By S, KNA
Muriuki Waigwa and Cyrus Nyota share a number of similarities.
This year Nyota clocked 100 years while Waigwa is believed to be 105 years old according to his son Joseph Gitonga Muriuki.
But perhaps the common denominator between the two is that both fought against British colonial soldiers in the Aberdare and Mount Kenya jungles but came out empty handed even after the selfless sacrifice.
Their lives perhaps echo Brutu’s internal struggle to justify Julius Caesar’s assassination as a noble sacrifice rather than a brutal murder in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Ceasar .
‘Let’s kill him boldly, but not wrathfully
Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods
Not hew him as a carcass fit for the hounds.’
Now in their sunset years, the undecorated veterans have little hope of getting any recognition from the world, their valiant sacrifice for the country notwithstanding.
Their nondescript names may never be inscribed in the rolls of honour nor be acknowledged at public events commemorating the country’s independence struggle.
“When we went to the forest prior to the State of Emergency we thought we were doing so to fight for our land and freedom. But after independence we came from the forest poorer than we were before with nothing to show for our sacrifice. It was an open victory,”Waigwa told KNA when visited him at Ngaini colonial village in Mathira.
Now wholly dependent on well-wishers and his son, the former freedom fighter can only hope that his family will someday be offered a piece of land by the Government where they can settle even after he is gone.
His recollections on the year he left for the forest are still blurred but from our conservation it was prior to the declaration of state of Emergency in 1952.
His area of operation was confined in the thickets of Mount Kenya and Aberdare where he says he had several encounters with the British soldiers including taking part in the famous Battle of the Black River (Mbara ya Rui Ruiru) in Ngaini,Mathira where the Mau Mau freedom fighter faced off with the British Colonial Forces and Home Guards.
To date the echoes of that bloody battle still echo in his memory.
He is however grateful to God that he managed to escape with his life.
“For one to have survived through the hostile jungles where death was only a shadow away, one had to have a thick skin,” he recalls.
And as a sign of allegiance to the cause, a fighter had to first undertake seven oaths which bound one to a lifetime secrecy to the cause.
Though he could not reveal what transpired during the eccentric oathing ceremony, it was clear from the conversation that one could only betray it at the risk of one’s life or that of his generation.
It was during Waigwa’s time in the forest that he met Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi and Kariuki Chotara.
Kimathi was later to become the symbol of the Mau Mau struggle before he was captured on October 21, 1956 at Kahigaini in Tetu and later hanged on February 18, 1957 at Kamiti maximum prison after a bungled trial.
“When we were deep in the forest our single focus was to liberate this country from the yoke of colonialism and get back our lands. We had a purpose in unity and never entertained any form of disunity or betrayal. The forest became our defense lines while day and night were alike to us. We lost men but we never wavered. It was a battle we could not afford to lose,” Waigwa continues.
Unfortunately, after slightly one year in combat Waigwa alongside a number of his fellow fighters was finally captured by British Royal soldiers at Subukia and immediately whisked to Nakuru Police Station under heavy security.
They were later driven to Nyahururu court in Nyandarua where he alongside them were charged and convicted of being members of an illegal guerilla movement.
The court thereafter jailed him for seven years and ordered him be incarcerated at the then notorious Kodiaga Prison in Kisumu.
It was during his incarceration in Nyanza that he encountered the worst form of torture that was being meted to inmates by Prison warders.
Dozens of those detained at the facility never came out alive nor were their bodies ever handed over to their loved ones.
But it was also here that one of his fellow prisoners from Turkana prophesied that he would finally survive the deadly incarceration and later be released.
But the time was still in the future.
“For one to be condemned or be spared, the Colonial administrators had come up with a formula where a suspect was given small pieces of papers marked either black, white or yellow in which one was asked to pick one colour. Whoever picked black was labelled a radical and hurriedly taken to prison while those who picked the other shades were allowed to go home. I picked a black card which ultimately sealed my fate,” he continues.
After some years at Kodiaga he was finally transferred to Shimo la Tewa before being moved to Lamu where he remained until his release a few years to independence.
Notable among the projects he undertook during his detention include digging the foundation for the construction of Embakasi airport now Jomo Kenyatta International airport.
He was also instrumental in digging trenches at Kangumbiri in Tetu to block Mau Mau fighters from crossing into African villages to collect food and administer oaths to new recruits.
