I STOPPED ATTENDING CHURCH AFTER A PRIEST SLAPPED ME HARD AND PULLED MY EAR - PETER WANYOIKE KABIRU

Mau Mau war survivor, Peter Wanyoike Kabiru, talks about the Mau Mau war and what he witnessed at the time, the Lari massacre (which he says was the epicentre of the Mau Mau war), schooling in a time of war, and the strange behaviour of white priests from the African Inland Mission, the Anglican and the Catholic Churches. He provides some names of Mau Mau fighters in Gatamaiyu, Lari, where he grew up. His father, Kabiru wa Kandenye, joined fellow fighters in the forest, sacrificing his youth and enduring the ordeal of life in the forest for years. His mother, who had also taken the oath, was taken to detention camp after she failed to disclose the whereabouts of her husband. He also talks about land and what it took to acquire it after independence, decrying the treatment of Mau Mau war heroes by the independent African government, but says that many eventually bought land in the Rift Valley and elsewhere. After the detention of his mother, Wanyoike and his siblings were taken in by their auntie. Getting an education was not easy; he describes the challenges of getting an education, particularly for the children of Mau Mau. Both parents later returned and the difficult journey of re-building their lives began. #maumau #kenya #africa