In 2014, Belgian documentary artist Max Pinckers was invited to the Archive of Modern Conflict in London, where he came across a collection of British propaganda material relating to the 1950s “Mau Mau Emergency Crisis” in Kenya. Since then he has been working with various Mau Mau War Veterans Associations in Kenya, with a particular focus on using photography to (re-)visualize the fight for independence from their personal perspectives. This includes mass graves, former detention camp buildings, locations of former mobile gallows, cave hideouts, oral witness testimonies, portraits and demonstrations of personal experiences.

This ongoing documentary project titled Unhistories departs from the Hanslope Disclosure in which British colonial archives were destroyed, hidden and manipulated. Known as Operation Legacy in the 1950s, the British colonial administration in Kenya destroyed much of the documentation relating to the Emergency prior to their departure in 1963. Unhistories is a collaboration with Mau Mau veterans, Kenyans who survived the colonial violence, historians, artists, activists, writers, archives, universities and museumsto fill in the missing gaps of the archives.

This third part of the Unhistories series covers some of the figures who shaped the fight on both sides among Kenyans and the British, and introduces members from the Mau Mau War Veterans Association and their stories.

Field Marshal Muthoni wa Kirima

Muthoni wa Kirima (b.1930) attained the rank of Field Marshal. She entered the Aberdare Forest in 1952 and was never caught, although she still has a bullet lodged in her hand. She was nicknamed “Nina wa Thonjo” (weaver bird) by Dedan Kimathi because of her ability to weave brilliant war strategies. She was one of the last Mau Mau who laid down their arms at the flag of free Kenya at Ruringu stadium in 1963, where she met Jomo Kenyatta.

She still has the same dreadlocks she had when fighting in the forest, which she calls “the history of Kenya.” They are a symbol of her dissatisfaction with the new governments and she vows only to cut them when the deserved compensation is given to the Mau Mau veterans.

“I emerged from the forest after eleven years but was never given even an inch of land. I have nothing to show for those eleven years, not even a needle. It was only the sons of the supporters of the white men who benefited from the blood and sweat of our battered bodies.”

“I am still in the forest,” she says. She wants the “protruding bones of fallen heroes in shallow graves in Mt Kenya forests” collected and buried honorably. “The bones of my fellow freedom fighters are, like me, crying in the forests. We ventured into the forests to free the country from the grip of the white settlers. We thought that those we left behind schooling would fight for us, but things turned out differently.” The erasure of Muthoni and others like her from Kenya’s history books depresses her as she sites how unfortunate it is that “only white people” visit her inquiring about her story.

Peter Irungu Njuguna

In the whole of Central Province the British installed a villagization program for women and children. The villages were surrounded by a fence, a trench with spikes, and Home Guards in watchtowers. You’d leave early in the morning to go for forced labor, either digging roads, digging trenches; just out of spite so that you are continuously engaged.

At 5 pm you had one hour to leave the compound and search for food. One hour to go and look for food to feed your family. If you were late in coming back, you were arrested and taken to detention at the inner post, because it was alleged that you were helping the Mau Mau on the outside. When in detention you were beaten, whipped and you would sleep outside. In the morning you would be forced to carry a basin full of sand on your head for 12 hours, with your hands up, without putting it down.

— Peter Irungu Njuguna, Murang’a, 2019

Geoffrey Nderitu

This is my home, this land was our father’s and he left it to us when he died. There is a mass grave here. The ground I walk on is over people’s graves, but I found this one and I am taking care of it for the sake of tomorrow and the years to come.

This row is filled with young men, Mau Mau soldiers. They died between 1952 and 1955. They were murdered by Europeans while fighting for this soil. They are buried in deep and wide holes. In one hole there could be up to 30 people buried, based on how fast the bodies were coming in.

Here is a skull. This is an arm bone, these are leg bones, the skull, the jaw. I take care of this a lot. I take care of their bones because I don’t want to lose them. These are the people who gave us freedom. The warriors of independence have been buried here, and banana trees planted over them. Let’s preserve them here in remembrance of our freedom fighters. They don’t disturb me, they are my friends. They are my brothers.

— Geoffrey Nderitu, Tetu, Gititu, Nyeri County, 2019

Dedan Kimathi Waciuri

Widely regarded as the military and spiritual leader of the anti colonial movement, Kimathi fought against the British in the 1950s. When the colonial administration declared the state of emergency, Kimathi took to the forests close to Mount Kenya. He is credited with creating formal military structures and convening a war council along with his fellow Field Marshals. Kimathi was charged with possession of illegal firearms and sentenced to hang. He was executed on February 18, 1957 at Kamiti Maximum Prison. After his execution, his body was buried in an unmarked grave and has not been found to this day. He is now a celebrated national hero.

