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Ancestorship of Nana Dedan Kimathi Waciuri

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Nana Dedan Kimathi was a rebel field marshal fighting the british colonial authorities in Kenya during... View more

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Nana Dedan Kimathi was a rebel field marshal fighting the british colonial authorities in Kenya during the Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s. The violent rebellion remains a controversial part of Kenyan and british history. The rebellion instigated the creation of a system of detention camps which saw the incarceration of some 80,000 Kikuyu people in Kenya.

Nana Kimathi was born at Kanyinya in the Nyeri District of Central Province. In 1941, he enlisted as a sweeper with the King’s African Rifles (KAR) only to desert the role soon after learning of the terrible conditions African soldiers were subjected to.

After a short stint working as an “untrained teacher,” between 1947 and 1949 Nana Kimathi joined the Kenya African Union (KAU), the first national political party in Kenya, and served as a secretary for the Ol Kalou branch. From working in this branch, Nana Kimathi became involved with the Mahimu committee who played a central role in transforming and spreading the practice of oathing within the Mau Mau movement.

Nana Kimathi rose to prominence within the movement in the early 1950s, first acting as an oath administrator, a method of initiation and a way of ensuring loyalty within the Mau Mau movement. He quickly became a leader of the Mau Mau fighters who migrated into the forests to fight the British forces after the declaration of the State of Emergency in late 1952.

After a relentless campaign to capture Nana Kimathi and his insurgents, the British colonial government’s tribal police captured him alone early on October 21st 1956 in the emergency trenches dug to separate the “native reserve” and the Nyandarua forest.

The nature of Nana Kimathi’s arrest is still contested. Yet the recorded version of events is that Nana Dedan Kimathi was shot and captured by tribal police constable Ndirangu Mau, who claimed that he shot Nana Kimathi in the leg as he attempted to re-enter the forest and evade capture.

Nana Kimathi’s capture was a momentous victory for the British, who saw him as the focal point of the uprising without which the forest fighters could not function.

After a laborious and intricate trial, on November 19th 1956, Chief Justice Kenneth O’Connor found Nana Kimathi guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, actions made illegal by the Emergency Regulations put in place by the british Government in an attempt to quell the violence of the rebellion.

On November 19, 1956, at the Supreme Court of Kenya at Nyeri, the colonial government sentenced Nana Kimathi death. In the early hours of 18th February 1957, Nana Kimathi was hanged to death at Nana Kamiti prison and according to documentation, buried within its grounds.

The exact location of his grave has never been found.

The british Government’s decision to execute Nana Kimathi for such a minor charge, was fueled by their desperation to eradicate the Mau Mau rebellion. Since Nana Kimathi was such a fervent, famous anti-colonialist, his death could stand as a warning. To this day, Nana Kimathi remains an icon of the Mau Mau rebellion.