in Gikuyu land is due to their location on the windward side of this great mountain. Kirinyaga and its montane forests also acted as a natural northern defense buffer against invasion. Nyandarua or the Aberdare Ranges as we call it today, had that same effect to the west.

Trees make up a big part of Agikuyu cultural identity as well. The Mukurwe tree (Albizia gummifera), which made up the grove of Gikuyu and Mumbi, the mythic ancestors of the people. Gikuyu is named after the Mukuyu(sycamore fig) tree, which is also a sacred tree of the Gikuyu and was later replaced with the Mugumo (strangler fig) tree. Gikuyus would worship and offer sacrifices to Ngai under Mugumo trees. They would neither cut nor collect firewood from around the tree.

This gnarled giant grows from seeds dropped by birds on other tree branches. The sprouted seed roots itself in the ground, then develops an elaborate network of branches engulfing the host tree. It is called the strangler fig because, over the decades, the tree completely smothers and ends the life of the host. After enough time, the lifeless host tree decays, leaving the mugumo intact but hollow in the middle. Many such trees can be seen in the Ngong Forest Sanctuary.

In Unbowed, Wangari Maathai articulately explains how the mugumo’s immense root footprint breaks and fractures the soil and rocks underground. Due to aquifer pressure underground, water looking for an escape route followed the mugumo root system until it surfaced. Freshwater springs therefore commonly emerged near mugumo trees. By preserving and holding this tree as sacred, the Agikuyu (an agricultural tribe) preserved not just their existence but their way of life.

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Agriculture

From clearing bush to harvest time, great care was taken throughout the whole process of agriculture. Though early explorer accounts, like in Discovery of Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie by Von Hohnel, confirm intensive Gikuyu cultivation, they were not just about maximising yields. A careful balance was maintained to ensure food security while conserving the fertility of the land.

Chiefly, the Kikuyu practiced shifting cultivation, where they left land fallow after continuous cultivation to allow the soil to regain its fertility. They would then clear new portions, or portions previously left fallow would be cleared for cultivation. Gikuyu land is slopy, especially in the Murang’a region. The Gikuyu have practiced cross-contour cultivation for centuries. This is why the soil-conservation measures forced on them during colonisation were considered extremely exploitative.

They also practiced a special brand of intercropping that mixed surface plants with tuber crops. One of the best examples of this is the intercropping of the yam and the Commiphora eminii plant, traditionally known as the gikwa na mukungugu, respectively. The yam, a tuber vine is grown next to the mukungugu, a softwood plant that grows fast. The mukungugu gives the yam the support it needs, allowing it to grow high and yield large tubers. Apart from vine support, the mukungugu is used to mark boundaries. The symbiotic relationship between the gikwa and mukungugu is used in Gikuyu culture to symbolise unity, harmony and growth.

This system of yam cultivation ceased with the advent of colonial rule and Western farming methods. Since then, the size of yam yields from Gikuyu fields has significantly decreased, and so has their consumption.

Medicine

In Tenets of Gikuyu Witchcraft, we touched on Gikuyu sorcerers and healers known as anduago who were relied upon to cure diseases. They had a deep knowledge of the medicinal value of the plants and trees around them. Different roots, barks, leaves and flowers became ingredients for magic potions. These elixirs would be used together with special prayers to heal the ailing.

Jomo Kenyatta, who had spent long periods as his grandfather’s apprentice in the craft of ugo or magic or healing. In Facing Mount Kenya, he asserts that healing was much like a science, as it required years of skill in order to master the crafting of the healing potions. Southern Gikuyu Before 1902 by Louis Leakey explains hundreds of Gikuyu potion recipes for curing different diseases, from a common cold to bilharzia. Below, I have pasted a traditional treatment for rheumatism:

Without a lab or a degree in pharmacy, anduago had figured out how to use this brew to flush out the harmful toxins causing rheumatism. All from ingredients locally sourced from forests or woodlots within walking distance. Though the anduago were well compensated for their services, the prices are incomparable to the greed of pharmaceutical companies today. Plus, unlike big pharma, a mundumugo would never withhold medicine and watch you die simply because you couldn’t afford it.

Crafts

Like all other African tribes, the Gikuyu adorned themselves elegantly in beautiful garments and accessories. Their design choices not only considered aesthetics but were deeply inspired by nature. This applied to all the necklaces, belts, headdresses, amulets, bangles, charms and beadwork that adorned the Gikuyu.

Members of the live chat are familiar with the thimo ‘njuguma njega iumaga ikuriro’. Artisans who would make weaponry relied on nature for the efficiency of the arms. Like when, the outgrown part of a tree trunk is curved out to form a Njuguma (club or rungu), which is the meaning of that proverb. Different slender tree stems would be used to fashion spear and arrow shafts to maximise efficiency. The Gikuyu also had an intimate understanding of poisons and their antidotes. The poisons came in handy, especially when hunting buffalo to make shields from their hides.

Kiondo is the string basket the Kikuyu would weave to carry everyday goods. The craft of weaving this basket was imbued with a deeper meaning that best explains the Gikuyu connection to nature. First of all, a girl would always learn this skill from her mother from as young as six years and could make hundreds of kiondos in the course of her life. The spiral pattern used in making kiondos was a representation of the circle of life. The patterns would tell stories or sometimes each layer would represent a generation.

Women practised this craft so much that they did it on the way while they walked or when they were talking in circles. One of the fondest memories I have of my late grandmother is her weaving beautiful, colourful kiondos at a rapid pace. This is one of the trades that we are slowly losing.

For storage of water, bevarages like beer and muratina, food, honey etc… Gikuyus used a variety of different shaped gourds and calabashes for this. The gourd tree was deliberately cultivated in all its various forms and crafted to functional perfection. From the kiuga usedas a dish to the kiihuri used as a serving spoon, as well as the ndua, gitumbi and kinya all used for storage. These biodegradable kitchen utensils served the household needs perfectly.

Wildlife and Birds

By virtue of their existence within the forests, the Gikuyu coexisted with several species of wildlife and birds ranging from elephants, lions, serval cats,rhino and birds like buzzards, hawks, eagles, turacos, guinea fowls and many more. Typically, the Gikuyu would never eat bushmeat. The Athi of the Southern territories with whom they lived were hunters and gatherers and were happy to dispose of the meat. They, however, relied on wildlife for ornaments and vital ingredients that went into potions and elixirs. In Notes on Traditional Gikuyu Music, we saw examples of the use of buzzard feathers and serval cat skins for decoration when it was time to sing.

Typically, the Gikuyus would only hunt big game for defense. Lions and leopards would attempt to attack livestock for an easy meal, and in some cases even humans were fair game. In such situations, the lions would be tracked down, hunted, or trapped. The same goes for rhinos, which could charge and kill people at will.

The reverence and admiration Gikuyus had for wildlife is easily seen in their oral literature. The folktales, which were a means of education in traditional society, relied heavily on the personification of animal characters. Several proverbs were also born from this. In Was DeMathew a Prophet, we discussed such proverbs and folktales in context. Some staple characters even had nicknames in the folktales they were involved in. They include:

• Waruhiti- the hyena, portrayed as greedy

• Warubuku- the hare, believed to be fast and cunning

• Waruthia- the dikdik or forest duiker, represented innocence and vulnerability

• Waruhuria- rhino, strength or leadership

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Forest and Trees

As mentioned in the introduction, the Gikuyu held trees with a high level of reverence. To this day, many trees are used as landmarks, giving places their names; for instance, Muthiga, Mucatha, Mukurweini, Mugumoini, Muthithi, Gakoe... You’ll notice that tree names are prefixed with ‘mu-’ because trees were considered living beings with a soul.

After a tree dies or is cut, its roots decay, leaving hollows in the ground. When digging holes, Gikuyus would often come across these hollows left by the roots of dead trees. They believed them to be the roots of an invisible, spiritual tree known as the mukongoe. According to the Gikuyu, the souls of the dead travel down the roots of the mukongoe tree to the ancestral plane. We mentioned in Was Jomo Kenyatta really a Mau Mau leader how his words were taken out of context when he condemned Maumau saying they should disappear down the roots of the mukongoe.

Because of the vitality and respect attached to the forests, acreages of virgin forest would be preserved both on the frontiers and in the interior of Gikuyu land. This was spiritually instituted as several families with land bordering those forests came together to agree not to fell any trees within. A deathbed curse would befall the descendants if they harmed the forest. By doing so, they would be jeopardizing the security of the whole community. That is how Karura Forest, which is currently only a small fraction of its original vastness, was preserved.

Today, we have lost all value for nature and are rapidly scything away acreages of forest in the name of development. Every single major forest system in the country is currently under attack by the Ruto regime, while rivers are awash with pollution. We have lost our connection to nature.

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He is one of the many Gikuyu musicians who hailed from the Gatanga region of Murang’a. His musical talent and instrumental prowess were plain as day from his childhood. He honed his songwriting skills from a young age. De’ Mathew did odd jobs in his younger years to make ends meet but never lost sight of the ball.

Joining the Gikuyu-Benga or Ngogoyo wave, he released his first song in 1986 named Jenifer followed by his breakout song My Dear Nduku the following year. With the backing of the Mbogoini Boys Band, of which he was the lead singer, there was no stopping him. He etched his place comfortably among his peers and got early cosigns and guidance from legends like Makibi James of the Ruwengo Brothers Band on his hit Kieru Nikiiraga.

De’ Mathew’s career spanned three decades, and he was still in his prime when his life was tragically cut short in a road accident along Thika Superhighway near Blue Post Hotel in 2019. De’ Mathew was mourned by notable Kenyan leaders and the Kikuyu community at large.

You see, to the Gikuyu fans of his music, De’ Mathew’s lyrics felt less like sung tracks over guitar strums and more like prophecy. In this piece, we will talk about how he gained this reputation, paying close attention to his releases and the effects they had on the Gikuyu people and the political climate of the country at large.

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A voice for Generations

De’ Mathew, affectionately referred to as Baba Ciku by his fans, had an unmatched pengame. In Kamaru’s Top 10 Songs, we mentioned examples where Joseph Kamaru used Gikuyu proverbs as powerful analogies. De’ Mathew, who had grown up listening to Kamaru and his peers, perfected this skill and took it a step further. He had a rich knowledge of Gikuyu oral literature and the ability to apply it in his songs.

As we shall see shortly, De Mathew’s music made several references to traditional Gikuyu folktales with personified characters like the hyena, hawks, duiker, and hare. Using humor and his poetic tongue, he composed songs that not only preserved Gikuyu culture but simultaneously educated the masses. This means that the songs often contained a veiled message that could easily pass over the head of the casual listener. Therefore, to listen and comprehend De’ Mathew’s music is like being in on an inside joke.

This legend’s creative mind transcended just cultural information. De’ Mathew was also fluent in the holy scriptures. Although his music was mostly secular, it still resonated with the wider Christian Kikuyu majority. This is because De’ Mathew would quote Bible verses and invoke parables with the eloquence of a reverend and the conviction of a saint. He was see-sawing traditional Gikuyu values with Christian beliefs, creating powerful and entertaining ballads that have only become more relevant over the years.

I would not be writing this article if De’ Mathew only sang about love and heartbreak. Although he certainly had many such songs, what made his music stand out was his social and political commentary. The narrative devices discussed above were the tools he used to craft ballads critiquing, praising, analysing, and condemning Kenya’s political scene. You see, as his career grew, De’ Mathew formed close, long-lasting friendships with the upper echelons of Gikuyu leadership. His most outspoken friend was none other than kamwana, former president Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta.

In songs like Ngoro Gitina, De’ Mathew vocalised his appreciation and made clear his affiliation and support for such leaders. Kenya has practiced tribal politics since independence, and De’ Mathew, especially in the 2010s, was one of the main voices guiding Gikuyu political affiliation. His was a double-edged sword, however, for though he would praise them on one song, on another, De’ Mathew would vocalise his disgust for the corrupt nature of the nation’s leadership. In other songs, he would attack the enemies of the Gikuyu, drawing on history and recent events. Some of these songs would put him in trouble as we are about to see.

Lastly, De’ Mathew’s demise in a car accident further accentuates his prophetic aura, especially to his long-term fans. You see, De’ Mathew made several references to his death in songs like Uiru ni Waki. Road accidents in particular were a recurrent theme from his breakout song My Dear Nduku, wherein his dear lover died in a car accident in Limuru. Another hit: Mwihuguro is all about how drivers get distracted by beautiful women on the road and end up driving into electricity poles. What should be a hilarious record has a haunting undertone considering the circumstances of his death.

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Highlights

There is no shortage of De’ Mathew’s hits. In his prime, every song he released was a certified banger that would send his fans into a frenzy each time. With over 370 songs, he is remembered as one of the most diverse mugithi artists in the game. In his public performances, his voice would compete with the roar of the crowd, who would sing along to his songs word for word, down to the ad-libs! However, there are a few that I want to highlight. I believe these songs best display the prophetic aspect of his music.

Before we delve into them, though, there’s something else I want to bring to your attention. Although I pride myself on being able to read between the lines, especially when it comes to Gikuyu music, De’ Mathew’s music videos leave no doubt. The videos feature clips exposing the hidden meanings of the references made in the songs. I urge you, dear reader, to refer to them as we dissect the lyrical matter.

1. Wituite Hiti

The title of this 8-minute song literally means, ‘you have made yourself a hyena’. Although it was released in 2013, it has had a recent resurgence in views following Aden Duale’s remarks calling Kikuyus hyenas following the Ol Kalou by-election.

There is a Gikuyu folktale you might have heard before of a hyena which, in its greed, followed a man over a long distance, mistaking his swinging arm for a bone that would drop at any moment. In the heated political climate preceding the 2013 election, De’ Mathew compares Raila Odinga to this proverbial hyena, who was following Uhuru to Ichaweri.

Another famous Gikuyu proverb, that says that an old man seated on a stool sees further than a child at the top of a tree. All this to state that Uhuru, having been endorsed by the older generation like Moi and Michuki, was the obvious presidential choice.

For certain, this was a campaign song, one that held deeper lyrical impact than Ben Githae’s UhuruRuto.

Raila was not the only one getting attacked in this song. Peter Kenneth, who presented himself for the presidency in that same election, is harshly condemned by De’ Mathew for potentially splitting the Gikuyu vote. De’ Mathew narrates how historically, Maasai women stolen during raids by Gikuyu warriors would be renamed Nyokabi as they are assimilated into Gikuyu society. De’ Mathew asks Kenneth point-blank where he was assimilated from, noting he has two English names. An insult that Kenneth’s has suffered his whole political career.

De’ Mathew further brings up the 2008 post-election violence that was still very fresh in the minds of Kenyans. He asserts what many already deduced: Wituite Hiti was more than just a song but a plea for the unity of the tribe. Kalonzo Musyoka, Charity Ngilu, Martha Karua and even Isaac Ruto all catch strays in this song.

Unsurprisingly, De’ Mathew was charged with hate speech alongside 2 other singers after a major political uproar generated by this song. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), however, was unable to provide enough evidence to secure a guilty verdict. After all was said and done, Raila is one of the political leaders who mourned De’ Mathew after his untimely passing, calling him a guiding light to his community.

2. Ciunguyu Iria Nene

In Ciunguyu Iria Nene or Big Fish, De’ Mathew appeals to Kenyan leaders to end the pattern of corruption that has, for years, crippled our economy. It is well known that after independence, it was the collaborative class that took over power from the British while Mau Mau veterans and their descendants were left out. He starts this song by reminding them of this fact. The refrain recognises politicians as Big Fish like the whale that swallowed Jonah in the Bible, while citizens are small fish who have been left to suffer by the ruling class.

De’ Mathew refers to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission as a hospital meant to treat the disease of corruption. De’ Mathew does not mince his words as he exposes the rot of the economy as a result of corruption. He talks about how we were once a fat population (wealthy), but now we have to get used to boiled food (we can’t afford cooking fat). I’ve translated two of the verses in the song to show the tone he used to chastise the leaders.

3. Urathi Wama

Apart from everything we’ve looked at, it makes a lot of sense for people to perceive De’ Mathew as a prophet because of songs like this. Urathi Wama means a true prophecy. In this and many other songs, De’ Mathew would employ a tone that made him sound like an Old Testament prophet with a message straight from God that no one wanted to hear. Indeed, in this song, he passes on this God-given prophecy with an urgency.

In the hook, it sounds like he’s talking about false prophets and pastors who hide behind religion to advance selfish agendas. Even in the last verse, he warns them of an earthquake that would swallow up the blind who choose to follow them. However, as evidenced by the music video, there is a deeper, veiled message that he is trying to pass.

In the second verse, De’ Mathew references yet another folktale about a family of hyenas that held on to the wings of a crow that would ferry them to ‘heaps of fat’ that were actually clouds. The wings could only hold so much weight and the hyenas came tumbling down to the ground. That is, according to Gikuyu oral literature, why hyenas' hind limbs are shorter.

Look, this song is about an attractive woman who had been infecting artist after artist with a terminal STI. Those who were driven purely by their lust ended up ‘enslaved’ and cursed as a result of their interactions with her. De’ Mathew shouts out fellow artists Kariuki Kiarutara, Peter Kigia and Wahome wa Maingi for believing him when he warned them about her. She is the proverbial crow that led hyenas to their demise. As for the rest, he warns that all their fame will amount to nothing if it costs them eternal life.

Conclusion

De’ Mathew being labelled as a prophet is not just a matter of forecasting the future. It is what his music meant to his fans and the Gikuyu community as a whole. Bururi Horoho also called UhuRuto, is a posthumous release by De’ Mathew. He had recorded it in advance, as a dedication to his political friends. He starts by detailing the problems that his friends Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto had gone through, from the ICC trials to the formation of the Jubilee alliance and their contentious campaigns.

It was released mere hours after Ruto’s swearing-in ceremony, seemingly as a fulfillment of the original Jubilee coalition. Bururi Horoho, performed in the same prophetic tone we spoke about above, is one of my guilty pleasures. I can’t believe I sing a song praising Ruto, word for word, but it’s such a good song aki. Itabidi mmenisamehea.

I wonder what De’ Mathew would think about his friend’s presidency if he were still alive.

To all my mugithi lovers, I have great news! Hinges of Time has collaborated with Meet Me to bring you: A Love Letter to Mugithi. This will be an amazing Music experience where we will not only sing and dance along to Mugithi, but we will also trace the history of this wonderful genre through the decades. It will be on 5th September at Zahabu. Purchase your ticket via this link.

