After waiting for 60 years in abject poverty, thousands of battered Mau Mau freedom fighters are now dreaning of becoming millionnairs.

The dream of millions by the aged veterans whose bodies and spirits were broken by seven decades of colonialism have been fueled by some happenings in Britain.

According to former Juja , MP Gitu Kahengeri, the chairman of a group that has sued the British government for atrocities committed against Mau Mau adherents, the end is in sight.

Kahengeri believes the British government will compensate thousands of Mau Mau war veterans who suffered under their colonial forces out of court.  He said they made the proposal to the British government through their London-based lawyers.

 This is sweet news to some racketeers who have started scheming on how to rake in millions, long before the actual compensation is made.

Already some bogus groups of Mau Mau veterans made up of individuals of questionable character have already started preying on the few remaining veterans.

Our investigations reveal that some of the groups have already started recruiting members with promises of huge payouts once Britain pays.

Horror massacre

“We are aware some tricksters are demanding as much as Sh5000 registration fees. This is unacceptable, Wambugu Nyingi, one of the veterans who has sued Britain said.

 Mr Nyingi, Jane Muthoni Maara and Paul Nzili made history by filing the case before a UK court.

Mr Nyingi, 80, cautioned his age mates not to fall victim to the pranksters who are demanding subscription fees.

The litigant escaped death narrowly during the infamous horror massacre after camp authorities attacked his friends, leading to 11 deaths.

Mr Nyingi explained: “Mau Mau War veteran Association is the only legitimate group. We are trying to organise our members and we know them. Do not be fooled to pay any money,” he added.

He is among the five Kenyans who sued the British government for atrocities committed against Mau Mau in the 1950s after a state of Emergency was declared.

Waning wave

The country has been saturated with numerous organisations all claiming to be pursuing justice on behalf of Mau Mau veterans.

At one point a close confidante of the late President Jomo Kenyatta, Mbiyu Koinange was fed up with emergence of bogus generals.

“How come there are more Mau Mau generals than footsoldiers. Is it that all the footsoldiers were killed while the generals escaped,” Mr Koinange  once wondered.

In 2007, Joseph Ngacha Karani, the chairman of Mau Mau Original Trust contested the presidency on a Kenya Patriotic Trust Party ticket.

 Apparently riding on the waning wave of the Mau Mau movement, Mr Karani who had been involved in a series of mobilisation campaigns for the veterans only managed 21,171 votes.

 Even in London, two law firms are trying to intimidate each other using the tyranny of numbers as they compete on who would bag the most clients.

 Martyn Day, the law firm that filed the historic case,  claims it has already netted 5,200 clients and have evidence they were tortured or seriously abused by the colonialists.

 On the other hand, another law firm, Tandem Law has looped Eloise Mukami Kimathi, the widow of iconic freedom fighter, Dedan Kimathi and is allegedly involved in parallel negotiations with the British government.

Forced labour

According to Tandem Law, Ms Mukami has already bagged an estimated 8,000 clients. As the two firms tussle, there has been allegations that some clients were being duped to sign compensation forms of Sh330,000 only.

 After 1952 October, the colonial government arrested hundreds of thousands of suspected Mau Mau followers.

They were detained while over one million people were condemned to concentrated villages where they were engaged in forced labour.

The Guardian recently wrote: “It is an enduring feature of our democracy that we are willing to learn from our history.”

 A keen student of history, former MP, Wanyiri Kihoro Mau estimates 90,000 people were detained in 50 detention centers spanning from Manda Island in Lamu and Sayusi Island in Lake Victoria.

 According to Mr Wanyiri’s figures which he says have been abstracted from colonial records and his own research, the former MP says at least 11,000 people were killed.

“A whole community was incarcerated in 800 concentrated villages in Kiambu, Murang’a, Embu and Meru. Conservative estimates indicate that 10,000 former prisoners may be in line for compensation if Britain loosens its purse strings.

Although he has been a strong crusader of the Mau Mau case, he is pessimistic about the anticipated payouts of the 10,000 Mau Mau remnants.