Histories of the hanged : the dirty war in Kenya and the end of empire

454 Pages·2005·4.61 MB·English

by  Anderson

Histories
of the
Hanged
Histories
of the
Hanged
The Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire
David Anderson
Copyright © 2005 by David Anderson
Published in Great Britain under the title Histories of the Hanged:
Britain’s Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire
All rights reserved
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write
to Permissions, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10110
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Anderson, David, 1957–
Histories of the hanged: the dirty war in Kenya and the end of empire / David
Anderson.—1st American ed.
p. cm.—
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-0-39307974-6
1. Kenya—History—Mau Mau Emergency, 1952–1960. I. Title.
DT433.577.A53 2005
967.62'03—dc22
2004024804
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
www.wwnorton.com
W.W. Norton & Company Ltd.
Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT

Contents
List of Maps and Tables
Prologue: The Hanged
1 The Hidden History of an Anti-Colonial Rebellion
Making a Rebellion
Emerging Violence
2 Burying the Past
Chief Waruhiu
Jock Scott and Judge Thacker
Going to War
Christmas Eve in Nyeri
3 ‘Parasites in Paradise’: Race, Violence and Mau Mau
‘A sunny land for shady people’
Killing Bwana
‘Them or us’
Paradise Postponed
4 Death at Lari: The Story of an African Massacre
Victims and Vengeance
A Deeper History
Courtroom Dramas
Executions
Colonial Consequences
5 Struggles in the City: Mau Mau in Nairobi
African Life in Eastlands
Terrorizing the Tai-tai
Operation Anvil
Fighting Back
Corruption at City Hall
6 General China’s War: Freedom Fighters in the Forests
Flight to the Forests
Bugles and Battles
Surrenders
Psycho Docs and Pseudo Ops
7 Crimes of Punishment: Law and Disorder in Kikuyuland
Carrots and Sticks
Ruthagathi: Kenya’s Belsen
Excessive Force
The Gulag
8 Spoils of War: Decolonizing Kenya, Memorializing Mau Mau
Coming Home
Kenyatta: ‘The Reconciler’
Monuments, Museums, Movies
Mathenge’s Return
Appendix: Tables
Notes
Glossary
Chronology
Acknowledgements
Maps and Tables
Maps
1.i Kikuyuland, c. 1952
4.i Kiambu District, showing Lari and Tigoni, c. 1952
4.ii Tigoni Township Reserve, c. 1929, showing Kikuyu githakas
5.i Nairobi’s Eastlands in the 1950s
5.ii Nairobi and its environs, c. 1954
6.i The forest camps of the Aberdares (from Barnett & Njama)
Tables
1.i Kenya’s population by race, selected years 1905–63
2.i Nyeri Christmas Eve attacks, December 1952: the convictions
3.i Murders of European settlers: the accused and their sentences
4.i The Lari hanged
5.i African population in Nairobi, by origin
5.ii Closure of shops in Pumwani, 1954
7.i Convictions for Mau Mau offences, October 1952 to March 1958
7.ii Capital punishment convictions in Kenya, October 1952 to October 1959
7.iii Monthly returns of Special Emergency Assize Courts, March 1954 to
December 1956
7.iv Selected collective punishments in Kirinyaga, 1952–6
7.v Comparative prison populations, East and Central Africa, 1938
7.vi Daily average number of Mau Mau detainees and convicts, December 1954
to August 1959
Jomo Kenyatta, photographed at the Pan-African Congress meeting in
Manchester, 1945.
The co-defendants at the Kapenguria trial; Paul Ngei, Fred Kubai, Jomo
Kenyatta, Achieng Oneko, Kungu Karumba and Bildad Kaggia wait to enter the
courtroom.