The establishment of the Congo Free State, which we will discuss shortly, was no coincidental feat, and neither was it the first time the region was being exploited for its natural resources. DR Congo is the only modern-day nation that was ravaged by both the Trans-Atlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades.

We talked about talk about the social framework of missionaries set up by King Leopold II in the previous article. This is the other side of that coin.

H.M Stanley’s Congo expedition.

I hate it when an evil white man has a squeaky clean historical reputation when in reality his hands are stained in blood. Famed for discovering that the source of the Nile was actually Lake Victoria and for finding the lost David Livingstone, the American was considered an adventurer extraordinaire. Who do you think Sarova Stanley in Nairobi CBD is named after… I digress.

Stanley braved the previously unmapped Congo rainforest, shooting his way through the indigenous tribes that he had been warned by the infamous slave trader Tippu Tip would not let him pass. As instructed, Stanley signed treaties with many of the local leaders while exploring and mapping out the geography of the region.

A few problems stood in his way, however. First of all, the coastal strip, including the estuary of the Congo River, was controlled by the Portuguese. Secondly, when Tippu Tip learnt that Stanley had survived, he organised large slave caravans from his base on Lake Tanganyika which wreaked havoc on the upper Congo region. Lastly, he found the French already in the Congo. To make matters worse, much to the disappointment of Leopold, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, the French agent, was signing better deals with local heads of state. Leopold had given Stanley strict instructions that the ‘natives should surrender all their sovereignty to Belgium’. News of the French signing better deals had Leopold crashing out at his palace in Belgium.

Leopold foresaw the possibility of war between European powers over these African possessions. Belgium would not have been able to hold her own in case matters boiled down to violence against a power like the French. That is why Leopold sent an envoy to Berlin to press for a conference. Yes, although Otto Von Bismarck is credited for convening the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, it is an insecure King Leopold II who pushed for it. As European powers divvied up the African continent like a piece of cake, Leopold’s claim on the Congo was recognised.

Unlike other protectorates which would be owned by European states, Congo became Leopold’s private property, which he could dispose of as pleased.

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Red Rubber Era

It still marvels me as a historian that a commodity like rubber can account for the death of 10 million Africans in the span of a decade. Because Congo was Leopold’s personal property, he gave these rubber companies free rein to do as they pleased. After all, he had the previously discussed propaganda machine working overtime in Europe.

To back them up, Leopold organised the African mercenaries he had armed for conquest into the Force Publique -a colonial army. By the late 1890s, it had grown to more than 19,000 soldiers and consumed more than 50% of the state’s budget. The force was at once a counter-guerrilla, an army of occupation, and a corporate labour police force, divided mainly into small garrisons alongside riverbanks. These were African soldiers drawn from far and wide serving under one or two European officers. So you can already imagine the lack of discipline in the ranks.

They effectively turned Congo into a slave state. Before we study the resultant atrocities, let us first study:

The rubber collection process

H.M Stanley advised Leopold to invest in rubber extraction. Unlike the rubber trees native to the Amazon rainforest, in Congo, an invasive rubber vine grew along the riverbanks and deep in the forest. It seemed plentiful during Stanley’s expedition, plus there was a ready market in the booming motor industry in Europe.

Groups of men would travel together into the rainforest as the abundance of the vine waned. This was a very perilous journey considering the wildlife in the forest. I’m talking leopards, rhinos, forest elephants and giant reptiles like the boa constrictor and reticulated python- all of which pose real threats to humans.

Then there was the extraction itself. Slits would be made along the vines, allowing the thick syrup-like sap to ooze out and get collected in pots. In Primary School, I remember when friends of mine would spread glue on their skin, let it dry, then slowly peel it off. I tried it once or twice too, but I was never masochistic enough to enjoy it.

This is the same process the Congolese would employ to catalyse the coagulation of this sap. They would lather layers of it on their arms, thighs, chest and legs, then peel it off. Unlike the paper glue we played with in school, this sap was way more adhesive. Imagine the pain it caused when it was time to peel it off from particularly hairy parts of the body. Needless to say, and as confirmed by Force Publique officer Louis Chaitlin in King Leopold’s Ghost, Africans disliked making rubber and "must be compelled" to do it. That is where the soldiers came in

Force Publique

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Believe it or not, Leopold was able to convince the European masses that his interest in the Congo was first and foremost, a humanitarian one. That he was dedicated to geographical exploration, anti-slavery and ‘civilising work’. That is why no one batted an eyelid when he convened the Brussels Geographic Conference in 1876 or when he hired famed American explorer Henry Morton Stanley to explore the Congo River system and establish administrative and trade stations all while signing treaties with local leaders.

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Congo Free State

Africa’s bleeding heart was then placed in the hands of a cruel monarch who thought up elaborate systems for its full exploitation. Since it was a personal project to begin with, the Berlin Conference recognised the Congo Free State as Leopold’s property.

It is one thing to have a colony, however, and another to turn it into profit. The idea of colonisation was to maximise profit and extract it as cheaply as possible. Stanley suggested rubber as a potential cash crop. Unlike the rubber trees native to the Amazon rainforest, in the Congo rainforest, there were rubber vines that grew wild along the rivers. Not only would they avoid agricultural input costs, but there was a ready market for rubber in the production of bicycle and automotive tires and in industrialisation.

The Congo was divided into concessions granted to various rubber companies. Suddenly, the Congo Free State, which had declared war on slavery, converted the African natives into slaves on their own ancestral land. This was possible thanks to the Force Publique- a colonial military force made of African soldiers with white seniors.

You are no stranger to the horrific atrocities visited on the Congolese natives that led to the death of 10 million in the span of a decade. We will take a keener look at this in the next article. In this piece, however, I want to focus on the ideological approach Leopold II took to pacify the Congolese as he meted out these atrocities on them- an often overlooked aspect of the Congo Free State.

Leopold’s letter to the missionaries

King Leopold II understood that force would not suffice to properly establish his rule in the Free State. For that, he employed a softer tactic. From the late 1880s, hundreds of Catholic missionaries were deployed all across the vast region. For the first time on the continent, social services were outsourced to missionaries. Their mission stations housed hospitals, schools, and churches. This was probably the case in whatever country in Africa you’re reading this from, but it is King Leopold II who introduced this system.

He was not doing it out of the goodness of his heart or the spiritual conviction to preach the gospel or save the souls of Africans from eternal damnation. King Leopold II sent a letter to the missionaries to outline the purpose of their mission in the Congo.

In the opening paragraphs, Leopold categorically specifies that the missionaries are not in Africa to teach the natives about God. The gospel they are meant to spread is supposed to ‘protect our interests in that part of the world’. He explains that they are there to aid the industrial and military takeover of the region by ensuring the pacification of the Congolese tribes and securing their willingness to provide labour.

Leopold believed that the first step towards this is to introduce in African minds ‘a spirit of submission and dependence’. This will make sure they love poverty, suffering, and value work more than wealth. From the letter, it is clear that Leopold had an intimate understanding of the scriptures and saw their potential in the pacification of African minds. In a rather poetic line, Leopold tells the missionaries to:

Most importantly, however, the missionaries were meant to make the Africans believe that the whites were superior to them in every way. Leopold said to ‘keep their women submissive to their husbands and make the men submissive to us”. Indeed, this inferiority complex was the cornerstone concept of colonisation employed by European nations across the continent. He closes out the letter by stating that the education given to the African should be limited to an elementary level, as their goal is not to raise the African to their level but to keep them subdued.

Counterbalancing the harshness and cruelty of the colonial forces with the soft, sociable services of the missionaries had the exact effect Leopold intended on the African populations. Even when African tribes would rebel, the Force Publique would ruthlessly crush the uprising, then mission stations would be established in the area to offer relief and to make sure an uprising never happened again.

Even though British missionaries blew the whistle on the atrocities happening in the Congo Free State, it did not stop their mother country from employing similar tactics on its own colonies. As we saw in Introduction of Christianity in Kikuyuland, this is the same approach taken by missionaries in Kenya during the establishment of colonial rule.

Propaganda Machine

As earlier stated, Leopold felt that he had to introduce the taste for colonies to the Belgian population. He had already soft-launched Congo Free State as a humanitarian project and, from 1890, doubled down on it. Because Leopold was constantly at odds with the Belgian government, he had to convince the Belgian population that their presence in the Congo was not only economically beneficial but that the native population was better off with them there.

He did this with an elaborate propaganda machine under a body called the International African Association. It preached about the altruistic, civilising and humanitarian efforts being made in the Congo. To give you a depiction of what the Belgian public's perception of their presence in Congo looked like, we will study a piece of literature from that era.

Tintin in the Congo

Now, I’ll confess, I’ve read every single edition of the Tintin comics. It was a staple in our household growing up. Tintin is a Belgian reporter who goes on these great adventures where he has close shaves with danger and ends up solving crimes just in the course of his journalism. The illustrations and stories are by the French artist Georges Prosper Remi, known by the pen name Hergé.

Up until recently, the only edition I had not read was Tintin in the Congo, which was written in 1930. I came to learn that it is widely unavailable because of its racist and paternalistic depictions of Africa, which Hergé came to regret much later. Although it was written after the Congo Free State era, when the government took over the region, terming it Belgian Congo, this comic perfectly represents the Belgian perception at this period.

Because I am a researcher and the internet never forgets, I tracked down an online copy of this edition. I thought I was prepared for what was within, but I had another thing coming.

The first thing that is clear is that up until that point, Hergé had never set his eyes on a black man before. The illustrations of Africans feature hardly any distinguishable features apart from the clothing. Secondly, there is no hiding the slavery aspect. The Africans refer to Tintin and other Europeans as ‘Master’ while Tintin calls them boys and other racial epithets. From the first pages, Tintin is welcomed in the Congo like some sort of god. Indeed, this is how Belgians and Europeans in general believed themselves to be amongst the African native ‘savages’.

Facing backlash against the edition, Hergé stated that he sourced a lot of the material from missionaries’ logs and conversations with the Belgian bourgeoisie who labelled Africans as nothing more than big children. This is clear as day from the way they are depicted within. In the comic, Africans are lazy, stupid, cowardly, untrustworthy and easily gullible. Tintin, a representative of the Belgian presence in Congo, contrasts with them and seems to have a divine wisdom and is hailed as supreme by the Africans he encounters.

Leopold’s dream is upheld in this edition as well. Tintin is saved from death by a missionary who takes him back to his mission station. Tintin and even his dog, Snowy, are utterly impressed by the work of the missionaries. He even gives a geography lesson to the African children in the mission, where he teaches them about THEIR country, Belgium. The missionary is applauded for his vital role in civilising the African.

That book is pure ragebait, but it serves as a historical documentation of Belgium’s paternalistic perceptions about its African possession and the propaganda machine put in place by King Leopold II.

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Conclusion

King Leopold II of Belgium is not solely responsible for the current state of Congo, but he played a big fucking role tho. It is all overlooked in the grand scheme of things.

As I was conducting research for this, I came across an article in the Vatican News titled, An overview of the Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It articulately expounded on the establishment of the catholic church and mission centers by Leopold. It, however, skipped the atrocities committed by the Belgian regime and the complacency of the missionaries in these crimes. The article skips to the State-Church tensions that resulted from Mobutu Sese Seko’s rule. If this isn’t the perfect illustration for the church’s position of Africa’s problems, I don’t know what is.

In the ongoing political stability of the Congo region, the church maintains its voice and is ever-growing. Catholics account for 33% of the 90% Christian population of the country. The clergy leaders even participate and negotiate ceasefire agreements between warring rebel factions with varying success. Could this be a silver lining to King Leopold’s plan or is it his fault we are in this predicament in the first place?

Stay tuned for the Red Rubber article. Free Congo!

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Africans have been looking up at the sky in wonder, studying the movements of the stars and other celestial beings forever. They interpreted and imprinted this astronomical phenomena as part of their folklore. As Western civilisation gripped the continent, the lie of African primitivity was blown sky-high as anthropologists came to terms with African astronomical knowledge. Indeed, the star systems in the night sky had been mapped out enough to not only develop calendars but also discover hidden celestial beings invisible to the naked eye.

In today’s piece, my dear reader, we’ll only sample two examples, one from the east and one from the west; these will reveal the advancement of ancient African astronomy.

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Namoratunga Calendar

In Northern Kenya, right on the shores of the largest desert lake in the world, is an archaeoastronomical marvel that has baffled scientists and historians alike. Namoratunga, also known as the Nasura Pillar Site, is an archaeological discovery of stone pillars intricately placed next to each other.

In the Turkana language, Namoratunga means ‘people of stone’. According to Turkana folklore, the stone pillars were formed during the performance of a dance. A stranger joined them but his movements did not align with the rest of the dancers, attracting ridicule from them. He warned the dancers not to laugh, and when they did, every single one of them was turned to stone for all eternity.

At a keener glance, however, the origin and function of the pillars is revealed. So, at first, the site was dated to around 300 BC. But according to Four Middle Holocene Pillar Sites in West Turkana, Kenya, more recent excavations reveal the site dates back to as long ago as 2398 BC. The pillars are said to have been erected by some of the earliest Cushitic pastoralists at a time when the area must have looked way different from what it does now.

Archaeologists discovered that the placement of the pillars was not random. The basalt columns aligned perfectly with seven star systems, namely Triangulum, Pleiades, Bellatrix, Alderbaran, Central Orion, Saiph, and Sirius.

Mark Lynch and L.H. Robbins believed that the Cushitic group responsible for the site used the pillars to develop the 12-month, 354-day lunar calendar, which is part and parcel of Cushitic culture to this day. The pillars could also be used to perfectly track the movement of the moon on its lunar axis. Through this calendar, seasons and migrations could easily be mapped out and forecast, allowing the community to pattern their lives.

It is so interesting to me that, more than 4,000 years ago, as the pyramids of Egypt were being built and even before Greek civilisation had taken root, an African people had already mapped out the heavens.

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Dogon Star Theory

In present-day Mali, a tribe called the Dogon, which is part of the Niger-Congo language family, resides. The Dogon have a deeply spiritual religion. Their folklore is full of rich mythologies, which inspired devotion and the emergence of cults and subcults. They also had interesting traditional ceremonies, some of which included the wearing of masks for which the Dogon are famous. I was already a big fan of the tribe, but I was about to discover that they were way cooler than I thought.

The Dogon had a very impressive understanding of the universe. Ethnographer Germaine Dieterlen and French anthropologist Marcel Griaule, upon interrogating ancient Dogon knowledge, realised that most of the astronomical discoveries scientists had been making over the past decades had been known by the Dogon for centuries.

The ancient knowledge of the Dogon recognised the spiral shape of the Milky Way Galaxy, a fact that was not known to scientists until 1951. Saturn’s concentric rings, which are invisible to the naked eye, are enshrined in Dogon’s mythology. They even knew that about Jupiter’s four major moons. Nicolaus Copernicus’ groundbreaking discovery that the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun and that the Earth is spinning on its own axis is common knowledge to the Dogon.

The Sirius Star System

The brightest star in the sky is known as Sirius. What scientists did not know up until recently is that it was actually a star system made up of the main Sirius star and a faint white dwarf companion named Sirius B. Owing to its brightness, the star has been tracked by many civilisations, including the Egyptians, who tracked its helical rising with the annual flooding of the Nile River. Even the Kikuyu called it Njata ya Njathi, meaning the guiding star.

The Dogon tribe of Mali also had Sirius as part of their astronomical lore. Centuries ago, the Dogon people not only knew about Sirius B, they understood its properties and the serpentine motion with which it revolved around Sirius A. Bear in mind that the B dwarf is completely invisible to the naked eye. They called the Sirius B star ‘po tolo’.

As Marcel Griaule collected anthropological information about this B star from the Dogon, he did not realise that he was setting a template that modern scientists would fill in with astronomical research from big ass telescopes.

The Dogon of Mali knew that Sirius B was the heaviest star in our nearby cosmos with a great gravitational pull and an even greater density. Sirius B takes 50 years to complete a single orbit around Sirius A. Get this, they performed a ceremony once every 50 years to commemorate a complete orbit! This was just one of the many ceremonies and religious beliefs tied to their deep astronomical knowledge.

All this begs the question, how could an ancient tribe in Africa have accumulated such deep knowledge of the universe without a telescope or imaging technology? There is a Dogon legend that says thousands of years ago, an advanced race they called Nommos came down to earth from an unknown star. They bestowed all this knowledge on the Dogon and left. The knowledge was then passed down from generation to generation through folklore.

Could this be confirmation of aliens? You tell me.

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From 1779, consecutive frontier wars were fought between the Xhosa, Boers and the British. The events that we will discuss in this article occurred after the Eighth Frontier War (1850-1853). You see, the Xhosa were divided into minikingdoms ruled by kings descended from long, royal bloodlines. The Eastern Cape Region around the mouths of the Rivers Kei, Gxarha, Qolora and Ncizele was known as Gcalekaland as it was ruled by the royal bloodline of Gcaleka.

As the European colonialists infringed deeper and deeper into Xhosa territory, and as the Xhosa faced consecutive devastating losses, their desperation would devolve into one of the most tragic events in recorded African History.

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The Prophecy

Nongqawuse was a young girl aged around 15-16 in April 1856. Nongqawuse’s parents died in the Battle of the Waterkloof, one of the decisive encounters of the Eighth Frontier War, wherein the Xhosa faced devastating losses. As a result, she is believed to have been quite conscious and aware of the tensions between the Xhosa and the colonial forces. Together with another 8-10-year-old girl named Nombanda, they went to chase birds away from the crops near the sea at the mouth of the Gxarha River.

Here they met two strangers who vouchsafed them a prophecy. Nongqawuse, who was the only one who saw and heard these two men, said they introduced themselves as ancestral spirits who had died long before. After greeting them, they gave her these instructions, which I will quote from Xhosa Histories and Poetry (1873-1888) by William Gqoba.

Basically, according to Nongqawuse, the ancestors were calling for a full cleanse of the Xhosa people. You see, the Xhosa cattle that were so precious to the tribe had been infected by a mysterious disease they called lungsickness, which was actually Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia, which they had contracted from European cows.

According to Nongqawuse, the fulfillment of these conditions would rid them of the white invaders once and for all. The spirits would sweep all European settlers into the sea. The Xhosa people would be able to replenish the granaries and fill the kraals with more beautiful and healthier cattle and grain that would fill their newly dug storage pits. Most importantly, the death would arise from the sea and be reborn as youth.

