How World Wars created heroes in Kenya

Mayor of Nairobi, Travis, approaching the African War Memorial during the Remembrance Day ceremony in 1957 [File]

The world is staring at what could be World War 3. Russia has started bombing Ukraine to reclaim a piece of what historically belonged to Moscow.

Although this war is being fought 5,762km away from Nairobi, its implications will definitely be felt in the country and in Africa too.

Echoes of the last two World Wars have shown how global conflicts have a way of changing the lives and politics of this country directly and indirectly.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, thousands of barefoot villagers were forcefully conscripted into war and marched off to faraway lands to be used as cannon fodder as they acted as porters while others were expected to confront armed Germans and Italians with spears.

Thousands of Kenyans were mowed and buried in unmarked graves. Others went missing in action. To commemorate their sacrifice, generic plaques in some towns were scripted in honour of the unnamed heroes.

The fallen whites, however, were properly eulogised and their remains buried respectfully in the meticulously kept war memorial graves. While surviving Africans were welcomed back with a Kipande and news that they did not qualify for a pension because their service had not between long enough, their white counterparts were rewarded with huge chunks of land under the Settler Settlement Scheme.

The bulging settler population was instrumental in the change of labour laws under which Africans were forced to work for the settlers so as to pay the poll tax.

The Second War between 1939 and 1945 also gifted Kenya some heroes who later distinguished themselves in political and military fields. It is in this war that Dedan Kimathi, shortly fought before he was discharged over some discipline issues. Another firebrand, Fred Kubai, General Waruhiu Itote as well as a host of other militants were hardened.

One of Kenya’s most distinguished military men — General Jackson Mulinge — was also forcefully conscripted into the army at the age of 15 when he had gone to sell chicken in Machakos.

The political landscape was changed forever by these hardened veterans who returned to Kenya only to learn that there were no jobs for them.

The majority of the soldiers who had worked in the King’s African Rifles were condemned to a life of squalor in Shauri Moyo and other African quarters.

Today, Kenya is a sovereign State and Kenyans may not be conscripted into fighting for or against Russia. But still, the ripple effects will be felt in Nairobi.