The spot where Dedan Kimathi was shot in the leg and arrested by Home Guard Ndirangu Mau. It is believed that the blood that soaked into the soil created an infertile patch of land where no tea has grown since. Kahigaini, Tetu, Nyeri County, Kenya, 2015.

More from the Unhistories series

In 2014, Belgian documentary artist Max Pinckers was invited to the Archive of Modern Conflict in London, where he came across a collection of British propaganda material relating to the 1950s “Mau Mau Emergency Crisis” in Kenya. Since then he has been working with various Mau Mau War Veterans Associations in Kenya, with a particular focus on using photography to (re-)visualize the fight for independence from their personal perspectives. This includes mass graves, former detention camp buildings, locations of former mobile gallows, cave hideouts, oral witness testimonies, portraits and demonstrations of personal experiences.

This ongoing documentary project titled Unhistories departs from the Hanslope Disclosure in which British colonial archives were destroyed, hidden and manipulated. Known as Operation Legacy in the 1950s, the British colonial administration in Kenya destroyed much of the documentation relating to the Emergency prior to their departure in 1963. Unhistories is a collaboration with Mau Mau veterans, Kenyans who survived the colonial violence, historians, artists, activists, writers, archives, universities and museumsto fill in the missing gaps of the archives.

This second part of the Unhistories series covers the ‘prohibited areas’ where the fighting took place, the mobile gallows, the trials, torture, and prisons.

Mobile Gallows

Public hangings were outlawed in Britain for over a century but took place in Kenya during the emergency. A mobile gallows was transported by the British around the country to carry out the execution of Mau Mau suspects. Between 1952 and 1958, 1,090 Kikuyu were hanged. In no other place, and at no other time in the history of British imperialism, was state execution used on such a scale.

Mburu wa Gitou

The gallows stood here and this cemented block is where the bodies would drop dead before they were wrapped up and hauled out. During the hangings there was a Catholic Father at the door. He prayed and after the conviction, he would sign, break the pen and wash his hands. 57 people were hanged here.

The hanging begun at 11 at night and we could hear them saying: “We have gone, we have died and you have been left. Never let go of this land, for it is what we die for.” They all died with a fistful of soil in their hand.

Once hanged, the bodies were not disposed of immediately, they were seen by everybody so that people would be afraid. So that they would stop the war. But they would dare not surrender. The bodies were hauled into a truck in the morning. The army trucks rode away with legs dangling from the back.

The monument serves as a reminder of those who were hanged in this nation, who died for independence. We can come for prayers here. The design of the monument is made in collaboration with the National Museums of Kenya, and we will engrave their names on the wall.

— Mburu wa Gitou (Chairman of the Kenya Unity for Memorial, Peace, Heritage and Culture Organization), Githunguri, Kiambu County, 2019

Paul Mwangi Mwenja

During the struggle for independence I was a student at a school where the King’s African Rifles were staying. They were fighting for the British, but the soldiers became our friends. They showed us everything, and that’s when I learned how the gun works.

I began making homemade guns. You could only use one bullet at a time. You’d take out the cartridge and put in another. We used these guns to hunt European soldiers. When we’d get one—we would ambush or hide beside him in the bush and shoot him—we’d take his gun. That way we’d gain a gun. A new gun.

We used water pipes to make these guns. And then we were using door locks. We would sharpen the tip of the door lock and use a spring or elastic rubber to hit the bullet, so that oxygen would get in and the bullet fires. The guns we were making could be taken apart while traveling. In order to hide it in the kabuthi, the jacket, you could break it up into two pieces, and when you wanted to be in action you could put it together again. It was easy to travel with.

— Paul Mwangi Mwenja (MMWVA Murang’a Branch Secretary), Murang’a, 2019

Terence Gavaghan, MBE (1922-2011) was a British colonial district officer in Kenya responsible for six detention centers in Mwea during the emergency. He was the chief architect of the “dilution technique” and was known for implementing the systematic destruction of bodies and minds in Kenya’s detention camps. During Operation Legacy, Gavaghan also participated in the burning of documents in incinerators and ensured that others would be permanently held under lock and key. The colonial government’s chief torturer in Kenya was also one of its chief archivists in the final days of rule.

More from the Unhistories series