Summoning the Inkosi

After her parents’ death, Nongqawuse lived with her uncle, Mhlakaza. He was heavily religious in the Xhosa traditional religion but had spent time in the Cape Colony in his younger years, during which he was exposed to Christianity. Bear this in mind as it will be important down the stretch.

When Nongqawuse relayed her prophecy, at first, people did not believe her. Even Mhlakaza was skeptical until Nongqawuse described one of the ancestors whom Mhlakaza perceived to be his long-dead brother. Satisfied, Mhlakazi sent messengers to Sarhili, the ruling Gcaleka King referred to as Inkosi Enkhlu. He immediately dispatched emissaries to hear the prophecies for themselves, but Nongqawuse said the spirits would only appear if all the Xhosa Inkosi (chiefs) were summoned.

Picture this: the great revered Inkosi, including the Inkosi Enkhlu Sarhili himself, dressed in their royal garb, being led to the mouth of the Gxarha River by a poor teenage girl daubed with red ochre.

Against the backdrop of the panoramic ocean view and the sounds of waves crashing against the cliff and eroded oulders tumbling down the rock faces, Nongqawuse asked the chiefs to cast their eyes upon the sea.

According to Xhosa historian and poet William Gqoba, they seemed to see actual people, with bulls bellowing and oxen and a distant dark mass constantly moving in and out of sight. Nongqawuse relayed the prophecy to them once more, adding that when the day of resurrection arrives, they should shut their doors and watch for the arrival of this resplendent nation with its wealth of resources.

Convinced, the Inkosi returned home, and the cattle-killing began in earnest.

amaTamba vs. amaGogotya

Throughout Xhosaland from May 1856, the Xhosa, who immensely loved their cattle, slaughtered them en masse. The crops in the fields were destroyed, and the grain in the storehouses was poured out. This was a time of purging, and the fact that their herds were infected with lungsickness made the cattle killings seem all the more rational.

The problem was that not all Xhosa participated in these killings. There were those who believed in Nongqawuse’s prophecy and were known as the amaTamba (believers) but there were other who were skeptical and did not slaughter their herds or destroy their crops. They were known as amaGogotya (unbelievers or stingy ones). Not even the insistence of their Inkosi would shift their resolve.

Hunger Sets In

At the end of 1856, the prophecies had not yet been fulfilled, but cattle were still being slaughtered. It was perceived that they had come to far to look back and doubled down on the slaughter. Famine reared its ugly head as the year turned and hunger set in.

The amaGogotya were blamed for the failure of the fulfillment of the prophecy, first by Nongqawuse, then the rest of the people followed suit. It was said that the new herds could not arrive from the sea so long as contaminated herds remained among the Xhosa.

By February 1857, 400,000 head of cattle had been slaughtered and a million hectares of crops had been destroyed. Hunger, starvation and destitution was now widespread.

In desperation, on February 10th, 1857, Sarhili spoke to Nongqawuse and Mhlakaza at River Gxarha’s mouth. Nongqawuse had received new instructions that the New World would begin in eight days. That on the eighth day the sun would rise blood-red, and before setting again, there would be a huge thunderstorm, after which the dead would arise.

The starved Xhosa people took this new prophecy with a violent acceptance. The amaGogotya, who were already being treated as outcasts, had their cattle slaughtered for them and their stores raided for grain by the hungry amaTamba. Indeed, during these 8 days, the cattle killing climaxed.

Unfortunately for the tribe, on that 8th day, the sun rose as usual. The Xhosa watched apprehensively from holes in their kraals. As the sun set that evening, and no new cattle, or new crops, or new dogs, or any resurrection had transpired, their hope dwindled once and for all.

Famine, Death and Desperation.

The resultant famine as a result of this prophecy was devastating. Many left their homes to avoid dying pitifully in their houses. Gqoba talks of old women who leaned on their staffs and went on long, pointless journeys just to die on the road. He speaks of mountain passes clogged with the bodies of the dead and dying. Of children, scrawny things left in the homesteads to die.

The recorded death toll of this famine is 40,000, but as many as 100,000 may have died. The population of British Kaffraria decreased from 105,000 to fewer than 27,000. Rather than restore the community as Nongqawuse had promised, the prophecy marked an end to the powerful Xhosa nation.

With the Xhosa having destroyed themselves, the Cape Colony had no trouble subduing the remnants as marauding bands. As thousands of Xhosa flocked into the Cape Colony to seek relief, the Governor saw an opportunity. He instigated a massive programme of labour ‘recruitment’. Magistrates were instructed only to give food and relief to those who were willing to be contracted for labour in the colony. Those who agreed were obliged to sign a term of agreement whereby they expressed their willingness to work anywhere in Cape Colony for any wage that was offered.

More than 600,000 acres of Xhosa land were alienated for white settlement in the immediate hinterland of the South African city of East London.

As a result, Inkosi Sarhili escaped Gcakelaland. Nongqawuse and Nnombadi survived the famine, but her uncle Mhlakazi starved to death. Thus, the Xhosa nation was destroyed.

Conclusion

Historians argue about the motivation for the cattle killings. Gqoba dismisses the theory that the killings occurred as a provocation to war against the settlers. In Isizatu Sokuxelwa Kwe Nkomo Ngo Nongqause, he establishes that the Xhosa needed no such provocation, certainly not from a teenage prophetess.

Others say Nongqawuse had been manipulated by the Cape Governor, who took advantage of her youth and naivety. I haven’t found any recorded proof of them meeting before 1857, when she was imprisoned in Cape Town.

Let me draw your attention to the fact that there is no direct transcription of anything Nongqause says. What is quoted is the interpretations by those around her, including her spiritual uncle, Mhlakazi. Indeed, the prophecy would have never been believed if he didn’t cosign it. Historian JB Peires attributes Mhlakazi’s Christian background for his acceptance of this theory of resurrection. Fused with the spiritual Xhosa religion that he still practiced, it paved the way for this dangerous interpretation that led to the end of the Xhosa resistance and cost Mhlakazi his own life.

History is not kind to Nongqawuse, but whether or not the cattle killing was her fault, it was a form of early passive protest to colonization.

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In East Africa, however, the Omani Arabs had replaced the Portuguese in the East African coast in 1698. From there, the slave trade was carried out by Arabs in conjunction with trading communities like the Kamba. First contact, colonization, Christianity, and land alienation were all new factors that African communities had yet to face.

Gikuyu

Mugo wa Kibiru or Chege wa Kibiru was a revered Kikuyu wizard who was famed throughout the land for his magical abilities, his healing powers, but most importantly, his prophecies. Over the span of his career, he made important prophecies that guided the Kikuyu long after his death. Here are some of the things he prophesied in the course of his lifetime:

• Mugo prophesied that there would come a strange race of people whose skin colour resembled that of a small pale frog (kiengere).

• He also said that the strangers would have clothes as colourful as butterflies (ciihuruta).

• The Gikuyu were warned against facing them in battle with spears because these strangers had magical sticks that produced fire. First contact with the likes of Count Teleki would immediately prove the truth of his words as hundreds of Kikuyus were scythed away. This prophecy is enshrined in etymology as the kikuyu word for gun, muchinga, is similar to the word for a torchstick, gîchînga.

• Most importantly, Mugo prophesied the erosion of Gikuyu tribal customs. He forewarned that the incoming Gikuyu age-set would start copying the customs of the white man. Tribal rites like traditional music, religion and female initiation rites were clashing points after the establishment of colonial rule as seen in Clitoridectomy Crisis.

• He even foresaw market stalls, saying cooked food would be sold at the roadside. A practice which had never been seen before in Kikuyu land.

• Mugo foretold the alienation of the Maasai that occurred through the treacherous land treaties of 1905 and 1911. He prophesied that land in the Rift Valley where the Maasai graze their cattle would be turned into farmland. Further, it is the Gikuyu who would provide labour on that land. This made no sense at the time, but it came true when the Kikuyus drifted down the escarpments to provide labour in European farms. Professor Tabitha Kanogo draws a direct thread from squatter cultivation to the Mau Mau war in Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau.

• Mugo wa Kibiru also foretold of the building of the Kenya-Uganda railway, which he described as an iron snake having many legs that swallowed the white men and spat them out wherever it stopped. The iron snake would have a bearded head that belched smoke

  

• One of his most famous prophecies was about a fig tree growing in Thika that would die only after the white men left the country sixty-eight years after colonization. The British actually heeded this proverb and fenced the tree off, but right at the cusp of independence, the mugumo withered rapidly, at an unnatural rate, and fell.

• Lastly, Mugo wa Kibiru prophesied that to defeat the white man, a shrine would have to be put up in Githunguri Kia Wairera. This prophecy was fulfilled when Senior Chief Koinange, his son Mbiyu, and Jomo Kenyatta built the Githunguri Independent School. This was a major step towards the attainment of independence. As we discussed in Githunguri Kia Wairera, the British closed down the school and used the grounds to hold the Lari Massacre Trials and executions.

Nandi

Kimnyole foretold the construction of the railway. He spoke about an Iron Snake that would pass through their land. He warned about the coming of the white man who would subdue the Nandi. As an Orkoiyot who held unrivaled power over the Nandi, this prophecy made him quite unpopular amongst his peers. Especially those who were jealous of his position. Read on how this unpopularity eventually led to his death in Nandi Military Supremacy.

Kimnyole left the mantle of leadership to his son, Koitalel Arap Samoei. Orkoiyot Koitalel waged a bitter resistance battle against the British when the railhead reached Nandi lands. The old men who were still alive remembered Orkoiyot Kimnyole’s prophecy with bitter regret. The Nandi resistance was not quelled until Koitalel was lured into a negotiation meeting. Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen shot the Orkoiyot at point-blank range and installed a puppet in his place.

This is a good opportunity to inform you my dear reader that the photo presented as Koitalel Arap Samoei even in Kenyan texbooks is actually Kabellas (sic), the Orkoiyot installed by Richard Meinterzhagen. The picture is from his book, Kenya Diaries.

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Kamba

The Kamba complemented their sparse agriculture with long-distance trade. They were a very spiritual tribe and were led by renowned prophets who held unrivaled magical power. Syokimau made great, accurate prophecies to prepare her people for the coming of the white man. This powerful prophetess would see visions of the future, which she tried to relay.

Syokimau predicted colonization by the British, telling her people that ‘people with funny skin’ would beat them mercilessly, take over their land, and force them to discard Mulungu and worship their god.

German missionaries Johannes Rebmann and Johann Ludwig Krapf arrived in Kenya’s interior to spread the gospel in 1844. The Kamba were one of the first African communities they encountered and ministered to.

Syokimau also prophesied the construction of the Kenya-Uganda railway line and the train, with her prophecy indicating the arrival of a long snake that produced fire and smoke. In it were ‘people with skin like meat who spoke unintelligibly like birds and carried fire in their pockets (cigarettes and matches). This came to pass when the British commenced railway construction in 1896. Infact, the British constructed the railway roughly along the long-distance trade route used by the Kamba.

She also foretold the coming of a generation that would behave strangely.
This generation would claim to be wiser, disrespect traditions and not fear taboos, and even build houses on top of one another. Apartments and skyscrapers are what Syokimau calls houses stacked on top of one another. This new generation would come as a result of the erosion of traditional customs.

The Ukambani Witch Trials were a direct result of Kamba customs clashing with the laws of the colonial government. Read all about in this wordpress article.

Hinges of Time is a Kenyan history collective that is dedicated to teaching History the right way. You can support our mission by getting a paid subscription. This money not only funds research and motivates writing, it also earns you some subscriber privileges. Alternatively, you can donate directly from M-Pesa through this link.

Ruto’s crowning achievement has got to be the planned importation of Ebola-infected Americans to be quarantined in Laikipia. Like, how greedy can this man possibly be? One of Trump’s earliest directives in this second term was cutting off most of the aid the USA was giving to African countries- a factor which caused much suffering to Kenyans, particularly in the healthcare sector. But no! Ruto is ready to burst the door wide open to let these infected Americans in.

Anajitetea saying, ‘Kenya’s healthcare system is more than capable,” Women are sleeping on the floor in public hospital maternity wards. I hate this man and his minions so much.

Now, all this is happening despite a huge uproar and opposition from the citizens of the country. The same ones who, according to the constitution, hold the power. In a display of arrogance, characteristic of the current ruling class, Duale, speaking in front of Parliament, made it clear that they do not care what the citizens think on the matter and they intend to go ahead with the quarantine facility regardless.

This got me thinking. Granted, Aden Duale is incompetent, but there is a recurring theme in all of Ruto’s political moves. A feeling of helplessness, knowing the government is forcing something down your throat that will be detrimental in due course. You know this feeling, my dear reader. Like on the way back home from maandamano, where you probably witnessed someone being offed and you realise things might be worse off than they were before and your protest might have been of no consequence in due course.

This is the direct opposite of what democracy is meant to be. These are our servants for pit’s sake. They should be carrying out our will, not forcing us to live with the consequences of their greedy, selfish decisions. As a historian, it led me to question the effectiveness of democracy in Africa. First of all, is democracy a new concept to Africans? If no, what forms did it take? Were the representative leaders as greedy as these now? That is the premise of this essay today.

Traditional African Democracy

I’m going to ground these examples close to home and in as recent recorded history as possible, drawing from articles we’ve tackled before. Come along.

Kikuyu Kiama

Of course, I’ll start as close to home as possible. In How Kikuyu’s Conceptualised Time we spoke about the institution of the Kiama Council of Elders during the time of the Iregi Ageset. This ruling council replaced the leadership of women in a feminist movement enshrined in Kikuyu oral literature. The Kiama was a ruling council comprised of the male elders in each region. They had achieved elder status through a hierarchical system based on the number of goats gifted to the Kiama at particular stages in life.

The Kiama was convened by a muthamaki wa kiama. We translate muthamaki to ‘ruler’ or ‘king’ today, but it wasn’t that direct in traditional Kikuyu society. The muthamaki was more of a moderator of the kiama sessions. According to The Southern Kikuyu Before 1902, he was selected by fellow Kiama members and certainly wielded a little more power than the rest, but that is not to mean that he could make express decisions without consulting the rest of the Kiama.

At the advent of colonisation, Count Teleki and Von Hohnel, who had made blood brotherhood with Waiyaki wa Hinga, felt betrayed when the Kikuyu of Kabete did something contrary to what they had agreed. Waiyaki wa Hinga was a muthamaki wa mbara, a war chief who got his authority from his unparalleled control over the warriors. So was Karuri wa Gakure. This made the Europeans assume that Waiyaki’s word was law. They were wrong. Waiyaki still had to consult the council and could not veto their decisions.

Despite having direct access to these Europeans and the progress and gifts they brought with them, Waiyaki still put the needs of his people in front of potential material gain. A factor that eventually cost his life, as discussed in The Betrayal of Waiyaki.

Nandi Orkoiyot.

Another example of democracy in a Kenyan tribe is seen in the Orkoiyot of the Nandi. In Nandi Military Supremacy, we attributed the community's success in the late 19th Century to Orkoiyot Kimnyole Arap Turkat’s leadership. He was more of a spiritual leader who received and interpreted messages from Asis, the Nandi god. Kimnyole ruled over all matters of Nandi life, but especially in their military campaigns. His guidance allowed the community to claim the Uasin Gishu plateau after dealing the Maasai a decisive defeat.

He sounds like the sort of leader who would be supreme and make decisions as he saw fit without oversight or question. If you made this assumption, again, you would be mistaken.

You see, leaders in a traditional African Context, especially where they ruled centrally or in a spiritual capacity, served purely in the interest of the community. Their own interests, welfare, wealth and in some cases, even their lives, came second.

The tide started turning for Orkoiyot Kimnyole from around 1888. First, after consecutive raids against the Maasai, the herds driven back were found to have been infected with rinderpest. Orkoiyot, in his spiritual endowment, had failed to warn the warriors about this. The community interpreted this as deliberate sabotage. This was confirmed when it was found out that his flock was healthy and seemingly untouched by the disease. The last straw came when he blessed back-to-back raiding expeditions, both of which resulted in devastating defeats.

Unlike present-day members of parliament who can’t table a motion of impeachment against a president who has clearly lost his wits, the Nandi elders did something about Kimnyole. To cut the story short (full story in the linked article) a ruling was held where Kimnyole’s guilt was determined. He was sentenced to death and the sentence was carried out. Kimnyole left his son, Orkoiyot Koitalel Arap Samoei his role, and it was he who faced off against the British at the advent of colonisation.

Imagine inheriting a political seat from your father right after he had been sentenced to death by the same community he had led for decades. That is the sort of pressure our leaders should be under when being sworn into elected mandates.

Introduction of Western Democracy

The brand of democracy we ‘enjoy’ in Africa is not the same one Athenian philosophers debated on the steps of the Acropolis. It is a bastardisation deliberately conjured and implemented to keep the African in a self-destructive cycle.

In Kenya, it began with the replacement of traditional ruling bodies with chiefs and headmen who worked on behalf of the colonial government. Unlike the traditional rulers who prioritised the welfare of their communities, the appointed chiefs had two main objectives:

1. They carried out the will and laws instituted by their white overlords

2. They looked out solely for their welfare and the advancement of their families.

In Witchcraft and Colonial Rule in Kenya, Katherine Luongo explains how the Kamba carried out witchcraft, cursing the families of the headmen who were hated for their tax collection. Professor Mukaru Ng’ang’a, in The Political History of Murang’a, explains that the colonial government protected these leaders and even shielded them from any backlash arising from their corruption. An example is when a native court ruled in favour of Chief Michuki wa Kagwe, who was attempting to grab land occupied by 25 families who complained against his misrule. The case went up the administrative ladder all the way to the High Court, which decided Michuki was right and ordered the evacuation of the occupants. A directive that was carried out by the white District Commissioner himself.

Despite being appointed by the British to do their bidding, the chiefs and paramount chiefs were under the illusion that they were populist leaders ‘serving’ the people. Senior Chief Waruhiu, the darling of the British government, was eulogised affectionately with his favourite proverb ‘kamuingi koyaga ndiri’. We have dealt with this proverb in the subscriber chat in recent weeks. It is meant to enhance cooperation and mutual effort, but he was using it to inspire diligence for labour in the White Highlands.

