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Dedan Kimathi vs. Stanley Mathenge
A rivalry between Kimathi and Mathenge fermented during the heydays of the Maumau insurgence. Kimathi was originally subordinate to Mathenge. Although he was literate, he did not have any military experience. Prior to eloping into the forest, he was working at KCC in Thompson’s falls (Nyahururu) by day and the head overseer of oathing in the Rift Valley by night. Mathenge on the other hand was an ex-soldier. Kimathi’s voice was high-pitched while Mathenge’s was deep and commanded attention. The latter standing over 6 feet, towered over Kimathi’s somewhat short stature. Whereas Kimathi was rigid in his decisions, Mathenge was reasonable and could negotiate which came in handy during a crisis.
By HINGES OF TIME8 months ago in History
Clitoridectomy Crisis (1930)
A grievance that sparked a division amongst the Kikuyu and deteriorated their relationship with the British government is the issue of Female Genital Mutilation also known as clitoridectomy. It first came to the attention of the missionaries in 1906 when some Kikuyu girls were rushed to Thogoto Mission Hospital after their circumcision wounds had gone septic. Appalled by the practice, missionaries all over the central region campaigned against it. Although they attempted to handle the issue as a clinical matter, it was evident that this was foremost a cultural issue. The Kikuyu, under the Jomo Kenyatta-led KCA (Kikuyu Central Association), perceived it as such; an onslaught on their rites and customs. This is so because the rite was important in the stages of life of a kikuyu woman.
By HINGES OF TIME9 months ago in History
Louis Leakey's beef with Kenyatta
Despite having a meticulous 1400-page work about the Kikuyu people written, Jomo Kenyatta beat Louis Leakey by having the first Kikuyu ethnographic book Facing Mount Kenya, printed in 1938. As a PhD holder, Leakey could not help but hold resentment for Kenyatta who was now a published author (without even having a degree) while his own magnum opus gathered dust in a safe. Leakey was considered by many others but mostly himself as the expert on Kikuyu knowledge. Its as though he owned that knowledge and it was only his to disseminate. In fact, Leakey believed Kenyatta had plagiarized some of his material on circumcision rites without acknowledgement.
By HINGES OF TIME9 months ago in History
BULLA KARATASI MASSACRE. Content Warning.
Garissa was burning by 7 am on November 11, 1980. During the night, the Provincial Commissioner had declared a State of Emergency imposing a daytime curfew over the whole province. The police and military contingents in armoured vehicles descended on the town, shooting at everyone and everything. Houses were set on fire while locked from the outside. Innocent civilians were beaten up and killed while women faced sexual atrocities. A message was shouted from a loudspeaker as the sunrose urging everyone in the town to gather at Garissa Primary School. Indeed, many of them never even made it there, and for the ones who did, more suffering awaited them.
By HINGES OF TIME9 months ago in History
MAUMAU GENERAL'S GRAND RETURN?
47 years after his disappearance, the country rejoiced at the alleged return of the former Maumau General, Stanley Mathenge. He had been invited by the then President Mwai Kibaki who had been sworn into power a few months prior after a journalist had claimed to have found the former guerrilla still in exile in Ethiopia. The new Kibaki regime had signaled a new era of hope and although Mathenge’s return was perceived as yet another good omen, it deteriorated into an embarrassing scandal after the man claiming to be Mathenge turned out to be an Ethiopian farmer.
By HINGES OF TIME9 months ago in History
How Wangari Maathai saved Uhuru Park
In 1989, Wangari Maathai became privy to speculation that a huge building was going to be erected in Uhuru Park. Immediately she heard about it, she wrote a letter to the Finance Minister enquiring about the building. The details she found out about the project were appaling. The proposed building was the Times Media Trust Complex. It would be 60 stories high and would fundamentally alter the facade of the city as it was. Uhuru Park was already shrinking as a result of encroaching; such a gigantic complex would end the park altogether. The construction would be funded by a huge loan that the government could never be able to payback. After discussing it with the executive committee of the Greenbelt Movement, it was time to take action.
By HINGES OF TIME9 months ago in History
LOUIS LEAKEY'S CONTROVERSIAL LEGACY
Despite having a meticulous 1400-page work about the Kikuyu people written, Jomo Kenyatta beat Louis Leakey by having the first Kikuyu ethnographic book Facing Mount Kenya, printed in 1938. As a PhD holder, Leakey could not help but hold resentment for Kenyatta who was now a published author (without even having a degree) while his own magnum opus gathered dust in a safe. Leakey was considered by many others but mostly himself as the expert on Kikuyu knowledge. Its as though he owned that knowledge and it was only his to disseminate. In fact, Leakey believed Kenyatta had plagiarized some of his material on circumcision rites without acknowledgement.
By HINGES OF TIME9 months ago in History
The Morris Carter Land Commission (1932)
The Closer Union plan (see Colonial Villains: Edward Grigg) was meant to unite Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika colonies into a single British East African federation. In the spring of 1931, East African delegates were invited to London to ‘represent the Native Races’ and tell the Joint Committee on Closer Union what they thought about the government of East Africa. The ones from Kenya were Rev. Ezekiel Apindi, president of the Kavirondo Taxpayers Welfare Association, from the west, up near Lake Victoria; the Kamba sub headman James Mutua, from the country east of Nairobi; and Chief Koinange wa Mbiyu, the president of the Kikuyu Association. This experience of immersion into the imperial capital of London was also meant to dazzle them enough to tell of England’s modernity upon returning back to the colonies.
By HINGES OF TIME10 months ago in History
The Northern Frontier District
Days after independence, the North-Eastern region of Kenya threatened to secede and join Somalia. The high Somali population in the area, marginalization during colonial times and the dream of an all-Somali republic fueled this agitation for secession. The Kenyan government under Jomo Kenyatta would go on to fight a prolonged war with the resident Cushite tribes punctuated by, war crimes, massacres and unprecedented amounts of sexual violence that have had effects on the region to this day.
By HINGES OF TIME10 months ago in History
The Tigoni Evictions
The seeds that led to the bloodshed at Lari were planted about 20 miles South East at a place called Tigoni. Tigoni is a fertile, well drained area bordered by the Tigoni and Ithanji Rivers. The beautiful countryside had favourable climate and was one of the most precious acreages of Kikuyu-land south of the Chania River. By 1906, the region was accupied by 10 kikuyu clans (mbari) who held ancestral claims to the land and had also employed tenants (muhoi, plural- ahoi).
By HINGES OF TIME10 months ago in History
The Nairobi Incident
If, by any chance you find yourself in a matatu from Thika Rd (especially the ones that ply the Kasarani-Mwiki road) heading to town, its not unlikely to find some traffic around Muthaiga all the way to the city. To avoid this, the driver is likely to detour at Ngara, a route that will likely take you through Grogan Rd downtown. The street is full of shady spare parts dealers and mechanics in work overalls that have seen better days. Before buildings came up in that street, the strip of land belonged to Ewart Grogan, a pioneer colonialist who judged, somewhat correctly, that the centre of the newly established Nairobi would be somewhere around there. Stories of the man who traversed the entire span of the continent to win his dream girl then settled in the East African Protectorate and built his fortunes from scratch have been told but underneath was a ruthless reputation and brutish nature which can never be erased from memory.
By HINGES OF TIME10 months ago in History
