MAU MAU; the uncelebrated 'culture'

When most people hear about the Mau Mau, what comes in mind is big masculine men in dreadlocks who 'lived' in the forest and only came out to the open when they were carrying out attacks on their colonizers. Many of us up to now, fail to realize that Mau Mau, which was actually not their name, but used by the 'mzungu' to degrade them, was more of a community effort that demanded the participation of all including kids and women. Like Keith a friend of mine put it, Mau Mau can actually be defined as more of a culture than just a simple organization. It had every aspect of a way of living, from appearance, language, and had even developed songs and legend stories that were meant to educate and bide its members together.

Growing up as a kid i never had much to watch about this culture that pertained in the 50s but i had a lot of books to read about them. My mum being a teacher, always ensured that our library was full of literature material that would keep us busy. She also didn't encourage watching TV so the only option for me to keep myself busy was through reading. Most of the books on the Kenya Land Defense Force that i came across back then, were quite boring, probably due the fact that i was young and couldn't comprehend too much. But this changed when i landed my hands on the Njamba Nene series that were meant for kids, that is Njamba Nene and the Flying Bus, and Njamba Nene and the Pistol, both written by Ngugi wa Thiong'o. 

What Ngugi wa Thiong'o had done by writing those two books was create a child character, a young boy by the name Njamba Nene who would proceed to show how kids and women too had actively participated in the Mau Mau war. In the first book, we see Njamba Nene's mother, Wacu, teaching his young son the songs that the Kenya Land Defense Force had come up with to help pass their message on. The young boy proceeded to teach the songs he had learned from his mother to his fellow school mate, an act that got him expelled from the school on claims that he was trying to recruit his school mates in to the Kenya Land Defense Force.

In the second book, things get more heated up and complicated, as Njamba Nene, now out of school, is given a loaf of bread by a stranger and instructed to take it to the Ngai Ndeithia forest, where he would meet up again with the stranger. Njamba Nene was to later find out that the loaf of bread contained a gun and that the stranger was none other than the Famous General Ruheni, whom the prevaious night had shot dead a colonial chief by the name Kirogoru, and was therefore being looked for by the colonial administrator. The activities proceeded to explode to better scenes, as Njamba Nene was forced by circumstances to use the gun he had found in the bread, so as to save General Ruheni and his entrounge, after they had been arrested by the mischievous colonial masters.

As a young boy, the two books took me through a very interesting process, one that actually made me feel like a hero. Ngugi, had successfully captured my imagination and taken me through the shoes of his character Njamba Nene, a small boy just like me (back then), who in many ways was able to save the day and enable the Kenya Land Defense Force advance their cause. His two books and even other short stories have done a great feat in educating some members of the past generation, mine and even future ones, the big roles that were played by all genders and ages of a community towards gaining their freedom back.

It is this major lesson that i hope that the Michezo Africa, one of the best drama clubs in the country and part of the USIU Africa, under the leadership of Script writer and director Keith Oleng, will successfully bring out, with their on-going shooting of a movie on the Kenya Land Defense Force, or as famously known the Mau Mau. From their work, i hope that present and future generations will get an opportunity and better option to watch and learn about one of the most uncelebrated cultures in our country's history.