More than six decades after Kenya attained independence, surviving Mau Mau freedom fighters say the scars of colonial brutality remain unhealed, renewing calls for compensation that they argue was never fully settled.
Members of the Mau Mau Pioneer Cultural Organization are now appealing for renewed negotiations with the British government insisting that thousands of victims of torture and detention during the colonial emergency period were excluded from the 2013 compensation programme.
The group is also urging the Kenyan government to take a more active role in championing their cause.
Speaking to members of the press in Murang’a town Tuesday, the organization’s national chairman, Kiragu Waihenya said the compensation issued more than a decade ago benefited only a small fraction of those who suffered during the liberation struggle.
In 2013, the British government paid about Sh3 billion to roughly 5,000 claimants, who could provide evidence of direct abuse including detention, torture, or sexual violence.
According to Waihenya the strict requirement for documentation locked out the majority of freedom fighters, many of whom were illiterate at the time of their arrest, or whose records were destroyed or never kept by colonial authorities.
The process was not inclusive and left out many genuine victims. That is why we are demanding fresh talks on compensation,” Waihenya said, describing the earlier arrangement as unfair and incomplete.
He painted a grim picture of the current state of many surviving freedom fighters, noting that most are elderly, impoverished and in poor health.
Some, Waihenya said, have already died without receiving any form of compensation for their sacrifice, leaving their families to continue pursuing justice on their behalf.
“For many of us, time is no longer on our side. We fought for this country yet some of our members still live in poverty and desperation,” he lamented.
Beyond financial compensation, the chairman also raised concerns over land ownership arguing that many former fighters continue to live as squatters on land they believed they were fighting to reclaim from colonial rule.
“We want justice, including access to land. It is painful that some freedom fighters still have no place to call home,” he added.
The chairman further revealed that the Mau Mau Pioneer Cultural Organization has more than 20,000 registered members comprising surviving fighters and their descendants.
Waihenya emphasized that unity among Mau Mau groups now numbering over 50 nationwide would be critical in sustaining pressure for compensation. “Our strength lies in coming together. If we speak with one voice, we can pursue this matter to the end,” he said.
However, the absence of a clear legal framework to guide compensation for Mau Mau fighters remains a major obstacle.
The Kenyan government has largely maintained that the 2013 settlement concluded the matter and that any further claims should be pursued directly with the British government.
So far, state recognition of the Mau Mau struggle has largely been symbolic including naming roads, stadia and erecting monuments with no direct financial support extended to the fighters themselves.
As the remaining veterans grow older, they insist that the question of compensation is not merely about money but about dignity, justice and acknowledging the true cost of Kenya’s freedom.
By Bernard Munyao
