Mau mau rebellion case study

It as was also referred to as Kenya’s emergency because of the state of emergency that came into handy with advent of the said revolt. After the advent of the movement there came Kenya’s independence and which was also as a result of the Mau Mau’s rebellion which today serve as the prime cases for African countries which were basically under the British colonialism. The subject matter of this case study is the anti-colonial struggle that the Mau Mau represented. After a careful research on the topic, my objective is to make it open enough that with the expansion or rather the establishment of the British colonial territory in Kenya, it all did meant nothing as far as the peach for these Africans concerned.

In fact, it was quite the opposite. KAU began to unify the country of Kenya and was a clear step towards independence from the British. It publically acknowledged the majority view of Kenyans, who were striving for social and political equality while still opposing colonization. However, Kenyan independence would have been impossible without the Mau Mau Movement and the massive leaps it made towards autonomy. The Mau Mau formed after years of resistance to oppression under colonial rule. This colonial situation between the oppressor (the British) and the oppressed (the Kenyans) resulted in a nationwide anti-colonial attitude. After years of this exploitation of both their natural and human resources, the Kikuyu formed the Mau Mau as a last resort resistance to their colonial situation.

First the KAU and then the Mau Mau people fought for political power, employment, freedom, higher education, but most importantly: land and equality. The struggle for land was perhaps the most oppressive. Kenyans were forced to fight for the very same farmland that was stripped from them by the British. The battle for equality was the root problem for this colonial situation. Resistance to colonialism became the widespread opinion in Kenya during the 1950s. However, when the results were not as progressive as the people, they needed to turn to violence as a last resort. The quest for land and equality through the KAU did not move as quickly as it should have, and thus militancy was a necessary consequence (Clough, 1992; pg.

The Mau Mau provided this militancy. They needed violence to oppose gradualism while also opposing colonialism (Simpson, 2002; pg. Though the British claimed the Mau Mau was only a criminal wave, these attacks should only be defined as armed rebellion against an unjust administration. The fear in the minds of the British gave the Mau Mau their greatest advantage in the fight for independence. The Mau Mau were able to highlight this weakness as their own strength grew in numbers and in confidence. During 1952, the Mau Mau numbers grew rapidly and self-confidence rose proportionally. “Because of their numbers, the Kikuyu had greater powers of protest and their structure gave them cohesion in action,” which led to political strength, their ultimate goal (Gatheru, 2005; pg.

The British and the Kenyans clearly had opposing viewpoints on colonization. They also differed on their view of what the Mau Mau was and what it represented. It is important to note the major reasons Britain colonized Kenya in the first place. The British justified the colonization of Kenya by claiming that they went to “open up the country” and end the slave trade while bringing civilization (Peterson, 2006; pg. I can refute this stance merely by stating that the Kikuyu were already a highly civilized people. Still, however, their impact among the people of Kenya did not go unnoticed. Kenya’s independence formally declared the end of British reign in their country. During the long struggle many sacrifices were made to decolonize Kenya and finally they were rewarded.

The Mau Mau helped prove that colonialism is an oppressive and unstable system that cannot last, which finally led to decolonization (Simpson, 2002; pg. The structure and political processes the British set in place with colonialism made opposition and resistance inevitable. They made the colossal significance of independence unmistakable and demonstrated the lengths Africans needed to go to in order to achieve it. Conclusion To wrap up the case study, it is important to note that, the British were the only colonialists in Kenya and that they first came to Kenya in the year 1895 whereby first acted as missionaries and later went ahead to be Kenyan colonizers. Like most country’s origins, Kenyans also formed radical rebellion unions that eventually led to the liberation of Kenya as a country in the year 1964.