WILD ANIMALS COULD ONLY ATTACK IF YOU SMELT OF SOAP, CIGARETTES OR FIRE - CAPT. JORAM MUCHUNI

Capt. Joram Muchuni is a Mau Mau veteran who took part in various battles, including the battle of Othaya and Rui Ruiru. According to him, oathing started when Kenyatta was incited to fight for independence by Fenna Brockway. Upon arrest, Kenyatta said that young people should continue with the fight. He tells of how he joined the fighters in the forest and how he was arrested and detained in the notorious Manyani Prison. Like most people, he joined the forest forces with nothing but a panga. Most people who went into the forest were initially not aware that they would be involved in war, but were later trained and they became fighters. They started ambushing colonial forces, beheading the colonial soldiers and taking their guns. He also narrates about the battle of Othaya, in which he took part. It was an interesting battle because it was raining, and Mau Mau forces who were on both ridges across Thuti river were unknowingly shooting at each other, while colonial forces lay low in the valley. He also narrates about the Battle of Rui Ruiru, in which Mau Mau completely routed the colonial forces, killing many and forcing them to call for reinforcements from as far as way as Nanyuki. He illustrates his narration with Mau Mau songs, which were often composed to document the battles. He is certain that Stanley Mathenge died and never went to Ethiopia. At one time, there were negotiations to end the war. At the meeting between elders on both sides, the colonialists brought food but no senior Mau Mau leader took part. No truce was declared because Mau Mau declined to surrender the guns, which the colonialists interpreted as bad faith. The other issue of contention was that the colonialists did not guarantee to grant independence if Mau Mau laid down their arms. He also says there were women fighters in the forest, but they were assigned non-combat duties, and also reveals that in the forest, Mau Mau fighers did not live together in one huge barracks. Instead, they lived in small bands of men who could hide easily and move without living a trail. Very interestingly, he says that the Mau Mau fighters lived rather harmoniously with wild animals in the forest, for they discovered that wild animals could not attack you if you were not smelling of soap, cigarettes or fire. If you smelled naturally, the animals believed you were just another animal and didn't attack you. He refused to reveal the details of the oath, but offered to administer the oath to us. In prison, they were encouraged by media reports showing that politicians. In Manyani, JM Kariuki, Peter Muigai and musician Chinda Gikombe were recruited as motivation speakers.