Souvenirs that immortalise kenya’s freedom fighters

By Titus Murithi

Kenya: Kenya’s defining moments in the fight for independence can be traced back to 1952 when the Mau Mau freedom fighters went into the forest to wage war on the colonialists.

And while most of the independence heroes  have died, what has been left behind to remember by them are some rare souvenirs displayed in the Nairobi National Museum at a gallery called ‘History of Kenya Gallery and Exhibition’.

Recently, Evangeline Muthoni Baimungi, the widow of the late freedom hero General Baimungi who was killed immediately after independence, visited the gallery at the museum and took onlookers through the history of a collection of guns on display. The guns were used by the freedom fighters including her late husband.  

Among the souvenirs on display are clothes, some of which Dedan Kimathi was wearing on the day he was shot and captured in the forest in 1956. The clothes include a thick leather jacket and shorts. The clothes are exhibited in a glass casing and next to them is a pistol, which Kimathi used during his tenure as a Mau Mau leader and freedom fighter.

Other souvenirs related to Kimathi found in the same glass casing include letters which he wrote to some community groups and individuals. One of these letters is titled ‘Kimathi’s letter to Thuita’, another one titled ‘Kimathi’s reply to General China’s letter’, while a third one is titled ‘Kimathi’s letter to Wambararia-24-May-1954’.

The other interesting souvenir in the same gallery is a bullet with the following inscription: Waruhiu Itote’s Bullet: This bullet was lodged in General China’s chest for 34 years. He was shot in 1954. It was removed by Professor Peter Odhiambo.

There are also home-made guns and pistols which the Mau Mau freedom fighters used.

With reference to the struggle for Kenya’s independence from the early 1950s to 1963 when Kenya attained self rule, these few items found at the ‘History of Kenya Gallery and Exhibition’, in the Nairobi museum can be argued to be the greatest souvenirs in our country.

The freedom fighters slogan was “ithaka na wiyathi” which translates into land and freedom.

Second World War

They had great leaders who led them during the war for independence while in the forest. Most of those leaders had fought for the colonial masters during the Second World War in various parts of the world.

Those leaders played different roles in respect to the various capabilities and skills they learnt while fighting for the colonial masters during the war.

One such great leader was Major Ruku from Katheri in Meru County. His major task during Kenya’s independence was to assemble and manufacture homemade guns which were used to fight the colonial forces.

Other such great leaders were Dedan Kimathi, Stanley Mathenge, Musa Mwariama, Waruhiu Itote better known as General China, and General Baimungi among others. These leaders were in charge of Mau Mau fighters in different parts of Kenya and particularly in the Mount Kenya forest.

Major Ruku had enlisted as a soldier with the colonial forces and he fought during the Second World War in places like Ethiopia and Burma alongside General Mathenge. Upon his return from the war, he was among the first batch of freedom fighters to enter Mt Kenya Forest from Meru.

Major Ruku together with General Mathenge travelled to Ethiopia to solicit for weapons and they came back with a cache, which they hid in a cave on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. The cave was later referred to as the Mau Mau cave.

Major Ruku got into serious business of manufacturing homemade guns to supplement the supply from Ethiopia. Today, the surviving former Mau Mau fighters say that Major Ruku assembled all the homemade guns used by Mau Mau fighters from the Meru side of Mt. Kenya Forest and no homemade gun could be used without his approval.