11/19/2003
WECHE MOKADHO
JEXJALUO ****
;
MAU MAU FIGHTERS NOT THE REAL HEROES
Michael Mundia KamauP.O. Box 58972
00200 City Square
Nairobi
Kenya
9th November 2003
The Managing Editor
Sunday Nation
Nation Media Group
P.O. Box 49010
00100 GPO
Nairobi
Kenya
Dear Sir
RE: "MAU MAU FIGHTERS NOT THE REAL HEROES",
LETTER TO THE EDITOR APPEARING IN THE
SUNDAY NATION OF 2ND NOVEMBER 2003
My attention is drawn to R.A. Massie-Blomfield's
letter titled "Mau Mau fighters not the real heroes",
appearing in the Sunday Nation of 2nd November 2003
(http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/02112003/Letters/Letters021120030.html),
and take exception to Mr. Blomfield's belated attempt
to both potray the Mau Mau movement in a negative
light and glorify the fallen British Empire.
In his brief misguided remarks, Mr. Blomfield puts
aside a hundred years of historical injustice in the
country now known as Kenya and attempts to blacklist a
movement that inspired the likes of Nelson Mandela and
Malcolm X. By extension, Mr. Blomfield condemns a
government that continues to host the privileged white
community in Kenya, world renowned intellectuals like
Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X who have been
instrumental in easing global racial tensions and
influencing integration, and the Kenyan nation at
large, which held it's breath in May and June of 2003
at the prospect that the long lost one time Mau Mau
leader General Stanley Mathenge Mirugi was alive and
well.
Mr. Blomfield claims that he loves this country, that
we owe Mau Mau nothing, and is of the opinion that the
British Empire has no equal in world history in terms
of humanity and benign dedication to the welfare of
its subjects. These sort of remarks are not helpful at
all in healing old wounds and in moulding our fragile
country into a nation that encompasses diverse
cultures and races. On the 23rd of September 1999
(http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/230999/Letters/Letters5.html),
the Nation Media Group was indeed kind enough to
publish a letter I wrote to you carrying these very
sentiments.
Where was Mr. Bloomfield in the year 1890 when
Fredrick Lugard of the Imperial British East Africa
Company began harassing the Kikuyu for their women and
food ? Where was Mr. Bloomfield in the year 1892 when
the British administration kidnapped Kikuyu chief
Waiyaki Wa Hinga and buried him alive along the coast
of Kenya, for defying Lugard's demands and burning
down his fortress ?
Where was Mr. Bloomfield in the year 1905 when the
British, determined to build the Kenya-Uganda railway
line and reeling from the Nandi resistance, tricked
Orkoiyot Koitalel arap Samoei into a meeting for an
agreement, where Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen and
his troops callously shot Samoei and killed him during
the conference ?
Where was Mr. Bloomfield in the year 1953 when "The
Kapenguria six" led by founding president Mzee Jomo
Kenyatta ,were sentenced to jail and hard labour at a
stage managed trial presided over by Judge Ransley
Thacker, with stage managed witnesses like Rawson
Macharia whose false testimony has been an open secret
ever since ? In this particular regard, Mr. Bloomfield
contradicts himself by stating that "one of the best
things the British Government did was to ensure that
the Mau Mau rebellion was put down and the country
handed over to a lawfully elected government",
ignoring the unlawful treatment that the lawfully
elected government was subjected to.
Race relations are still a sensitive, hostile and
unaddressed feature of Kenya today. Very little effort
has been made at fostering lasting integration, which
has invariably led to the divergent moulding of three
distinct races in Kenya : African, Asian and
Caucasian. Though the roots of this are historical, no
effort has been made to re-write history. The move
towards evolving an intergrative nation representative
of our different backgrounds, will contribute to all
of us "loving" this country as Mr. Bloomfield puts it,
rather than misguided sectarian attacks.
The White and Asian communities are still privileged
and protected communities in Kenya, thanks to the
patronage of the "lawfully elected governments" of
Presidents Kenyatta and Moi as Mr. Bloomfield would
put it. The two communities have not been targets of
ill-conceived schemes by the likes of Robert Mugabe in
Zimbabwe, Idi Amin in Uganda or George Speight in
Fiji. The white community continues to own expansive
tracts of land across the country when this country is
faced with a crippling land crisis, which Mr.
Bloomfield is taking for granted.
All of us in this country have a duty and
responsibility to address this and other crucial
aspects of our history, such as those raised by Mr.
Bloomfield, in a sane and objective manner. It is from
here that the healing process can begin. Attempts to
re-create the fallen and detested British Empire will
only compound our problems. So many old and painful
wounds remain unhealed and untreated, as this country
embarks on and embraces a third generation of
leadership.
We need to stop taking this country and ourselves for
granted and firmly set foot on the road to recovery,
healing and sanity. This road more than the road to
the visa offices of the U.S. Embassy and British High
Commission, is what holds the key to our future.
Michael Mundia Kamau
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