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On March 26, 1953, 97 men, women, and children were slaughtered in the southern central Kenyan village of Lari. They had been woken up in the middle of the night by screaming men and women armed with an assortment of weapons, from a few WWII-era rifles and pistols to pangas – the Swahili word for machete-like weapons and other farm implements. Then they herded into large huts, which were doused in gasoline and set afire. Those who tried to escape the fire were then set upon with pangas and hacked to pieces. The attackers were part of the Mau Mau movement to free Kenya from British colonial rule.
No one knows where the name “Mau Mau” came from – not even those who participated in the group. Some say it originated with British police and militia from words and chants in Kikuyu, the dominant language and ethnic group of the movement and the largest in Kenya. Others believe it came from Kikuyu words having to do with the all-important oath that members took. “Mauma” means oath, and “muma” means “oath-taking” in Kikuyu. The word became a sort of catch-all term for many of the groups fighting for independence against the British in Kenya and nearby British possessions. The men and women of the Mau Mau never used the term. They were part of the “Land and Freedom Army” and often called themselves “freedom fighters.”
What we know for sure is that for much of the 1950s, the Mau Mau terrified the British in Kenya and their Kenyan supporters, of which there were many. The Lari Massacre was the worst of many atrocities carried out by the Land and Freedom Army during the Mau Mau Uprising from 1952 to 1960, but the British and their followers committed many brutal attacks and persecutions as well.
#maumau #history #britishhistory #thebritishempire
Sources:
Barnett, Donald L., and Karari Njama. Mau Mau from Within, by Donald L. Barnett and Karari Njama.
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“The Life of Gen. Musa Mwariama.” Africa Archive. Last modified February 20, 2023. https://africarchives.wordpress.com/2023/02/21/the-life-of-gen-musa-mwariama/
“Mau Mau Abuse Case: Time to Say Sorry.” The Guardian. Last modified April 10, 2011. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/11/mau-mau-empire-british-government-responsibility
“The Mau Mau Rebellion.” Boston University. Accessed October 30, 2023. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/history/colonialism/the-mau-mau-rebellion/
Reporter, Staff. “Muthoni, the Dread of the Empire.” The Mail & Guardian. Last modified April 26, 2013. https://mg.co.za/article/2013-04-26-muthoni-the-dread-of-the-empire/
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