The British knew what they were doing. By providing education to the children of loyalists, they made sure the next generation idolised Western culture and religion while instilling prejudice against their fellow Africans along those same lines.

Mark you, these are the same Africans who took over the Kenyan government at independence- the likes of Charles Njonjo, son of Chief Josiah Njonjo and later, John Michuki, son of the cruel chief we have just discussed above. Of course, they ruled with all their inherited prejudices and biases. Worse still, with no higher authority to check their corruption, these leaders set a precedent of opulence at the expense of the mwananchi.

They were, of course, led by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, who bought a brand-new Rolls-Royce Phantom V, a Lincoln Continental, and a Mercedes 300 SE all within his first few months as Prime Minister.

Consecutive governments stepped into that blueprint, which is quite representative of what is going on even in the wider continent.

Conclusion

Democracy, as defined by the Independence constitution got corrupted by tribal politics, which have divided Kenyans along tribal lines. You know who isn’t divided? The politicians. I urge you to read a blog post on my WordPress called Coalition Culture. In it, you’ll notice that, no matter how opposed specific leaders may be during one election cycle, there is no division grand enough to stop them from reuniting and aligning their political parties and support bases in the next election cycle.

Just like the chiefs and headmen, our own leaders have prioritised wealth accumulation while completely disregarding their electorate. During the Moi regime, up until the recent elections, leaders have sown tribal division to consolidate the support of their communities behind them.

The idea is that upon election, the leader will take care of the needs of the community- is the so-called Mtu Wetu mentality. I couldn’t help but watch as my parents voted for William Samoei Ruto in the last election. Apparently, as the Kikuyu community, we owed him our support, having promised it to him during the first term of the UhuRuto coalition. As if the presidency is some sort of inheritance that he is entitled to.

My dear reader, democracy can work. As I write this, presidential aspirant David Maraga is under arrest. I will go ahead and say that he is my preferred candidate so far. I have had trouble explaining to my parents and members of the older generations that he is our best bet for the presidency. To a lot of Kenyans, the fact that Maraga does not have a large tribal support base automatically extinguishes any chances of victory at the ballot. This is where the problem lies.

Democracy is not about Mount Kenya or Lakeside or Coastal voting blocs. It is not about populist politics. It is not about whose turn it is to eat. Democracy is more than just who has the unlimited funds to run a lavish campaign full of chopper landings, grand speeches and expressive decor. It is all about getting your voice heard. It is more than electing your tribesman who will forget all about you the moment they attain power. It’s about investing your trust, money and vote into a candidate whom you trust. A candidate through whom your voice will be heard. A candidate through whom your will will be exerted.

We have work to do.

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After independence, Kenyatta did little to clean up that narrative. He is remembered for an interview with Field Marshall Mwariama, which to the keen eye, seems like the most obvious photo op ever. Kenyatta betrayed the Maumau he allegedly led. Today, we are called upon to revisit the History books and interrogate the extent of Kenyatta’s involvement.

Kenya African Union division

After two long stints abroad, Kenyatta returned in 1946 and was elected as the president of the Kenya African Union the following year. He assumed a practical approach to decolonisation, becoming the principal of Githunguri School, which we spoke about at length in Githunguri Kia Wairera. When he was not in school teaching, he was addressing rallies all over the country and regularly speaking to KAU members at Kaloleni Hall.

Something sinister was cooking in KAU however. The Olenguruone Crisis, had brought to the fore the power of oathing in uniting Kikuyus against the colonial government. Although it was Kenyatta and Mbiu Koinange who visited Olenguruone to make this assessment, it is the younger members of KAU who saw its potential in raising military might to wage an armed war against the settlers. While there is no historical evidence that Kenyatta was against it, he was not involved in the administration of the Mau Mau oath at any point.

There was the old guard with the likes of Jomo Kenyatta, Mbiyu Koinange and Jesse Kang’ethe facing off against the younger trade unionists, including Bildad Kaggia, Paul Ngei, Kungu Karumba and Rufus Kinuthia. The latter were more than ready to use violent means, while the former were reluctant. Here’s the thing: despite Kenyatta not being part of the oathing, his name was invoked by the younger KAU guard in the ceremonies. According to Kenyatta by Jeremy Murray Brown, they purported that they were doing this at his behest. Now, Kenyatta held unrivaled power over the Kikuyu, so this namedrop immediately legitimized the oathing process and inspired commitment from those being oathed.

Matters slid closer and closer to the edge until 10th June 1951, when KAU held an internal election. Fred Kubai was elected chairman, replacing Kenyatta. All the other top seats were also filled with younger trade unionists. Bildad Kaggia became the Secretary General, replacing Mbiu Koinange and Paul Ngei, described by Murray-Brown as a former KAR soldier or a Kamba with a sharp tongue, replacing Tom Otiende as treasurer.

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Rally Tour

With this coup, KAU now resorted to armed struggle and doubled down on oathing both within Nairobi and in the reserves. This resulted in a series of bloody executions between late 1951 and 1952 that the British simply could not ignore. The younger guard had formed the Freedom Council or Kiama Kia Wiathi (KKW), which convened in Kiburi House after hours. Here, they not only planned the executions of whites and loyal Africans but also the executions of anyone who was betraying their secrets.

The colonial government only had Kenyatta in their crosshairs. For all they knew, it was he who was pulling the strings and coordinating the attacks. As a result, from April 1952, Kenyatta was pressured into attending rallies with the sole aim of speaking out against the Mau Mau. Kenyatta’s rally addresses went from fiery calls of ‘the tree of liberty must be watered by blood’ and ‘I will hold the donkey by the mouth, will you be able to withstand its kicks?’ to calling a stop to violence.

Even if he was sincere in this, Kenyatta was not fooling anyone. Not the colonial government, which had spies at each of these rallies ready to provide a transcript of the speeches. Not the colonial chiefs who recognised that Kenyatta controlled the people and was cheered while they were jeered the moment they tried to speak. And certainly not the Kikuyu who believed he was just putting up a front for the colonial government.

Playing Both Sides

The Freedom Council continued using Kenyatta for legitimacy even as political tensions heated up. As white settlers pleaded for the declaration of a state of emergency in July 1952, the Freedom Council read the writing on the wall and responded. This is when they set up base camps in the forest. Using weapons that had been stockpiled from as early as 1950, they dispatched the fighters to various points in the Nyandarua and Mount Kenya Forests.

Kinyua wa Ndugire, a Maumau veteran, recalls Stanley Mathenge and Dedan Kimathi being given their leadership mandates in Kiburi House in front of Jomo Kenyatta and Mbiu Koinange. In his book, Maumau General, Waruhiu Itote (General China), recounts meeting Kenyatta at his farm in Gatundu right before he was sent to the forest. On this occasion, on 10th August 1952, Kenyatta was aware of his imminent arrest and divulged as much to Waruhiu and the other soon-to-be forest fighters. Regardless, he gave them their blessing, and soon Waruhiu was past Karatina, about to set up a base camp in the forest and began training recruits.

The violence persisted, resulting in a large rally at Kirigiti stadium in Kiambu on the 24th of August 1952. This rally was attended by all the Kikuyu leaders, and we spoke about it at length in Senior Chief Koinange vs Senior Chief Waruhiu. Here, Kenyatta condemned Maumau in the strongest terms possible right after known collaborators like Harry Thuku and Senior Chief Waruhiu had spoken. Only Senior Chief Koinange had the balls to stand up to the colonisers and maintain his plea for the return of African land.

Regardless, the damage was done. The Freedom Council was so incensed by Kenyatta’s acidic condemnation of the Maumau that they brought him in for trial. For the first time, Kiama Kia Wiathi revealed itself to Jomo Kenyatta and critically questioned him. Fred Kubai and Bildad Kaggia, speaking in interviews after independence, say that Kenyatta could have even been killed for treachery, but the council let him off. It was clear that Kenyatta had been backed into a corner by the colonial government and had to save his skin.

It’s insane to me that Kenyatta’s harsh rebuke of the Maumau, which certainly did much to sway people’s opinions, came a mere fortnight after he had greenlit the dispatch of forest fighters.

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Arrest and Trial

Or maybe his rebuke fell on deaf ears, because on 7th October, Senior Chief Waruhiu, the most outspoken British loyalist, was shot in the mouth. As Sir Evelyn Baring and Jomo Kenyatta stared across to each other as Waruhiu’s body was being lowered into the grave, they both knew what was to come. The colonial government declared a state of emergency on 20th October 1952, arresting the top leaders of KAU and transporting them to Kapenguria for trial. What most people do not know is that the Freedom Council was already a step ahead.

Receiving prior warning of the declaration, they made a declaration of their own. Whereas the Maumau was originally being controlled by this Central Council, on 19th October, they called for a fragmentation of the troops, allowing them to operate independently. This proved to have been a masterstroke as it somewhat nullified the effect of their arrest.

Kenyatta was charged as Maumau’s supreme leader in one of the most rigged cases in modern history. His lawyer, Dennis Pritt (now you know who that road in Lavington is named after), kept crashing out as he witnessed the blatant miscarriage of justice. First of all, having the trial take place in Kapenguria was a deliberate choice. Kenyatta’s defense team had to travel back and forth between there and Nairobi, looking for witnesses and documents to counter the well-prepared prosecution.

It was quite clear that the case was being ruled from Government House in Nairobi rather than the judges’ dock. In fact, the lead prosecutor and the presiding judge’s chambers were connected by a door! Further, Jomo Kenyatta’s archenemy, Louis Leakey, was the courtroom translator. Dennis Pritt protested that Leakey was using the courtroom as a lecture hall to show off his prowess in Kikuyu. He also translated with an obvious bias against Kenyatta. Read on the Kenyatta- Leakey beef in COLONIAL VILLAINS: LOUIS LEAKEY.

To top it off, the prosecution hinged their case on a testimony by a bribed witness named Rawson Macharia. Rawson had supposedly attended an oathing ceremony presided over by Kenyatta himself- an obvious fabrication. Rawson would sign an affidavit 6 years later, confessing that he was bribed with money and an overseas degree, and even presented damning documents confirming that.

Grappling at Straws

What really cooked Kenyatta and the rest of the Kapenguria Six’s goose was the fact that, as this trial was taking place, the rest of the colony was burning. The state of emergency gave the Maumau guerrilla a dauntlessness, and they wreaked havoc, killing several white settlers and loyal Africans. This was made possible by the timely fragmentation declaration made by the Freedom Council on 19th October 1952.

The Ruck Family Massacre, in which a British couple and their six-year-old son were butchered in Kinangop, happened on the weekend right before Kenyatta’s cross-examination started. Settlers were enraged. Hundreds of them protested in Nairobi, raiding Government House, while others met in Nairobi and called for the hanging of 5,000 Kikuyus as retaliation. The colonial government desperately needed someone to blame, and Kenyatta seemed like the perfect target.

Kenyatta was found guilty and sentenced to the max jailterm that the law allowed. 10 + 3 years hard labour in the remote Lokichaung prison on the shores of Lake Turkana.

Here’s the thing, though, blaming Kenyatta for Maumau and charging him seemed like it solved the problem, but it was extremely counterproductive. First of all, it was very clear that Kenyatta did not have any control over the guerrilla fighters because the violence only went up after his arrest. Even the demoralising factor that the colonial government banked on after arresting Kenyatta and the Kapenguria Six only lasted so long. All of these compounds on the deliberate misunderstanding of the Maumau by the colonial government.

Moreover, it created a hero in Kenyatta, as after his release, he was received back in Gatundu as the undisputed Kikuyu leader. The arrested Maumau Commander had finally been released from prison. This raised Kenyatta’s PR to astronomical proportions. Kenyatta further punctuated it with a few photo ops here and there with the likes of Field Marshall Mwariama, who proved to be a vital ally in the demilitarisation of the Mau Mau.

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Conclusion

Let’s be real, though, Jomo Kenyatta was NOT a Maumau leader. I’ll go as far as saying that he detested the movement altogether. Kenyatta loved to be in control of things, so to have this powerful body within which his role was purely ceremonial must have irked him greatly. If his condemnation speeches were not enough, then let’s take a look at what he did after his release and towards the attainment of independence.

First of all, there was General Baimungi of Meru who refused to exit the forest. He wanted more favourable terms, and attempts by Waruhiu Itote and others to woo him out in 1963 fell on deaf ears. Kenyatta’s patience waned in January 1964, and he declared that any fighter still in the forest was to exit and rejoin society. Kenyatta was scared of starting his rule while Maumau generals were still in the forests, probably because of the treachery he had in store for them.

On 26th January 1964, in the dead of night, Administration Police invaded Baimungi’s camp in the Meru forest and opened fire. Baimungi and several of his generals were killed. The police displayed his body in front of his wife's house, and he was buried in an unmarked mass grave along with the slain of his battalion. Not very leader-like of Kenyatta.

Further, it is a well-known fact that Kenyatta did not bother compensating the Mau Mau veterans for their sacrifice with land, or even recognition. Save for the photo ops, Kenyatta was keen to ensure the silencing of the Maumau. In fact, the part of the Lytellton Constitution that proscribed the Maumau as terrorists was retained in its entirety in the Independence Constitution. It’s not until the promulgation of the New Constitution (2010) that they were finally recognised as heroes.

I’ll leave you with this thought: Kenyatta, not wanting to be associated with the Maumau, was certainly not on any moral high ground. Consecutive assassinations in his regime prove that he had no issue using violence to achieve political gains. We can’t say he was against the use of oathing or tribal fragmentation either. The same old guard led by him and Mbiu were the same ones who administered an oath in Gatundu in 1969, which cursed the nation to decades of senseless tribal hatred.

Jomo Kenyatta betrayed the Maumau, and he betrayed Kenya.

Hinges of Time is a Kenyan history collective that is dedicated to teaching History the right way. You can support our mission by getting a paid subscription. This money not only funds research and motivates writing, it also earns you some subscriber privileges. Alternatively, you can donate directly from M-Pesa through this link.

Even before they entered the forests, during meetings of the Kenya African Union in Kaloleni Social Hall and elsewhere, they would sing songs of solidarity. A secret oath spread from the highlands of Olenguruone to the settler farms of the Rift Valley, the Central Kikuyu Reserve and even in Nairobi, birthing new music. As the war became full-blown, and the fighters retreated into the forest to wage a painful guerrilla war against the British, this music became a fire in their hearts and a call for unity. In the detention camps, the walls rang with voices calling for freedom.

In this article, we will dissect some of the lyrics from Maumau songs to understand the role they played in the liberation struggle. There are scattered fragments of these songs on YouTube and other platforms, but I have to give gratitude to the goated Kikuyu musician Joseph Kamaru. A bulk of these songs are perfectly preserved in two albums, which are available for streaming. They have proved a valuable source for this piece. Savvy readers are familiar with my obsession with his music.

1. Olenguruone Crisis.

In Squatters and the Roots of Maumau by Professor Tabitha Kanogo, she establishes the Olenguruone Settlement Scheme as the birthplace of the militant Maumau oath. The scheme was a backhanded attempt by the British government to settle the Kikuyu squatters’ clamour for land. The problem is, they attempted to micromanage agriculture and settlement in Olenguruone while the Kikuyus wanted free rein over the land. In a show of defiance, Kikuyus stubbornly refused to conform to the rules, leading to their eviction from the settlement scheme and the birth of the Maumau oath- a declaration of war. Read all about this in the Olenguruone Crisis article.

In songs like Tugakena Muno, the Maumau fighters reminded themselves what this war was all about- land and freedom. The lyrics intricately narrate the defiance at Olenguruone and the burning down of Kikuyu huts by the colonial authority. A picture is painted of the depression of the community due to the loss of land. Children clinging to their mother’s skirts and breasts while sheets of rain poured down, with nowhere to shelter, instilled a community-wide trauma that marked the end of negotiation attempts. As the Kikuyus were evicted to the arid Yatta plateau with nothing but worm-ridden flour to sustain them, it was time for war.

2. Praising Leaders.

Maumau leaders were larger-than-life figures during the independence struggle. They were supernatural beacons of hope and strategy at a time when the community needed it the most. As aforementioned, songs were composed narrating entire KAU meetings. In an interview with Maumau Chronicles, Nyaga M’aruja, a Meru veteran, recalled a song whose lyrics recall the thunderous claps and cheers that went up when Jomo Kenyatta declared in Kaloleni Social Hall that they had amassed enough money to send Mbiu to England to plead their case to the colonial office.

These songs also served to pass messages from the meetings to those who were not there. Nyaga sings another song about a Kiambaa rally attended by British liberal MP Fenner Brockway, who addressed the gathered crowd at Koinange’s homestead. It was a marvel to the Africans when this white man agreed that they were due to have their lands returned.

Leaders in the forest, like Dedan Kimathi, Stanley Mathenge and Mbaria Kaniu, were also immortalised in these songs, which narrated their courage in battle.

3. War Stories

Riveting battle accounts made for awesome war songs that not only celebrated Maumau victories, but also recalled painful losses. They gave the fighters unlimited dauntlessness in the face of adversity. They include Mbara ya Rui Ruiru, which recalls the battle at the banks of the Gura River. This was one of the most insane Kikuyu victories, where an entire battalion of colonial soldiers were annihilated. We mention it in Women in Maumau. There is also Majengo Hakuhi na Ruui, recalling a bitter defeat in the slum area of Majengo.

My favourite song of these songs has got to be Mbaara ya Ndakaini which talks about the legendary raid by Dedan Kimathi and Mbaria Kaniu on the Ndakaini homeguard post. It narrates in great detail the meeting up of two battalions followed by the raid itself, organised by another leader, Ndugu wa Gicheru. As a former resident of Ndakaini, I can’t help but envision these lyrics coming to life right on the banks of the Thika River, where the Ndakaini Dam is today.

4. Detention, Torture and Interrogation.

After the state of emergency was declared, the government went about systematically detaining any members of the Gikuyu, Embu, and Meru communities who were deemed to have Maumau sympathies. That prompted a beautiful ballad, recalling the suffering of these people during the detention. Such songs were sung in the detention camps, strengthening the detainees in their abject suffering.

Langata Screening Camp, which is Langata Women’s Prison today, is recorded in one of these songs. Here, the detainees would be sorted into white(not dangerous), grey (infected but savable) or black (extreme Maumau terrorist). There was widespread suffering and starvation in this Langata camp as recorded in these lyrics:

After screening, the detainees were taken to various detention camps across the colony where they were subjected to hard labour and dehumanising suffering. They sang powerful songs of defiance while performing these tasks, immortalising their suffering. Some of these songs depict their courage in the face of arrest and interrogation. They reminded the detainees not to be ashamed of their heritage and praised their courage.