Today, more than six decades later, Waigwa says the only thing he can be grateful for is the fact that Kenya is now a free country and that he survived the British notorious detention camps.
For Mzee Nyota, his stint in the forest was also short-lived where he says his role was more spiritual rather than combative.
While in the forest near Thangathi in Mukurwe-ini together with a band of five fellow Mau Mau fighters, narrowly escaped from being mauled by a leopard after assuring his companions that all will be well.
He later travelled to Nairobi before the declaration of State of emergency where he worked as a barber by the day and as a sentry at night in Westlands.
“Prove yourself a man and you will become one. You could never have withstood the vagaries of the liberation struggle devoid of strict discipline. We who tasted the excesses of colonial rule know how it feels to be prisoner in your own country. But for us who had taken the oath, the sacrifice was worth it,” he narrates.
It was in Nairobi in 1955 that Nyota together with other Kikuyu men were rounded up and driven to the Police station for questioning in regard to their role in the oathing activities.
According to Mau Mau historian Anthony Maina upon arrest, any man from the Gikuyu,Embu or Meru would be screened before being detained and released back to the colonial villages.
The screening team consisted of home guards and chiefs. Maina says that Mau Mau were placed into three categories of Black, Grey or White. Black were those who were considered by the administration to be key leaders of the revolt either as oath administrators or as guerilla commanders. The label was used to identify anyone so deeply involved with the uprising that it seemed improbable that they would ever give up the movement.
The Grey were people whom the colonial government felt had been affected by the Mau Mau in a general way and could be, in the course of time and with rehabilitation, be induced to give it up completely.
White which meant one was in the clear and would be set free after screening.
Unfortunately, Nyota fell for the interrogator’s trap after being labeled Black and was immediately whisked to Lang’ata Prison where he was to remain for three years before being transferred to Mageta Island Detention camp.
Nyota was to remain there while performing hard work for the rest of his detention stint until he was released in 1958.
Perhaps his worst misgiving is the fact that the majority of the freedom fighters never lived to reap the fruits of their sacrifice despite some of them having paid the ultimate cost with their own blood.
“We fought in the wilds and later suffered in detention camps for the sake of freeing this country from the grip of colonialism but the leaders forgot us soon after independence. Most of our comrades are already dead and buried but they rested as paupers while those who never sacrificed anything went on to savor the largesse of the State after independence. For the few of us who are still around, the only time we hear our names being mentioned during national holiday celebrations. To all intent and purposes we are a forgotten lot,” he reminisces.
The story is the same for Waigwa who resides in a colonial village. But despite being a destitute with nothing to his name, he is grateful to the Government for initiating a cash transfer program for the elderly persons to help them cater for their basic needs.
He also happens to be among the few Mau Mau survivors who received ‘a tidy sum of money ’as a compensation from the UK government in 2013.
As if reading from the same script, Mzee Nyota, too is also grateful for the cash transfer program for the elderly which he is now a beneficiary. For him, this is the best thing he is thankful for after his struggle against British colonial rule.
Their stories mirror those of notable figures of the uprising from the County like Joseph Macharia Mwangi (General Kihithuki) and Captain Nderitu Wambugu, who are alive yet unrecognized despite their contribution in the freedom struggle. Others like Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima,the highest-ranking female freedom fighter,General Theuri Njue(General Kimbo) and Ndungu wa Gicheru, the fearless Mau Mau sharpshooter who brought down several colonial warplanes and, died in 2023, 2014 and 2013 respectively waiting compensation from the government for their contribution in the liberation struggle.
Maina says that although the compensation by the British government was heavily hijacked by opportunists, county governments should initiate the process of recognizing the freedom fighters.
“If I were to be asked I would say that every county should honour its Mau Mau heroes. In Nyeri for instance, there is a parcel of land where the freedom fighters converged in 1952 before the declaration of the State of Emergency and in1963 to surrender their arms at the end of the uprising. The county government should build a hall or monument and have the names of all the freedom fighters from Nyeri engraved on the walls. Those who were also hanged due to their connection with the movement should also be engraved on the walls including the location of where they were hanged and possibly the year they were hanged,” says Maina.
“For the survivors, I think the monthly stipend of Sh 2000 should be increased to Sh 10,000 because actual compensation will take years and Sh 10,000 is a tidy sum considering their immense contribution to the freedom that we enjoy today,” says Maina in conclusion.