The man who was detained for speaking Kamba to British Governor

Muindi Mbingu

• Muindi Mbingu was the face of Kamba freedom struggle
• His undoing was speaking to the Governor in Kikamba
• The reference to Maa umau (our grandfathers) got the colonialists assuming he part of Mau Mau

He has a street named after him in Nairobi and a secondary school and statue in Machakos County where the bronze statue was unveiled by President Uhuru Kenyatta during the 2016 Mashujaa Day.

The street in Nairobi was previously named Stewart, but is now Muindi Mbingu Street after the former Kenya Power and Colonial Police employee who became the face of the Akamba freedom struggle after they were evicted from their lands and condemned to the Native Reserves in 1937. Mbingu was 40.