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5. Education

Western education was one of the focal points of the Maumau War. The literacy line was used to divide Kikuyus as most literate ones (athomi) tended to side with the colonial government. In the lyrics of many Maumau songs, these athomi were ridiculed for their cowardice and collaboration. In Nyita na Unumie, references are made to great warrior agesets of the past in regret that the children of that generation will never be as great as those of the past.

6. Prayers

A lot of these songs were prayers. The soldiers offered supplication to Ngai or Mwenenyaga, the god atop Mount Kenya to help them through the suffering and hasten the attainment of independence. They also trumped on Christianity and Priests, whom they recognised as their enemies. In some cases, the lyrics of Christian hymns were exchanged with those that fit the Maumau war context.

For example, in Ngai Etaguo Mutoria, which literally means Ngai is called the Promise-keeper, Jomo Kenyatta is compared to none other than Abraham, the father of the Israelites. The promises God gave to Abraham in the Old Testament are given by Ngai to Kenyatta in this song. Ngai promises Kenyatta that his descendants will be as many as the stars in the sky.

This is a direct affront to Christianity, showing the defiant nature of the Maumau movement and the recognition of Christianity as a tool for the pacification of the African.

In Bururi Uyu Witu Gikuyu, the soldiers are reminded that the land was gifted to them by Ngai, meaning victory is assured. The prophecies of Mugo Wa Kibiru which we mentioned in the Githunguri article as well as the curse placed over the land by Waiyaki before his death are also mentioned.

Mwenenyanga Twakuhoya which translates to Mwenenyaga We Pray To You holds similar weight. It is a prayer for unity. Within the lyrics, Kamatimu- the loyalists are warned against betraying their people to win favour from the British, as Ngai would punish them accordingly.

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7. Pain and Suffering

We’ve spoken about songs of triumph, sacrifice, supplication, and defiance, but a lot of these Maumau songs were ballads of pain. Kinyua wa Ndugire, a Maumau veteran, says that in the forest, they waged a war fuelled by rage (mbara ya marakara). The suffering and pain that sparked the war are immortalised in the music.

Some songs genuinely ask, “What can I do to end this suffering?” This comes to the fore especially upon comparing the experience of the black man during colonial times to that of the mzungu. The songs also depict the coping mechanisms Kikuyus resorted to to alleviate the pain.

Some songs, however, reminded the soldiers to find joy in the suffering as they were fighting for a good cause. The perfect example of this is probably the most famous Maumau song that even politicians still quote to this day. I will leave you with those lyrics for even now, more than half a century after independence, we are staring down the barrel of another liberation struggle against an enemy of black skin and his hegemonic regime.

If you loved this article and are interested in learning more about the Maumau War, I am pleased to announce that I will be delivering a lecture on the topic this Madaraka Day. It will be immersive and engaging, accompanied by other acts who will be announced soon. There’s limited capacity at the venue, so grab your ticket as soon as you can via this link

Just like all other Hinges of Time events, entry is free for Substack paid subscribers. Feel free to upgrade today.

Grogan Lore

Stanbic Building used to be Torr’s Hotel. It was constructed by the infamous British settler named Ewart Grogan and opened for business in 1929. Grogan was no ordinary settler. He first came to Africa as a young man and trekked from Cape Town to Cairo to impress the father of the girl he wanted to marry. Arriving in Cairo in 1900 to everyone’s surprise, the father had no option but to led his daughter, Getrude to get married to this young man. Getrude’s Hospital in Nairobi was constructed as yet another token of love after her death.

After settling in South Africa, Grogan was one of the first Britons to move to the new East African Protectorate. He pitched a tent at the confluence of the Nairobi and Kuruchwa Rivers, naming the area Chiromo after a confluence he had passed by in his travels. An old building called Chiromo House, which is still standing in Nairobi University’s Chiromo Campus, is the house he constructed to live in and is believed to be the first stone structure in Nairobi.

The man was an entrepreneur. He dipped his fingers into almost everything. As Nairobi took shape, he sensed the value of the hotel business and decided to invest. He constructed the storied red-brick Torr’s Hotel. The building was across from the New Stanley Hotel, a deliberate choice. It was built in a Tudor Revival architectural style to evoke nostalgia from the settlers in Nairobi. It was the first building in Nairobi to boast an elevator, as it was the tallest building upon its construction. Truly, no expense was spared.

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Clientelle

Savvy readers are familiar with just how ill-mannered colonial settlers were. We saw some samples in the Happy Valley Set and Karen Murder Mystery Articles. I’ll have you know that Grogan named the place after its manager Joseph Torr because he knew full well the sort of activities that would be taking place within. Grogan had deliberately created the new hotspot for drink and debauchery in the colony, and it was right at the heart of the new city.

The first thing that set Torr’s hotel apart was its clientele. In The Happy Valley, we discussed that Muthaiga Country Club was patronized mostly by upcountry settlers and aristocrats. Similarly, the New Stanley Hotel was favoured by travellers and government employees working on Government Road (today’s Moi Avenue). Each club had its own clientele- all except Torr’s Hotel.

Torr’s catered to the soldiers, farmers, civil servants, tourists, royals, lawyers and everything in between. It offered world-class cuisine in its dining room on the upper floors. It also offered accommodation for those who needed a place to stay over. Torr’s most precious attraction, however, was the lounge on the first floor. It was a socialization hotspot. Here, settlers could drink themselves silly, right up until the morning.

Harlotry Headquarters

Understand this: there were strict rules governing the opening and closing time of clubs in the colony. Yes, NACADA is a colonial legacy institution. Regardless, Torr’s would be open well past the stipulated 2 am, well into the morning. The hotel received special treatment because senior members of the police force were patrons. No one batted an eyelid when it stayed open because the policemen were passed out face down in the ballroom, then having a walk of shame at 6 am, headed back to Kingsway Police Station (Central Police).

Revellers would spew out of the doors recklessly in the middle of the night, pouring out into the heavy traffic at the junction of Hardinge Street (Kimathi Street) and Sixth Avenue (Kenyatta Avenue). Indeed, the incompetence of the police became blatant when the junction was marked as a black spot for that very reason. Many drunk settlers were knocked down dead by speeding vehicles, while drunk drivers leaving the establishment barely made it out of the city before ramming into buildings, poles, trees, etc. The problem was partially remedied when empty petrol drums were planted to slow down traffic.

As we’ve already established, Torr’s was the final location on a typical night out. After all the other locations had closed down, settlers filed into the establishment to dance the night away. Even in Karen Murder Mystery, Diana Broughton and Joss Errol left Muthaiga Country Club for Torr’s as the night waned to enjoy a bit of dancing. If the Earl knew that would be his last night on earth, I wonder if he would have spent it differently.

There is one passage from Christopher Hiscox’s The Dawn’s Stand To: The Life of Peter Mills that perfectly captures the craze of Torr’s Hotel:

New Ownership

Like all clubs in Nairobi to this day, the spotlight eventually shifted from Torr’s to fresher establishments like the Clairmont House, built by J.A Hunter which could be considered some sort of hidden gem. Further, the writings on the wall revealed that the days of the colony were ending. Ewart Grogan, being the stubborn racist that he was, could not imagine his hotel being opened to African patrons. He simply could not allow it.

That is why he sold the building to the Ottoman Bank in 1958. Despite having several other active investments in the colony, including a large sisal farm in Taita, Grogan packed his bags and moved to South Africa, where white supremacy would still be maintained for a while under the apartheid system. Soon after, Stanbic took over ownership of the building and it’s been that way to date.

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If you enjoyed this story, then you have to come for the Historical Nairobi CBD Guided Tour on 24th May. We will be studying the history of the city, including the street names we’ve mentioned in this article as well as the interesting lore behind Nairobi’s buildings. Its going to be so fun and educational. There are limited slots, so you’d be prudent to book your place early via this link. Like all other Hinges of Time events, free access will be granted to all paid subscribers, so consider upgrading today.

Rugwiti wa Njeri, who quoted this proverb in his banger Marua Ma Party, formed the Banana Hills Band. John Ndichu, whom we often bring up in these Mugithi Articles, was part of the Ruwengo Brothers. D.K wa Maria led the Lulus Band to critical acclaim. Even Joseph Kamaru, legend that he was, was supported by the Celina Band.

There is one band, however, that embodied this spirit of collaboration to perfection. Their reign was short-lived, but the Rift Valley Brothers were a musical maverick that rocked the industry, creating shockwaves that reverberate to this day. The dynamic duo of Lawrence Nduru and Joseph Gicheha, plus their incredible producer Alan Kanyottu, built up a catalogue in that period that would rival the entire careers of their peers. We have to tell their story.

Members

Lawrence Nduru wa Gathoni

Nduru wa Gathoni was the undisputed lead singer of the Rift Valley Brothers. Hailing from Ndeiya at the edge of the Rift Valley, his smooth voice, storytelling skills, lyrical prowess, instrumental talent and characteristic hearty laugh gave the band its personality.

Lawrence Nduru debuted as a solo act in 1971. Allan Kanyotu, who would soon become his long-term producer, set him up to meet Joseph Kamaru. Against the instrumentation of Kamaru’s Celina Band, Nduru recorded his first vinyls: Jane Ndukeite and Mbirira Ciao Ndionire. Jane Ndukeite, which literally means ‘Don’t hang yourself Jane’ became an instant hit upon release, introducing Nduru to the world.

He teamed up with Joseph Gicheha and Allan Kanyotu in 1973 to record another megahit, Ndaciariirwo Ndeiya, which marked the birth of the Rift Valley Brothers Band. As we shall soon see, Nduru’s songwriting was hilarious. He fused humour, passionate lyrics, storytelling and niche Kikuyu references to mould powerful songs that have stood the test of time.

Nduru’s professional career was suddenly cut short in 1986 by his unexpected death while he was still at his prime. With his death, the Rift Valley Brothers ended altogether, proving just how vital his role was in this boy band.

Joseph Gicheha

His name is often overlooked in the grand scope of the golden age of Kikuyu music and by doing so, we do this legend a great disservice. Born and raised labouring in colonial coffee farms around Kiambu, Gicheha’s art was born of pain and toil. After long days in the farms, he would gather with his fellow youngins like Pius Kihingo, Joseph Kaisha, Mukarimani and SK Kimani and serenade the night away.

In 1971, just as Nduru was debuting, Gicheha left for the big city to get his career on track. What he did not know was that, like John the Baptist for Jesus, he was paving the way ahead of the new generation of artists he had left behind on the coffee farms. He appeared in bars on River Road and his career grew from there.

Indeed, Gicheha was a midwife. First of all, he brought the lyrics and melodies of the Rift Valley Brothers' bangers to life with the lyrics and melodies. Even after Nduru’s death, he did not stop there. D.K. Wa Nyambura would not be the artist he was without Gicheha. Gicheha was at some point part of D.K’s Lulus Band. He especially came in handy during D.K’s live performances, providing a balanced backing vocal. Rugwiti Wa Njeri owes the iconic verses of the generational banger Marua Ma Party to Gicheha.

Rugwiti gives Gicheha his flowers alongside other peers in the song Ndigagukararia (immortalised by Salim Junior under the title Murata Wakwa Nitwendaine), singing:

Alan ‘Babu’ Kanyotu

One of the most frustrating moments as a historian is when you go to look someone up as part of research, just to find out they recently passed away. This legendary producer passed away just this year on 19th February after a long-term illness that he braved. The nickname Babu was certainly earned owing to his longevity in the industry.

His production prowess cannot be understated. It would not be an exaggeration to call him the backbone of the benga period. Some of the names he worked with include Les Wanyika, Kakai Kilonzo, Joseph Kamaru, Ochieng Kabasele, John Ndichu and of course, the Rift Valley Brothers.

He took an early liking to Lawrence Nduru while recording Nduru’s debut track Jane Ndukeite and also recognised Gicheha’s skill. Coming in as the third piece of the Rift Valley Brothers’ juggernaut. He controlled the chaos and balanced the faders, creating impressive mastertracks that, even as a modern-day producer, I’m jealous of. Despite being Kamba, Alan cowrote the band’s masterpieces, putting his stamp of quality on each of them. What a legend.

Bangers

Of course, we have to break down some of the bangers from their discography to better understand just how good this band was. Starting with Lawrence Nduru’s debut track

Jane Ndukeite

Lawrence Nduru came into the industry hungry and ready to claim his spot. His first track was a beautiful ballad where he was singing to his lover, Jane. It was first released in 1971, and I unfortunately can’t find the original record anywhere on the internet. In Was Salim Junior a Fraud, we highlighted Salim’s necessity in preserving music for the next generation. We have him to thank, as Jane Ndukeite is one of the songs he covered.

In the lyrics, Lawrence Nduru is speaking in the aftermath of discovering that his lover tried to hang herself. She tied a rope on a mugumo tree, scattered Nduru’s pictures on the ground and tied his letters to her dress. She put the noose around her neck, climbed the tree and jumped. The reason: a rumour had emerged that Nduru had cheated on her. This proved too much for her to bear.

Luckily, she was rescued before it was too late. Nduru reached Jane’s parents’ house first thing in the morning. Upon tracking her down, Nduru reassures her that the rumours were cooked up by a man who wants her for himself. Instead of putting a rope around her neck, Nduru offers to tie a necklace as a token of his love for her.

Irimu Ria Nyambugi

I don’t know who pissed off Nduru enough for him to put together such a crazy diss song. With Gicheha’s backing vocals, he dissects a man’s esteem, most ruthlessly. This song has the craziest opening lines I’ve ever heard:

Yes. In a childlike jibe, Nduru compares this man to a folktale beast.

He tells the guy that he should be grateful for water. Apparently, the only way he ever gets any play is because of the occasional shower he takes. Nduru takes things up a notch by comparing the man to a hyena. He takes a cheap shot at the guy, noting his need to overcompensate to get any attention from ladies. Nduru says that a hyena is neither lucky nor a skilled hunter. Its greed and stamina are the only reasons it doesn’t go hungry.

Ndahenirio Ni Miago

In this song, Nduru is ready to risk it all to get his girl back. He regrets choosing fun, partying and clubbing over the love of his life. He openly enquires whether the girl has found someone new because he is back and ready to love her again. But he is ashamed and very, very sorry.

He is quite literally begging. He attributes his decision to the girl’s prolonged stay in Kisumu- a slight for which he forgave her. In the same way, he expects her to forgive him for leaving her. In the bridge, Nduru threatens to kill himself if the girl refuses to take him back. In fact, he confesses and apologises for throwing the girl’s pictures and ring in the toilet.

This is the sort of song you send your murima fine shyt six months after the breakup when you realise you stand no chance of getting over her. I’ll warn you right now tho, results may vary!

Mucangang’o Ugiraga Mukindirio

This band loved making songs about being threatened in a club while dancing with someone else’s partner.

In Cokia Kimindo Njora, a bridegroom pulls a dagger on Nduru when he finds him dancing with his newlywedded wife. Nduru pleads his innocence, saying that he was merely dancing with her to keep her busy, considering the groom had drunk too much and passed out.

In Wangui Mutirima Wakwa, Nduru’s girlfriend Wangui, watches as he talks to and dances with another, Wacuka. Even Wacuka is shaken by Nduru's audacity as she is admittedly afraid of Wangui, who does not play about her boyfriend. Nduru has no option but to apologise to Wangui and tell her exactly what he was saying to Wacuka.

In Mucang’ango, Nduru warns his friend, perhaps Gicheha, against dancing with this particular girl, knowing very well she is spoken for. He does this over a groovy rock-inspired beat. My favourite line of Nduru’s goes;

I respect how well the band found new, creative ways of exploring this theme every time.

Muhiki Waku Nitwendanire

You may recognise these lyrics from a certain TikTok trend with the backdrop of a Salim Junior song. This song was originally written and performed by the Rift Valley Brothers.

In this song, Nduru is daring a man to do his worst after he unwisely leaves his wife in Lawrence Nduru’s care, trusting him to watch over her and keep would-be homewreckers at bay. What the groom did not count on was that Lawrence Nduru himself was the howewrecker he was fearing. Before long, the Nduru and the man’s wife fall in love.

Nduru has no apologies and he confesses that she fell in love with him the moment he left, and he did not hesitate to reciprocate. Rather than apologise, he gawks at the man’s lack of judgement. He should have known that men are like ‘hawks which stay flying around looking for a chick to eat’. Nduru feels no guilt at all. According to him, he didn’t steal the guy’s wife. He merely FOUND her and cannot be held liable for the girl’s feelings.

In the last verse, he appeals to his friends’ empathy. After explaining the extent of their new love in detail, he sings:

As if to drive the dagger to the heart, Nduru bursts into his unique maniacal cackle, laughing at the man’s lack of judgment.

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There was something about the cave, let me tell you. First of all, a reprieve from the harsh sunshine outside but there was more. An energy about it that made it feel like it had held significant importance in the past. Indeed, generations of humans have found sanctuary, shelter and even eternal rest in the cave. This is confirmed by excavations which took place there between 2013 and 2017. Burial sites, stone and iron tools, and ornaments were uncovered, with the oldest dating back to 78,000 years ago.

It is surrounded by a woodland forest- msitu wa ndoto. Beautiful indigenous trees growing amongst towering baobas and short shrubs. Truly the stuff of dreams. The forest is littered with gemstones of varying value, which I just collected as I walked. Wildlife thrives there, including the bats that live in the dark, secluded crevices of the cave.

More recently, somewhere in Karen, I had the honour of watching Mara in her element. In a series of stories, Mara narrated her history and affiliation with the cave to the 50 or so gathered. She is a maverick of storytelling, and I could not wait to share it with my subscribers.

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The Oldest Child

Archaeologists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the National Museums of Kenya partnered on excavation efforts from 2010 as part of a long-term partnership. The historical significance of the cave is no secret, and any archaeologist's spidey sense would certainly be tingling the moment they access the site. Trench excavation methods were employed with significant success from the onset after unearthing traditional worship paraphernalia.

The first signs of the burial emerged in 2010 with the excavation of some bones and teeth. It wasn’t until 2017, though, that the full pit excavation was carried out and the gravesite was exposed. Three meters below the current floor of the cave, a shallow circular pit contained small, tightly clustered and highly decomposed bones. It was not clear to the archaeologists at first what they had really discovered. This depended on scientific analysis, which in turn depended on stabilisation and plastering on the field.

