HOW TWO BEAUTIES WERE USED TO LURE A KILLER HOME GUARD - FULL INTERVIEW WITH NG'ANG'A WA MIRURU

Various Mau Mau scholars, including Prof. Tabitha Kanogo, have documented how the Mau Mau movement took root in the Rift Valley in the 1940s. Mau Mau veteran and survivor Ng'ang'a wa Miruru, with family roots in Gatundu but currently residing in Nakuru, demonstrates a very keen memory and knowledge of such matters. Mr. Ng'ang'a gives details of the events leading to Mau Mau oathing in the Rift Valley region. Most of these activities were planned at at a place with a funny name, Thugunui, in Nakuru. It is these activities that led to the repatriation of the Kikuyu from the Rift Valley, and their return to Central Kenya. At the height of the war, a notorious killer home guard was killing people wantonly in Gatundu and had to be dealt with. Mau Mau used two patriotic ladies to lure him from the police post into a hut where fighters were waiting. Ng'ang'a also explains how the Mau Mau army was formed, and how leaders with military experience were sourced from among the veterans of World War II. Weapons were sourced from friendly African police officers, such as Waruru Kanja who later became a member of parliament and minister. Apparently, according to Ng'ang'a, Achieng Oneko was supposed to join Mbiyu Koinange in Britain to agitate for freedom but the war nipped this plan in the bud. He also narrates the detention of his father, and how his father was saved by a sympathetic police chief, Luhya from Western Kenya. His narrative lends credence to the view that some Africans, including non-Kikuyu, were Mau Mau sympathisers. It is likely that if independence had not come when it did, the next war would have involved every Kenyan. #kenya #maumau #africa #africanhistory #africanindependence #war #uhuru #liberationwar #homeguard