The findings were astounding.

The plastered blocks were progressively studied and revealed to be the almost intact skeleton of a child who died between 2.5 and 3 years of age. It had been deliberately and carefully buried within the cave in a manner that inadvertently secured its preservation.

The curvature of the skeleton reveals the use of a shroud of leaves or maybe leather used during burial. The positioning of the head reveals that the child was carefully placed in the grave, with the head resting on a perishable surface, i.e., a pillow. It was adorned with ornaments of ostrich eggshell beads, which were astoundingly preserved. Further, the soil found at the pit did not match that of the surrounding layer. It is likely that the burial rites involved the community.

Just to flex their incredible creativity, the scientists named the young child’s skeleton- mtoto. Luckily, the local kauma population was consulted on the find, and the child was renamed mbitsi (mbichi), meaning ‘raw’.

Dating

Scientists at the National Research Centre on Human Evolution (CENIEH) in Burgos, Spain, employed a dating technique called luminescent dating. This technique measures the last time mineral grains like quartz were exposed to light. As mentioned, the cave is very rich in such minerals, making it the perfect place to use this technique. It placed the gravesite at 78,000 years old.

Despite this ancient date, the bones, for certain, belonged to a homo sapien. Stone tools discovered in the cave around that period support that the burial occurred during the African Middle Stone Age. Such discoveries further cement Africa as the cradle of humanity. While neanderthal populations persisted in areas around Gilbatar and Europe up to 40,000 years ago, fully developed sapien populations roamed Africa from as early as 200,000 years ago. Insane.

It is striking to note that while earlier burial sites exist in Eurasia, some dating back 120,000 years, they seem elusive in Africa for the most part. In the isolated occasions where they do, they are typically the bodies of children, carefully buried in a manner much like we’ve described above. This may suggest that careful burials were reserved for the children, whereas adults were disposed of more haphazardly in the Middle Stone Age. We can also deduce that the species may have developed full emotional capabilities by then.

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Kauma Shrine

More discoveries spanning the Late Stone Age and even as recent as the Iron Age have been made, dating back 400 years. The area is within the Mijikenda territory. In precolonial times, this Bantu community, consisting of 9 related tribes, settled near the Kenyan coast. The Kauma people, one of the Mijikenda tribes, specifically recognise the ancestral potency of the cave.

For generations, Kauma elders have gathered at the cave. A lot of work has recently been done to make the cave more accessible, but typically, it could only be accessed through a singular path called the elder’s path in Kauma. The revered elders would hold court within, give sacrifices and host initiation ceremonies within. In Mekatilili’s Secret Weapon, we spoke about the Kifudu- a traditional Giriama dance. Such dances would sometimes be held in the cave, with the music reverberating off the limestone walls. Acoustics truly worthy of the ancestors.

All of this ceased with the advent of colonial rule.

Restoration

Mara gave a riveting story on the ownership of the cave. Panga ya Saidi, which literally means Saidi’s Cave. It was acquired by Saidi as settlement for a slavery debt. I will not divulge the details as I believe that story remains Mara’s to tell, but it is insane to me what value is attached to such spaces. A recurring theme in the articles of my page.

Mara is certainly playing her part in the restoration of the space. The surrounding Msitu wa Ndoto is morphing into a natural wonderland for the modern-day adventurer, true to its name. She has liaised with the community to carve a living exhibition into the forest, including historically accurate Kauma huts and traditional crafts.

Wildlife is still respected and thriving in the coastal woodland, and she intends to keep it that way. An impressive nursery purely comprising indigenous trees is maintained and boasts a nice selection of species.

In the community surrounding the cave and forest, there exists a schism between the older generation and the younger. This is, of course, commensurate with what is going on in the rest of the country. The cave has resumed its duty of uniting the community through ceremonies.

One such event arranged last year saw the elders, in their finery, meet the members of the younger generation and have a chance to interact with them. In place of the traditional white paint, it was replaced with gold paint, adorning their bodies in a shimmer that is in line with their elder status. This evolution of culture is the only way to ensure its survival while passing it to the upcoming generation. Culture is dynamic.

Special Thanks to Mara for the invite to the storytelling event and the visit to the cave last year. It truly was a lifechanging experience that I believe many more should have. Her efforts towards the preservation of culture, either through storytelling, active participation and liasion with the community, will not go unsung for as long as I have a platform. Thankyou Mara.

Hinges of Time is a Kenyan history collective that is dedicated to teaching History the right way while commenting on current affairs. If you learned something or want to support our mission, consider getting a paid subscription. This money not only funds research and motivates writing, but it also earns you some subscriber privileges. Alternatively, you can donate directly from M-Pesa through this link.

Then there was the coup in 1982—another unsuccessful attempt to replace Moi. Whatever little patience Moi had with the opposition completely fizzled out as he retook control. The culprits were hanged while some co-conspirators opted to kill themselves rather than receive a spanking from rungu ya Moi. I get it.

Nyayo House was opened in 1982 and hosted various governmental departments, including immigration. Many of us have queued for hours on end waiting for passports. Below, in its dark, cold basement, was Kenya’s darkest secret. A series of torture chambers and holding cells designed to break the spirits of the few individuals who dared to stand up to Moi’s rule. This secret has been kept under wraps, but the KANU orphan we have for a president may have borrowed a leaf or two.

It is for that reason that we HAVE to go down to the Nyayo House basement and understand for ourselves the horrors that took place within. How else can we appreciate the sacrifices that secured us democracy?

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Here’s the thing: Mekatilili was uniquely disposed to resist the British. She was aged and widowed, a social status that allowed her certain authority. Further, she had settled properly into the role of diviner, drawing on a long history of Giriama diviners whose power she siphoned as their prophecies guided her.

The Giriama resistance, like many of the others against colonising European powers after the Berlin Conference, was unsuccessful in the long run. Their defeats marked the end of African tradition and the beginning of the new dispensation we live in to this day. That is what makes it so important to study these historical knickpoints.

In this article, we will study the specific methods that Mekatilili, a woman from a coastal Bantu tribe, used to unite her people against the invading British.

Today, we celebrate her as a fearless force IBEAC had to reckon with, but did you know that, for a large chunk of our post-independence period, Mekatilili was all but forgotten?

Reinventing Mekatilili wa Menza

Neil Carrier and Celia Nyamweru wrote a comprehensive article studying the memory of Mekatilili. The British had done such a proper job of covering up Mekatilili’s memory that 40 years removed from her death, few knew about her deeds or even her existence. It also did not help that, by virtue of being from a coastal tribe, it was easy for her lore to get diluted with the events taking place amongst more central communities.

So what prompted the remembrance?

Brief appearances in 70s History textbooks differ significantly from the importance Mekatilili receives from the 80s onwards. Neil and Celia attribute this first of all to the increasingly authoritarian rule of Daniel Arap Moi and the increasing awareness of gender issues in Kenya. It is no secret that while Moi did not tolerate dissent, he was especially harsher to his female critics.

The 1980s were recognised as the UN International Decade for Women, which coincided with this tyrannical period. Women activists like Wangari Maathai and Zarina Patel took full advantage of the period to increase women’s presence in the national limelight. They both also contributed to Mekatilili’s memory. First, Mekatilili was one of the seven heroes commemorated in the first Green Belt planted in Kamukunji on World Environment Day in 1977 by Wangari Maathai and co.

Zarina Patel included a painting of Mekatilili addressing the Giriama in a series of scenes from Kenya’s past. Granted, she did not have much information to draw on, given the little scholarly attention Mekatilili had received up to that point. All of this made historians more eager to uncover Mekatilili’s story. Whatever little oral tradition that could be gathered was counterbalanced against colonial records, and slowly but surely, the legend of Mekatilili was made alive again.

The Power of Ritual

Our girl’s number one opp was the assistant district commissioner in Kitui by the name Arthur Champion. He had directly infringed on the independence of the Giriama in May 1913 by assigning headmen to preside over 28 recently established territories in the area. Their functions would include tax collection, labour mobilisation, and general administration. Like many other Bantu communities, the Giriama were ruled by a council so investing the powers of leadership in individuals was a great slight. Tension turned into open war.

Mekatilili, who was in her own right an elder at the time, liaised with Wanje wa Mwadori Kola, a male diviner, to unite the people in resistance against the IBEAC outposts. Mekatilili had the gift of oratory, and she benefited from a prophecy. One of the great Mijikenda diviners named Mepoho had prophesied the coming of the whites as early as the 13th Century. With the fiery speeches Mekatilili was raining down from village to village, the Giriama believed she was Mepoho revived. This earned her great reverence from them.

There are two rituals Mekatilili used to secure the cooperation of her people. During the mobilisation visits, this elderly woman would dance the kifudu- a funeral dance. It was a dirge sung to aid the transportation of spirits to the realm of the ancestors. The dance could also take place during difficult times to narrow the gap between this world and the ancestral plane. They would then invite the ancestors to intervene in their worldly calamities while also uniting the members of the community.

After capturing the attention of the community with the dance, which all would join in, she orated her message of resistance to all gathered. Mekatilili oversaw the administering of oaths to her tribesmen. Savvy readers are familiar with the concept of oaths, but we have never dealt with any outside of the Kikuyu community. Well, here’s a treat.

In Kaya Fungo, the spiritual sanctuary of the Giriama, Wanje wa Mwadori administered the fisi oath to the men. Mekatilili administered the mukushekushe oath to the women. Both of these oaths (kiraho) were fatally binding. At the pain of death, the Giriama were expected to unconditionally keep the terms of the oath, i.e., to resist the British by any means and to keep the oath a secret. Some scholars believe that the purpose of the oaths was not necessarily to fight the British but to ‘try to win back those Giriama who had transferred their loyalties to the British’.

Mekatalili knew that the Giriama culture was desperately at stake, and it was to the culture that she resorted now.

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Mother Hen and her Chicks

The oaths were a force. Labour rotas were abandoned altogether, government supply wagons were ambushed, tax obligations were ignored, and the headmen were relieved of their powers by the people. Indeed, the oaths were proving to be a successful unifying factor, especially when they were preceded by Mekatilili’s sombre presentation of the kifudu.

On August 13^th, 1913, Arthur Champion met with the Giriama. He hoped he could personally charm the Giriama into ceasing the resistance while also winning recruits for the British World War 1 effort. He soon realised that it was he who was meeting the Giriama and not the other way around.
This became apparent when Kaya elders of Giriama walked into the meeting with a chicken and several of its chicks. When the meeting was called to order, the leaders expressed that they would not give a single man to the Carrier Corps for WW1. To prove their point, they had an illustration.

They placed the chicken together with the chicks at the centre of the meeting. The elders dared Arthur Champion to pick up one of the chicks. This surely wasn’t anywhere in his job description, but he obliged them. When he leaned over to grab a chick, the chicken pecked at his hand aggressively. He yanked it back on instinct.

The way the mother hen defended her chicks from being picked, the Kaya elders said, is the same way they would defend their young men from recruitment into the Carrier Corps or forced labour. Unfortunately for the Giriama, this was a non-negotiable for the British. Read on the Carrier Corps to find out how essential the unit was in the Allied offensive of the East African Front.

The whole debacle was a declaration of war. In response, the IBEAC fired indiscriminately, razed entire villages to the ground and, ultimately, partially destroyed the hallowed Kaya Fungo. This was a major psychological blow to the Giriama, but the worst was yet to come. On October 17th 1913, Mekatilili and Wanje were arrested and exiled to Kisii on the far side of the Protectorate.

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The Great Trek

It’s astounding to me as a historian that Mekatilili wa Menza was, up until the 1980s, merely an afterthought. Gets me wondering how many more unsung heroines are hiding in the archives waiting to be uncovered. As if all we have spoken about so far wasn’t enough aura on her part, there is one more event that earned her a larger-than-life reputation.

The authorities could not keep her detained for even a year. Six months after her exile, she sensationally escaped prison with Wanje by her side. Dogged at their heels with colonial authorities, they made their way East towards the coast. They must have left them for dead at some point because the pair relentlessly trudged on through the wilderness. Oral accounts recall Mekatilili throwing herself to the ground and saying a prayer of gratitude in veneration the moment she saw the first baobab tree. The telltale sign that they were not only headed in the right direction, but they were also quite near their destination.

Arthur Champion meticulously documented the Giriama resistance known locally as kondo ya chembe, a factor that allowed easy reconstruction of the history. It frustrated him just how much trouble this negligible tribe was giving IBEAC especially considering the sister tribes of Mijikenda had all but submitted to the British. As an ode to the effectiveness of Mekatilili’s secret weapon, even in her absence, Arthur noted that “every Giriama is much more afraid of the kiraho (oath) than of the government.”

Imagine his crashout upon hearing that Mekatilili had not only escaped but had made it across the protectorate back to her people!

Crushed Underfoot

He did not let the sensation of her return inspire a fresh wave of fighting. After suppressing the initial skirmishes and unsuccessfully trying diplomacy with the reinstating of Kaya Fungo, he defaulted to violence. One last ‘punitive expedition’ to teach the Giriama a lesson and re-arrest Mekatilili wa Menza.

On August 16th 1914, Mekatilili wa Menza was arrested and this time, deported to Kismayu in Somalia. With this, the Giriama resistance was officially over. She was released in 1919, as she was no longer perceived as a threat, mostly due to her old age. She still held ceremonial leadership positions in the women’s council, though. Mekatilili wa Menza, the great diviner of Giriama rested in 1924 and was buried in the Kilifi woodlands at Dakacha Hill.

Hers is a story of brevity, wit and connection with culture. Her story has withstood the test of time and the suppression of African History. For long, no picture of Mekatilili had been discovered. Historians settled for artist impressions and narrations of her likeness. I’m excited to inform y’all that an image of Mekatilili wa Menza has recently been unearthed at the University of Cambridge Archives and verified by the Malindi District Cultural Association and the Uhuru Garden’s People’s Museum. Behold, the great diviner during her brief imprisonment at Kisii in 1913. May her relevance never fade.

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The bone of contention?

58 acres of land in the constituency. Gathoni wa Muchomba- Githunguri MP, has moved to build a Huduma Centre or an affordable housing project on the land. It may sound like progress, but at what cost? Elders have vehemently opposed the project as the land is part of the Githunguri Kia Wairera Shrine. They claim it holds prophetic value and was of significance in the struggle for independence. Gathoni wa Muchomba does not give a shit.

In this article, we will study the history of the shrine, including the prophecy surrounding it. This will allow us to gauge its value against the ‘urgent development’ she is apparently trying to deliver to her constituents.

Thingira wa Iregi

Mugo wa Kibiru is hailed as one of the greatest Kikuyu andûago (prophets) in living memory. Hailing from Murang’a, he prophesied with staggering accuracy the coming of the Europeans and the railway. Even the loss of African culture to be replaced by the European’s and a generation of children born with ‘bells in their ears’ who would not listen to tribal teaching. What’s crazy is, he also provided the blueprint for the path to independence.

According to Mugo wa Kibiru, two events must have preceded the attainment of independence. First, the Thingira wa Iregi would have to be built in Githunguri Kia Wairera. It would have had to be inaugurated with the necessary ceremonies and purification rites. Only then would the country be free.

So what does this mean?

We spoke about the Iregi ageset in How Kikuyus Conceptualised Time. This is the ageset that overthrew the oppressive matriarchal rule in favour of a patriarchal society. They invented the Council of Elders or Council of Truth (Kiama) in the process, and this became the governance system of the Kikuyu up until colonial rule. Thingira wa Iregi refers to the hut of the ruling ageset. You see, Mugo wa Kibiru is believed to have lived during the waning years of Iregi. Like many of his prophesies, the establishment of an Iregi hut during the rule of another ageset made no sense at the time.

I often quote the thimo Cia thûgûrî itiyûraga ikumbî. It means ‘food acquired through trade cannot fill a granary’. ‘Githunguri’ refers to the place where such trade took place. Githunguri Kia Wairera along the Ruiru River was henceforth recognised as a part of Mugo wa Kibiru’s prophecy.

Waruguru, a mûthamaki ruling in Githunguri, learnt the truth of Mugo wa Kibiru’s prophecy bitterly in 1892. After killing a group of porters who had unwisely trespassed and caused offence in his territory, the local British administrator, Purkiss, sent a punitive expedition to settle scores. Waiyaki wa Hinga’s warning to his in-laws did little to prepare them for what followed. It allowed the British under Leslie Macdonald to defeat the Githunguri army in a single pitched battle. When it was all said and done, seven pillars of smoke rose from Githunguri as the villages were razed to the ground (Read more on this).

The second thing that would happen to signal independence was the falling of a great mugumo tree in Thika. While it stood, the country would never be free. It may not seem relevant, considering we’re talking about Githunguri, but just let me cook.

Githunguri Teachers College

In the previous article, we spoke about Senior Chief Koinange wa Mbiyu. The Chief had tried using various means to win some land back for his people, and as 1940 approached, his patience had worn thin. Koinange was a Gikuyu elder- a mûthamaki in all but title. He had been weaned on the prophecies of Mugo wa Kibiru and had watched them get fulfilled one by one. From when Count Teleki’s expedition arrived in Kiambaa in 1887, wielding the weapons Mugo had warned about, to the devastating plagues that depopulated Kikuyuland.

Since those prophecies had been fulfilled, Koinange realised he simply had to heed the rest of Mugo’s instructions to secure independence.

Koinange established the Githunguri Teachers College with his educated son, Peter Mbiyu Koinage, as the headteacher. This was a great feat as the project did not have any support from missionaries or the government. Gates opened in January 1939. When Kenyatta returned from Britain, he assumed the role of vice-principal, interchanging the top jobs with Mbiyu when he travelled abroad.

The New Iregi

The Kenya African Union grew from here and even held meetings on the grounds. The curriculum was not just limited to the syllabus prepared for Africans by the British. The educated Africans politically sensitised the rest, making them aware of the colonial situation and strategising on how to fix it. One of the Maumau veterans recalls an analogy Mbiyu Koinange used to use to drive his point home.
He would ask the students what uses coffee trees have. Most, if not all of his students had worked on a white’s coffee farm at some point. Of course, its only yield was the coffee bean. When asked about the banana tree, however, there were endless uses. Its fruits could be eaten ripe, or cooked; its leaves could make mats and be used to serve or cover food; its trunk could be fed to livestock or boiled and eaten in times of drought… the list is endless. So you can imagine their surprise when Mbiyu informed them that this coffee, which the white man exports, has a great value in the international market that does not even come close to the value of bananas.

Slowly but surely, minds were moulded to oppose the white man and Kikuyu loyalists, including Waruhiu wa Kungu, who ironically hailed from Githunguri. Kikuyu culture was emphasised in the absence of missionaries who forced Christianity as part of the education system.

The school boasted 300 boarders and 600 day scholars at its peak. It had stone-built dormitories, a dining hall, reception and kitchen. A lot of the funds had been raised by members of the African Women’s League for their daughters. Fenner Brockway, the British MP we spoke about in the previous article, visited the school and was quite impressed with the library Jomo Kenyatta had curated. According to Trapped in History, Brockway said it was:

crowded with books, anthropological, historical, social, political, with a strong bias towards Marxist works. On the walls were photographs of Lenin, Paul Robeson and Nehru. Jomo was proud of his library, and as he took one after another from his shelves and pressed them back he spoke with a genuine love of his books. I liked him more at this moment than I had ever done.

Hear me out. ‘Iregi’ literally means ‘defiant’. It was more than just an ageset. With the Kenya African Union (KAU) using the school for a mass sensitising operation and as a basecamp, the Githunguri TTC had indeed become Thingira wa Iregi. The prophecy had been fulfilled. It would take a lot more than just an institution to secure independence, though.

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The Lari Massacre Aftermath

I hate writing about Lari, but the severity of this bloodletting episode has relevance to our story. After all was said and done (read all about the Lari Massacre here), the British saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

The nationalist activities that were taking place in the school eventually caught the government's radar. As a result of the Lari Massacre, the school was closed down. Many of the buildings, including the dormitories and classrooms, were summarily demolished. Maybe this was meant to salve the loss of Senior Chief Waruhiu, but he was already 6 feet under by then, and there were fresh deaths to deal with.

As a middle finger to the nationalist movement, Githunguri TTC was chosen as the site for the trial of suspects from the Lari Massacre. It served as a detention camp, remand and courtroom. Gallows were built out back, where those found guilty were immediately hanged.

Here’s what I need you to understand: the British knew all about the prophecy. They didn’t set up camp there on a whim or because of KAU activities. They knew what the place meant to the Kikuyu spiritually. The move was meant to dampen the stirring that the Mugo wa Kibiru’s prophecy had inspired. As their brothers took to the docks one after the other, many of them being wrongfully convicted, it struck a major psychological blow to the already weakened tribe.

Instead of these events killing all their spirits altogether, the Kikuyus remembered another proverb. Gûtirî wa Iregi atûire- no one of the Iregi ageset is still alive. If all members of the great Iregi eventually died, surely death is coming for everyone sooner or later. What is one more life for the sake of independence?

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Conclusion

Freedom finally came. Even after the hallowed Githunguri Kia Wairera shrine was contaminated with the presence of the white man and the spilling of Kikuyu blood. As for the other prophecy, the British heeded it too. The ancient mugumo, which was almost five meters in diameter, was reinforced with a mound of earth and encircled with an iron ring to protect it from falling. Shortly before independence, however, the mugumo was struck by lightning. It withered at an unnatural pace and eventually died. The last of Mugo wa Kibiru’s prophecies was fulfilled.

Now, if the British- a perceived superpower whose empire was at the height of its power- heeded Mugo wa Kibiru’s prophecies, who the hell does Gathoni wa Muchomba think she is?

The upjumped journalist is a proud member of the Kikuyu tribe, yet she is on the frontline defending her actions to the press. Even if she does not care about the prophecies, as we have just explained, the area holds great historical significance during our country's struggle for independence. To annex that land to build a fucking Huduma Centre or one of those Affordable Housing monstrosities our demon of a president is forcing down our throats at our expense is honestly despicable.

There are several alternative government-owned plots where the construction can take place and yet… Imagine queuing for your ID over the grounds where people were killed while fighting for the freedoms that you are currently enjoying. Well, I guess Nyayo House exists, too, but that is a story for another day.

If you were considering giving your vote to one of these journalists who have presented themselves for candidacy, look at Wa Muchomba and rethink your decision. And if she somehow gets to read this, I hope she recognises the curse that will be upon her line if she goes through with it. Imagine teargassing elders as they peacefully protest against the upheaval. Thiirî utarîhagwo no wa ûrogi.

Hinges of Time is a Kenyan history collective that is dedicated to teaching History the right way while commenting on current affairs. If you learned something or want to support our mission, consider getting a paid subscription. This money not only funds research and motivates writing, but it also earns you some subscriber privileges. Alternatively, you can donate directly from M-Pesa through this link.

Leadership among the Kikuyu was heavily people-oriented and rarely ever rested on the shoulders of one individual. The British appointed overlords from the Kikuyu who were loyal to them, and by so doing, created a whole new problem. That is the dilemma we are going to study today.

The difference between a traditional Kikuyu leader and a puppet of the British administration best played out in the two Kikuyu chiefs, Koinange and Waruhiu. What started off as a mutual partnership devolved into competition and eventually, war.

The British tricked great African leaders, including Maasai Mbatians, Buganda Kabakas, Kikuyu Athamaki, etc., by ‘promoting’ them into the status of Chief, Senior Chief or Paramount Chief. Between you and me, chieftainship is a severe demotion. Leaders who would be revered as warlords, council moderators and prophets were now answerable to the British. This was a major auraloss.

It created the foundation of corruption- the bane of our country’s prosperity today and we will discuss exactly how this came about. Not all of the traditional leaders fell into the greed trap that the British set up. In our case, for instance, the difference was stark. And for his efforts, one of the chiefs is remembered as a great leader who steered the country towards independence. The other one got a bullet in the mouth and the only people that mourned him were the British he was in bed with and the beneficiaries of his amassed wealth.

Let’s begin.

Origins

It is unknown when exactly Senior Chief Koinange was born. Koinange wa Mbiyu was born to the wealthy Njunu clan, which lived between the Kiu and Riara rivers in present-day Kiambaa, Kiambu County. His clan was quite wealthy as it was one of the pioneer families that crossed the Chania river from Murang’a into Kiambu and bought land from the Dorobo. Koinange was a young boy when Count Teleki and Von Hohnel penetrated Kikuyuland. These two explorers took an oath of unity with Koinange’s clan at Kiambaa, granting them safe passage and guides up to Chania River.

Waruhiu wa Kungu was born in 1890 in Kimathi, Githunguri. Unlike Koinange, Waruhiu’s father was a muhoi (tenant-at-will) of the Gathirimu clan. They were not as wealthy as the Koinanges. The devastating disasters of the 1890s, including the great famine, the smallpox epidemic and the rinderpest outbreak, killed off Waruhiu’s father and his 3 younger siblings. He was raised in hardship by his elder brother Toro and was at some point even known as Waruhiu wa Toro.

The British exploited the depopulation of Kikuyu land to settle in the fertile Kiambu ridge which seemed uninhabited. With major patriarchs in the clan killed off in the 1890s disasters, Koinange became the de-facto custodian (mûramati) of his clan’s estate. This doesn’t mean he owned all the land. He was merely entrusted with the duty of sharing it amongst the inheritors. Koinange was friendly to the incoming British in accordance with the oath made by his elders all those years ago. He also recognised the advancements they brought with them and allocated them plots of land in the area owned by his family. This bromance was about to sour quickly.

In 1902, during the missionary scramble we discussed in Introduction of Christianity in Kikuyu Land, Kambui Mission was started in Gatundu. Toro, Waruhiu’s brother, was employed as a house servant and Waruhiu found himself there too. As he grew, Waruhiu had an untenable ambition and intellect that was honed with slight mission education. He volunteered to help open a new mission in Ng’enda at 1906. This move greatly endeared him to the whites, singling him out as a ‘progressive African’ who could be trusted with leadership.

The Kikuyu Association

Koinange was appointed as chief not only because he was friendly to the British but because he already held sway over the Njunu clan, one of the largest clan in Kabete (Southern Kikuyu). Waruhiu, in turn, was upjumped to chief as a result of his cooperation with the whites. From around 1910, whites were merely settling sporadically but the elaborated alienation was on its way.

The Crown Land Ordinance of 1915 declared that all land in the British East African Protectorate belonged to the British and the Africans were living on it as tenants-at-will to the Crown. Tribes which had owned and depended on the land for centuries were now living on it at the pleasure of the (British) king.

Koinange wa Mbiyu watched helplessly as the whites whom he had allocated small riverine plots, dispossessed mass acreages and moved his family, the rightful owners into reserves in Karuri, Mucatha, Ndeiya, Muguga and Lari. As the muramati of the Njunu clan land, it was his responsibility to settle his people in fertile acreages but his hands were tied on the matter. A factor that absolutely frustrated him. Koinange did not hate the whites at first. He, too, played major parts in the establishment of missions in places like Kabete. This brought him in contact with the Leakey family who play a role in this story as well.

Waruhiu, who, with his new leadership position, was also receiving major complaints from the people, joined with Chiefs Koinange, Njiiri wa Karanja, and Josiah Njonjo to form the Kikuyu Association in 1919. It was meant to be a platform through which Kikuyu grievances could be channeled upwards to the colonial government.

Things got dire in the 1920s as settler agriculture took off. Bad enough that Koinange as Senior Chief of Kiambu District had conscripted thousands of Kikuyus into the Carrier Corps for the First World War, now he was expected to present Kikuyus for labour on the same farms they once owned. Koinange detested this duty. He was entitled to a small parcel by virtue of his rank but it still pained him to watch the suffering of his people.

Unlike Koinange, Waruhiu took his promotion as the chief of the Ruiru location and later the Githunguri Division with enthusiasm and greed. Instead of using his position to help the people in his jurisdiction, Waruhiu wasted no time in ensuring his ever-growing clan had the best of the spoils. Using his newfound wealth, he purchased large tracts at Ikinu, Kiaria, Githiga and Gathugu in questionable transactions that were sealed in marriages.

From his mission days, he was extremely pro-white and heeded the British instructions. He was the type of chief we discussed in Introduction of Capitalism in KikuyuLand, who would levy a higher tax than was required and keep a percentage to himself. Some say, his loyalty to the whites stemmed from a successful surgery on one of his legs that had been affected by elephantiasis in 1916. His fellow Africans would now bear the brunt of his awakening.

The Perham Visit.

Here’s an example of Waruhiu’s love for the British and unbridled need for their approval. In Clitoridectomy Crisis, we discussed the scandalous ideological clash between the British and Kikuyu on the matter of female circumcision. It climaxed in the murder of Hulda Kumpf, an American missionary at Kijabe Mission, who was smothered to death and then brutally circumcised as a message to the British.

In Trapped in History, Nicholas Rankin explains that Chief Waruhiu was greatly incensed by this incident as it ‘had further widened the gap between the white man and the local Kikuyu’. Waruhiu sought to do something about it

Margery Perham was a British Historian and writer who was studying British governance in the colonies at the time. The handsome young chief invited her for lunch with his family in Githunguri. Margery accepted and dined with him, which was itself a big step given the interracial tensions in the colony. Waruhiu, was overjoyed as this was the first time he was hosting a white person, and yet, he had an even greater request for Margery.

To show that his people were trustworthy, and that she trusted them, would she spend a night alone among them, sleeping in a hut on a sacred hill?

Perham obliged him and told no one else about it. On the appointed day, Waruhiu picked her up from Nairobi and they drove deep into the Kikuyu Reserve. It was already dark when they got to the hill with a single, lonely hut at the top. Her belongings were placed within and she was left alone in the cold, dark hut. Margery confessed that she hardly slept a wink that night. Sounds from outside the hut of low voices and occassional coughs signalled that she was actually under guard but that did very little to put her at ease.

Anyway, morning came and with it, the chirping of birds and immaculate views of the Kikuyu countryside. Waruhiu arrived to pick her up. He thanked her for this favour and drove her back to Nairobi. Waruhiu might have meant well, but this event did very little for Kikuyu-British relations in the colony. It did a lot for Chief Waruhiu’s ego though. But while one chief was massaging his pride, another was attempting to secure real change for his people.

The Morris Carter Land Commission

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“Îî. Nîndîkûûî. Ona baba ararî Secretary General kûu Kiburi House,” he replied without taking his eyes off the road3.

He did recognise the place. What’s more, he said his dad (my grandfather) was a Secretary General there. This was insane to me. I knew that my grandparents on both sides were freedom fighters, but this… This could only mean one thing. Anyway, I descended into one of my rabbitholes, and today, after all this time, I want to share my findings with you.

Ownership

Make no mistake. I know has done a proper piece on Kiburi House. Historians’ works complement each other and that is purely my intention here.

The Kiambu Fuel Supply Company, founded by Kiburi wa Thumbi was registered in 1946. Having spread to Murang’a, Nyeri and Embu Districts, the name was changed to the Kenya Fuel and Bark Supply Company Ltd. In 1948, a building was bought by the company in Nairobi, the heart of the colony, and it became Kiburi House.

I cannot say if being a base for the underground freedom movement was the intention from the start, but according to John Kamau’s piece, it is highly likely. Only Kikuyus (Embu and Meru count here) could buy shares in the company. The shareholder list looks like a Kenya African Union (KAU) members’ manifest. Plus, it was acquired just a few years before the Kenya Land and Freedom Army formally began its operations.

Special care was taken as far as admittance is concerned. Kiburi wa Thumbi had instituted a proper screening process at the entrances. Unwanted elements could not be let in. All of this scrutiny was necessary since, apart from the fuel business, Kiburi House hosted the budding Trade Unions.

Trade Unions for Nationalism

Trade Unions fell off. I mourn what we lost. Guys like me who were born during Atwoli’s never-ending tenure in COTU cannot comprehend what sort of power trade unions wielded in this country. Having banned all political parties, trade unions became a vehicle for nationalism, uniting workers against the oppressive colonial government. Unsung heroes like Makhan Singh and Chege Kibachia organised strikes that brought entire towns to a standstill.

In 1939 for instance, African Railway Apprentices in Mombasa downed their tools, inspiring their colleagues all along the railway line. 15,000 workers held demonstrations that forced the Legislative Council to heed their needs. The mother of all strikes, known as the Nairobi General Strike of 1950 coincided with the official recognition of Nairobi as a municipality. Affairs in Nairobi were altogether halted, which was a huge embarrassment to the colonial government. British Royalty and legislators had streamed into the colony to celebrate the raising of Nairobi’s status, only to be met by a testament of the government’s incompetence.

What I’m trying to say is, by hosting trade unions, Kiburi House midwifed nationalism. Labour exploitation was one of the cornerstone elements of colonisation. The welfare of the worker was an SI unit of colonial policy. It is no coincidence that the leaders of these trade unions were also the heads of the political parties that the government was so afraid of. The trade unions housed in Kiburi House included:

• Kenya Quarry & Mine Workers Union

• Kenya Electrical Trades Allied Workers Union

• Kenya Shoe & Leather Workers Union

• Kenya National Private Security Workers Union

• Kenya Hotels & Allied Workers Union

• Kenya Union of Commercial, Food & Allied Workers

• Transport and Allied Workers Union

  etc…

Trade union activities rent the place by day; hidden from sight was a more violent approach to nationalism. The engine of the Maumau.

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Kîama Kîa Wîathi

Many of you have heard of the moderate-radical schism that existed surrounding the use of violence in the struggle for independence in Kenya. While Jomo Kenyatta and his fellow old guard were reluctant to take up arms, these young trade union leaders preached the gospel of armed struggle. Having tried and even made positive strides using peaceful means like strikes and protests, they recognised the limitations of negotiation. Armed struggle, they argued, would force the British to listen.

The Council of Freedom or Kîama Kîa Wîathi (KKW) was formed and met at Kiburi House. This was the group that organised and dictated the moves of the Kenya Land and Freedom Army. It included Kungu Karumba, Fred Kubai and Bildad Kaggia- 3 of the famous Kapenguria Six. There was also Chege Kibachia, who was first arrested and deported to Seychelles for organising the Uplands Bacon Factory Strike, which ended in bloodshed. After his release, he was mentioned as one of the organisers of the Lari Massacre, the worst bloodletting episode in the Maumau War.

In Maumau General Waruhiu Itote, aka General China, speaks on the activities of the Council. Having joined the Anake a 40 group in 1947, China received his MauMau oath in Naivasha in 1950. Back in the city, he was a fireman by day and a revolutionary by night. As a member of the Transport and Allied Workers Union, he had a proper insight into the activities of the Committee that convened the KKW.

He served as a traitor executioner on behalf of the KKW. Savvy readers understand how ironic this is, considering he was the first general to spill the beans on the Maumau operations after being arrested by Ian Henderson in 1954. This marked a turning point in the war. I digress.

As an ex-soldier, he was valued by the KKW and recorded how cases and appeals were decided by the council, either in the presence or absence of the appellant. Strategy meetings were also held, and the messages relayed to the masses, mostly in Kaloleni Social Hall- another unsung national heritage site. This is confirmed in an interview with Nyaga M’aruja, a Maumau Veteran.

Raid

In the Kikuyu Proverbs article, we mentioned the thimo, Ng’enda thîî ndîagaga mûtegi- an animal that treads the ground will sooner or later, find itself trapped.

The colonial government realised it was in a precarious position when their closest Kikuyu ally, Senior Chief Waruhiu wa Kung’u was shot in his car at Gachie. The bullet caught him right in the mouth. Get this, Kiburi wa Thumbi, the owner of Kiburi House, was in the car with him and escaped the incident unscathed. Anyway, it prompted the colonial government to declare a state of emergency and then immediately begin arresting perceived threats.

First and foremost were the Kapenguria Six. Bildad Kaggia, Paul Ngei, Fred Kubai and Kung’u Karumba were KAU’s mouthpieces so it makes sense that they were grabbed first but these were just the known individuals. Achieng Oneko delivered fiery speeches in the KAU rallies and the Kaloleni Hall meetings. Waruhiu Itote notes in Maumau General, just how secretive the inner council was, and it would take some time to smoke them out.

Louis Leakey, the colony’s authority on the Kikuyu, had established a spy network that had infiltrated deep into KAU. He slowly unearthed enough evidence of Kiburi House's activities to convince the colonial government to conduct a security raid.

In early May 1953, it finally happened—a daylight raid into the once sacred space that was Kiburi House. Several Trade Union leaders were arrested and detained. In an entry in the UK House of Commons Hansard dated 20th May 1953, Fenner Brockway enquired from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the charges for which high-ranking trade union leaders in Kenya had been arrested. The Secretary of State answered that they had been arrested as members of the KKW or Council of Freedom.

They were:

Mr. Nyamu Marah- General Secretary, Transport and Allied Workers Union

Mr. James Wainaina- Treasurer of the Transport and Allied Workers Union

Mr. Rufus Kinuthia- General Secretary of the Domestic and Hotel Workers Union, have been arrested in Kenya.

Rufus Kinuthia Macharia is my grandfather. The General Secretary of the Domestic and Hotel Workers Union. A member of the Council of Freedom subcommittee. Finding this piece of information solidified my career path and life’s purpose. I could not be prouder.

Conclusion

I wish we cared about our history as much as we should. I wish we recognised these places for what they stood for. I wish we would weigh their importance against the blood that was spilt to maintain the secrets within. We overlook Kiburi House today for the same reason it stayed under the colonial government’s radar for all those years. In Kirinyaga Road (formerly Grogan Road) downtown, away from the high-end areas of the city, Kiburi House lies forgotten.

Meanwhile, we celebrate and flock to the McMillan Library on Banda Street and the James Murumbi Memorial Museum on Kenyatta Ave. The former is the only building protected by an Act of Parliament, while the latter was constructed as an office of the first Provincial Commissioner to Nairobi. Both white monuments.

Obviously, Jomo Kenyatta, the perceived ‘leader of the Maumau’ was eager to forget about Kiburi House. He had once faced the KKW subcommittee answering to treachery charges after denouncing Maumau in a rally. The article on the extent of his Maumau ties is in the works.

I never got the chance to meet Guka. Rufus Kinuthia died in the 80s on the same day my dad had his first job interview. To be honest, I’ve never even seen a picture of him. But finding out about his efforts towards the liberation of this country, reading him in British Parliamentary documents, while legislators and settlers alike quaked in fear of the movement he helped lead, has given me a profound love and respect for the man. Seeing his name mentioned in J.M Kariuki’s Maumau Detainee, detailing the time they shared behind colonial barbed wire, has made me fondly familiar with him as though he was telling me these stories himself.

Every time I study history, particularly of the times for which he was alive, I feel like I’m having a conversation with him. Learning about the torture in detention camps allows me to feel, if only a fraction of his pain. Relaying this information forward to y’all feels like I’m continuing his life’s mission.

We never met, and yet you made me who I am. I hope I make you proud every day, Guka.

Hinges of Time is a Kenyan history collective that is dedicated to teaching History the right way while commenting on current affairs. If you learned something or want to support our mission, consider getting a paid subscription. This money not only funds research and motivates writing, but it also earns you some subscriber privileges. Alternatively, you can donate directly from M-Pesa through this link.

In the Happy Valley set, we discussed this wild aristocrat. He was indeed a founder member of the immorality clique and you will want to have read that article before we put on our hazmat suits and enter this crime scene.

So who killed Lord Errol? The truth is, as we shall soon see, there was no shortage of people who wanted him dead. That sort of thing tends to happen when you build up a reputation of recklessly sleeping with other people’s wives. He had also stacked up a lot of bad debt over the years. Apparently, even some of his previous sexual conquests had murderous intentions based on how things had ended between them.

To get to the bottom of this, we’ll have to take this back a bit. Back to a very unhappy marriage

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The Molly Marriage

We discussed the unsuitable match between Josslyn Hay and his older wife, Idina Sackville, the King and Queen of Happy Valley. To absolutely no one’s surprise, the marriage did not last. This was so for two main reasons. As they were moving to the colony, Joss did not have any money. Idina not only financed the move, but the decadent lifestyle they lived. Joss rubbed her face in it by spending all her money, driving her almost to a point of bankruptcy.

Affairs were common in Happy Valley and it was certainly not enough cause for divorce between the two as they were both engaged in sexual side quests out of wedlock. In Idina’s words, however, what she could not stand was that he had fallen in love with one of his mistresses. Historians like me are baffled by the identity of said mistress. With a guy like Joss she could literally be anyone. Regardless, divorce papers were served in 1929, marking a new chapter in the Happy Valley Set.

Josslyn Hayes had an ace up his sleeve, though. Introducing Molly Ramsay-Hill. Molly was an older, richer married woman who began fraternising with Joss in the Happy Valley circles. Joss found married women irresistible and pursued her even outside the confines of the Happy Valley. He once famously declared, “To hell with husbands!” This obviously rubbed Molly’s spouse the wrong way. When it became apparent that the marriage could not be saved, her husband opted for a divorce. But not before he caught up with Josslyn Hay at the Railway station in Nairobi, tied him to a locomotive and horsewhipped his bare back.

With the husband out of the way, Josslyn and Molly were united in holy(?) matrimony in 1930. Before long, the real reason for the marriage became plain as day. Joss had only married Molly for her money and before long, he began running through it recklessly. He treated his wife horribly causing her to go into a deep depression. She resorted to alcohol and drugs to ease her pain.

Instead of trying to make his wife’s life better, Joss instructed the house servants to give her all the drinks she wanted in the hope that she would drink herself to death. In the meantime, he continued with his gambling and womanising. He did not have to wait too long. In August 1939, Molly died of alcohol related complications. The doctors said, “The room smelt of vomit and champagne”. Historian William Sherwood uses this statement as a representation of life in the Happy Valley. Beneath all the glamour was an ugly underbelly that few people noticed.

Anyway, with his wife dead, Josslyn Hayes was not only a free man, but he was also entitled to the rest of her fortune. It was not long before he set his sights on yet another married woman. Little did he know she would be his last.

We found love in a hopeless place (Durban)

A bit further away, another unsuitable match was being cooked up. Introducing Sir Henry Jock Delves Broughton. Yet another aristocrat who had just been divorced from his wife after a long marriage. At 51 years old in 1935, he met Diana Caldwell in Durban, South Africa. She was 22 years old and a striking beauty. Of her looks, Cyril Connolly wrote:

She was one of those creamy ash blondes of the period with a passion for clothes and jewels, both worn to perfection, and for enjoying herself and bringing out enjoyment in others. Her large pale eyes would be called cold by those on whom they had not smiled, her mouth hard by those who had not kissed it.

Jock was eagerly seeking a young, beautiful paramour to fill the void left by his wife. Diana was all about the money, the jewels, the lifestyle and most importantly, the titles. It was a match made in the deepest pits of hell, yet when ‘her large pale eyes’ met his wizened gaze, the deal was done.

Kenya Colony marketing must have been working overtime in the interwar years. Just like several of the members of the Happy Valley Set, Diana and Jock moved to Kenya seeking a fresh start. What awaited them, however, would be moments of fleeting ecstasy punctuated with harsh plot twists.

The Muthaiga Meeting

From as early as 1920, Jock had frequented Kenya with his ex-wife on game safaris. He even had a farm in the upcountry. He was not only familiar with the Happy Valley Set members, but he was a regular patron of the infamous Muthaiga Country Club. He could not wait to show off his new, young, gorgeous wife to his friends at the club, one of whom was none other than well-reknown womaniser and wife-stealer Josslyn Hay.

He introduced the two to each other and skiddadled to find himself a drink. That was all the time Joss needed to rizz up Diana. In this first interaction, before they had even touched or kissed, Joss already knew he wanted her for himself. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “Who’s going to tell Jock, you or me?” Of the meeting, Diana would later say, “I was suddenly aware that I had become the most important thing in his life”.

Thus began the illicit, passionate affair between Lord Josslyn Hay- the Earl of Errol and Lady Diana Delves-Broughton.

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Love and Lust

Like we’ve mentioned, affairs were pretty common, not just among members of the Happy Valley Set but even in the Kenya Colony. This particular one was extremely embarrassing to the aggrieved party - Sir Jock Delves-Broughton, not just because his marriage was a little over a month old, but because of the agreement that latched the unsuitable marriage in place.

As if their incompatibility wasn’t clear enough already, allow me to explain the prenuptial agreement that had sealed the marriage in place. Jock was seemingly desperate to clinch Diana’s hand in marriage, judging from the terms he agreed to. Get this: according to the agreement, in case Diana met and fell in love with a younger man, Jock would not get in the way of a divorce. Further, he would continue to furnish Diana with an income of 5,000 pounds per year for a total of seven years. This was a very big sum of money back then.

Merely six months into the marriage, Diana was already taking advantage of the agreement. Josslyn, rather than play it cool with the affair, rubbed Jock’s face all in it. On December 22nd, the then Mayor of Nairobi, Lady Gwaldys Delamere (an extremely racist woman who owned Loresho ridge) held a joint birthday party for herself and Diana at Muthaiga. In the guestlists were many of Joss’s former lovers, including Lady Idina and Alice de Janze and of course, Diana’s husband. Paula Long described Diana and Joss dancing “as if they were glued together.” It was clear from then that the two were in love.

Josslyn friends and Diana’s companions conspired to ensure the success of the affair. Dickie Pembroke, founder of Pembroke House School in Gilgil, was a close companion of Diana’s who often covered for her. June Carberry was a friend of Jock’s who, in this case, proved to be a girl’s girl, facilitating accommodation for Joss and Diana. For example, from January 3rd 1941, Joss and Diana stayed at June’s house in Nyeri for the weekend. They returned on Monday and had dinner with her husband in Muthaiga Country Club as though all was well.

An anonymous note showed up in Jock’s jacket, which was hung on the rack. It read:

“Do you know your wife and Lord Erroll have been staying alone at the Carberrys’ house at Nyeri together?

An Old Fool

Jock was trying really hard to take the embarrassment like a man. In public, he smiled and seemed pleasant even when across the table from the two. This was just a front, however. According to White Mischief, Broughton was ‘cold, vindictive and vain, the sort of man who always wanted a return for his money, who never forgot an injury and would eventually look for his revenge’. His chance would come soon enough but not before further embarrassment.

Diana and Jock held a dinner party at their house in Karen on January 12th 1941. Though it started on an off note with the mayor picking a rather long argument with one of the guests, things picked up. Gwaldys Delamere played handmaiden to the affair after calling Lord Errol aside. In secrecy, Joss confessed his love for Diana and that he meant to marry her. Gwaldys’ advice was to ‘make a clean breast of it’ ie. to come clean to Jock rather than keeping the affair illicit.

Gwaldys did not stop there. Diana was giving her a tour of the house when she asked point-blank, “Do you know Joss is very much in love with you?” Diana was no stranger to the fact. Gwaldys, offering unsolicited advice yet again, told Diana to jilt her old husband. “He has had his life,” she said. Gwaldys was aware of the prenup and believed it was time to invoke it. Diana confessed that she was not ready to go through with it, but it was Gwaldys’ official approval that finally goaded her to do it once and for all.

Having spoken to Dianna and Joss, it was now time to speak to Jock Delves Broughton. While Jock and Gwaldys watched Diana and Joss dancing, she asked him blankly, as was her manner, “Do you know that Joss is wildly in love with Diana?” The question took him aback. Although it was plain as day already, that conversation now cast it in stone. Jock lost his grip on his wits.

On 13th January, Jock received another letter in his coat pocket at Muthaiga.

You seemed like a cat on hot bricks at the club last night. What about the eternal triangle? What are you going to do about it?

To find some clarity, Jock travelled to Nanyuki to visit his friend Jack Soames. Meanwhile, Diana visited June Carberry at her house in Malindi. Unbeknownst to Jock, Joss was to join her at Athi River station and they would descend to the coast together for a baecation.

He had had enough. When Diana informed him that she had spoken to a lawyer about the divorce on 21st January, Jock figured he would cut his losses and travel to Ceylon. He told his friend Jack Soames that he would travel alone to Ceylon. There was nothing left for him in Kenya. That night, a third anonymous letter appeared in his jacket at Muthaiga:

There’s no fool like an old fool. What are you going to do about it?

Body in the Buick

On 23rd January 1941, Josslyn Hay, Diana Broughton, Jock Broughton and June Carberry had dinner in Muthaiga Country Club. Jock toasted to the well-being of the happy couple (Joss and Diana) and wished them good fortune in their future. He drunk quite a lot that night. Jock and June remained in Muthaiga drinking until quite late in the night, while Joss and Diana went to Clairmont House in the city to dance. Diana loved dancing.

As arranged, Joss drove her back to Karen at 2am. He escorted her into the house, where they exchanged goodbyes. He wouldn’t make it home that night. His car was found at the Karen Road junction the following morning with his lifeless body still in the driver’s seat.

The news spread like wildfire as the police took over the scene. By then, however, a large crowd of curious onlookers and Karen residents had been all over the crime scene. The retrieval of the body and transportation of the car to Nairobi were all done in such a careless manner. Whatever evidence could have been collected from the crime scene had ultimately been destroyed. The investigation would prove to be a daunting task. The murder of an aristocrat in the Kenya Colony, in the middle of a world war was quite sensitive and there were so many conflicting jurisdictions. Not to mention, the diseased was a member of the Happy Valley Set.

Investigation and Trial

True to their incompetence and the reckless evidence collection, their first suspect was not the most obvious one. Alice de Janzé, who we spoke about in the previous post was arrested for the murder.

The reason was simple, she had a history with gun violence as we discussed and had been known to shoot men she had feelings for point blank. Joss was one of her former lovers, and it was said that a part of her was still infatuated with him and was probably jealous of his current paramour. One of her Kikuyu workers at her home near Ol Kalou even quoted her saying after a long rant about the Earl, “One day, I’m going to kill him.”

Her conduct during the viewing of Josslyn’s body also raised eyebrows. Apparently, she kissed him on the lips and whispered in his cold, dead ear, “Now you are mine forever”. Alice even confessed to the murder, both to the police and in her memoir written years later, but let’s face it, this woman was crazy. The police concluded as much, too. After all, she was in her Kinangop house on the night the murder was committed. Despite her protests, Alice was released.

It wasn’t until 7 weeks after the murder that Jock Delves-Broughton was arrested and prosecuted. If the prosecution thought they had a slumdunk case, they had another thing coming. Jock had airtight alibis. He had been drinking with June Carberry all night, and the two were together in the house at 2 am. Further, it was illogical to say that he had committed the murder at the Ngong-Karen Roads junction and then walked all the way back home. Considering his age and arthritis, his absence from the house would surely have been noticed.

The prosecution’s only hope was to tie Jock to the murder weapon, and this is where things started getting murky. So apparently, he had filed a lost weapons report for his two revolvers a mere two days before the murder. While this could have been an acquitting factor, it made him look more guilty. You see, there was no sign of a break-in at the Karen Mansion. Further, it would mean that the crime was, in fact, premeditated.

Jock Delves was a millionaire aristocrat, which means his lawyer was an absolute courtroom demon who ate the prosecution alive. Morris, the defence lawyer, was also a ballistics expert. The prosecution tried to implicate Jock by comparing the collected bullets previously fired from Jock’s gun to the one fired at Joss and found they were a match. Morris made short work of this by proving in court that the bullet that killed Joss could not have come from any Colt Revolver.

The case collapsed, and Jock Delves Broughton was acquitted.

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No Convictions Only Conspiracies

So what really happened? Who do you think killed the Earl?

The answer is quite simple, really. Jock Delves Broughton certainly had the motive. He was being embarrassed on a nightly basis and was the laughing Jock of the whole colony (see what I did there😂). Although he agreed to a divorce, he had wavered a bit as revealed by Jack Soames during the trial. Further, the financial implications of the divorce were not a reality he was looking forward to facing. This was not all that the trial brought to light.

During the cross-examination, June Carberry, Gwaldys Delamere, Dicky Pembroke, Hugh Dickinson and honorary members of the Happy Valley Set took the stand. The hedonistic, wife-swapping activities were discussed at great length. All that just for Jock to walk free.

One of the pieces of evidence that confirms Jock’s guilt is a posthumously released recording of a man named Maxwell Trench who was John Carberry’s (June’s husband) friend and a neighbour in Karen. Maxwell recorded a tape in the 70s regarding the murder not only confirming that Jock did it but revealing how.

Jock had snuck into the back of Josslyn’s car on that fateful night as he escorted Diana into the house. He had then waited patiently until they were at the junction to empty his gun into Josslyn’s head. Turns out, Delves had pre-arranged for a lift from Athen Philip, a doctor working in the CBD. He was to meet him at the junction at 2 am. Things went swimmingly, and Jock was dropped back home before anyone had noticed he was gone.

He incriminated himself further in the morning when he lit a bonfire in the garden to incinerate a white shirt and a white pair of shoes. White scuff marks from the polish in his white shoes were found in the legwell of the backseat. Without anything to nail it to, the prosecution did not even bother bringing it up.

Jock did this in the presence of Juanita Carberry, at his garden, June’s young stepdaughter. He actually confessed to the murder to her at that moment. June swore her to secrecy, though. Even when she revealed as much to the court, her testimony could not be taken seriously due to her age.

Conclusion

There is no happy ending to this long colonial murder article that you’ve persevered to this point. The murder remained unsolved.

A guilty conscience weighs heavily on even the worst men. Jock Delves Broughton limped back to England to avoid the social stigma from the trial. He was not in the clear there either, considering he was now twice divorced and news of the trial had travelled far. His arthritis also flared up excessively. This tart cocktail of pain and guilt led him to take his own life in Liverpool on 5th December 1942.

As for Diana, she took a trip to the Maasai Mara to clear her head after the death of her beloved Earl. She is also said to have mourned the passing of Jock Delves, who had died before they officiated the divorce. Soon after, however, she married Gilbert Colville, a wealthy landowner. In 1955, she divorced him for his best friend, Lord Delamere- another founding member of the Happy Valley Set. She finally became a Baroness with a huge inheritance. She stayed on in Kenya till her death and was a common sight in hotels and spas in Naivasha in the 60s and 70s with her nose buried in a book.

ps. If you hadn’t figured it out yet, the person leaving the notes in Jock’s coat pocket was Gwaldys Delamere. She was the only one aware of those facts, and as she divulged in the trial, she actually hated Jock’s guts despite the friendly demeanour. I really cannot understate how evil this woman was. Psychologically torturing a man with his wife’s infidelity and driving him to the point of committing murder was merely a fraction of it. This was the mayor of Nairobi, mark you. She deserves her own article.

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