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pal-alam-00fm.qxd 6/14/07 6:00 PM Page i Rethinking Mau Mau in Colonial Kenya This page intentionally left blank pal-alam-00fm.qxd 6/14/07 6:00 PM Page iii Rethinking Mau Mau in Colonial Kenya S. M. Shamsul Alam, PhD pal-alam-00fm.qxd 6/14/07 6:00 PM Page iv Rethinking Mau Mau in Colonial Kenya Copyright © S. M. Shamsul Alam, PhD, 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quo- tations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978-1-4039-8374-9 ISBN-10: 1-4039-8374-7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Alam, S. M. Shamsul, 1956– Rethinking Mau Mau in colonial Kenya / S. M. Shamsul Alam. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-4039-8374-7 (alk. paper) 1. Kenya—History—Mau Mau Emergency, 1952–1960. 2. Mau Mau History. I. Title. DT433.577A43 2007 967.62’03—dc22 2006103210 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Scribe Inc. First edition: October 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. pal-alam-00fm.qxd 6/14/07 6:00 PM Page v To the memory of my much-beloved brother, S. M. Shafiqul Alam (Baccho) This page intentionally left blank pal-alam-00fm.qxd 6/14/07 6:00 PM Page vii Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xii Maps xiv 1 Introduction: Hegemony and Counterhegemony in Colonial Context 1 2 Domination and Its Resistance: Writings on Mau Mau 21 3 Rebel Yell: The Field Marshal’s Story 43 4 Women and Mau Mau 71 5 Mau Mau and the Critique of Nationalism 101 6 Writing as Subversion: Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Mau Mau 123 7 Mau Mau in and as Colonial Discourse 163 8 The Subaltern Writes Back 195 9 Conclusion: A Presentist Approach to Mau Mau 223 Notes 227 Glossary 233 References 235 Index 247 This page intentionally left blank pal-alam-00fm.qxd 6/14/07 6:00 PM Page ix Preface The present work is neither a history of the Mau Mau revolt nor an attempt to review all works ever written on it. No attempt has been made to put the movement in its broad historical context. Such effort has been made numerous times by many scholars more able than I am. My work here is rather limited—to present a few chapters that deal with various issues and aspects related to the Mau Mau movement. As a sociologist I am partial to theory, especially postcolonial theory. In this book, I have tried to “read” the Mau Mau “event” from a postcolonial analytical perspective. At first glance, the chapters might appear disjointed, but I hope that after a quick glance at the book, the reader will realize that the chapters are woven together by the theme of power and resistance against colonialism and an attempt to establish a free and just society in Kenya. Most importantly, the chapters show how in Kenya ordinary people came together, with limited experience and resources, to stand up against the overwhelming power of British colonialism. In the past twenty years or so, the historical writings of anticolonial struggle have taken shape. Popularly known as the subaltern school, these writings managed to debunk both the Marxist view that the anticolonial movement was a “class struggle” and a prelude to establishing a “classless” society and the liberal/nationalist/colonialist historiography that sees the anticolonialist struggle as having “originated” in colonial rule and hence derivative to colonialism; proponents of the latter view believe political power should transfer to the indigenous nationalist elite. The present work follows a different path. Over the years, the subaltern school went through two different phases of growth: in its first few years, it dealt with the issue of “autonomous con- sciousness of the subaltern” and how this autonomy leads to revolt. Of late, this emphasis has been abandoned in favor of textual analysis of the con- struction of the subaltern. I believe this shift has fundamentally altered the focus of the school and undermined the subaltern emphasis on revolt and resistance. The current work argues that the “autonomous consciousness” and the construction of the subaltern are not mutually exclusive and can both be interpreted without losing sight of either. For example, the book pal-alam-00fm.qxd 6/14/07 6:00 PM Page x x PREFACE contains chapters on the construction of the subaltern (the chapters on wa Thiong’o and subaltern autobiography) and autonomous consciousness (Chapters 4 and 6). Only this type of combination, so to speak, could cap- ture the real essence of subaltern revolt and could make historical works more politically relevant. Finally, I am not an Africanist nor was I born in Kenya. I was born in Bangladesh and currently live and teach sociology in the United States. My generation experienced colonialism, anticolonialist struggle, and disillu- sionment at the postcolonial situation. My publishing history is all on Bangladesh. So why Mau Mau and why Kenya? Reasons for this are both personal and intellectual. My intellectual interests in sociology are in historical soci- ology and the third world liberation movement. Over the years, through the influence of the subaltern school, I became critical of nationalism and its ability to translate the discourse of freedom and justice through which anticolonial nationalism was articulated in the postcolonial situation. In Bangladesh, anticolonial euphoria soon gave way to authoritarian and cor- rupt rule. Kenya is no exception. The Mau Mau struggle, I believe and this book will show, stands outside of elite nationalism in Kenya. Though elite nationalism becomes the power broker in the postcolonial situation, Mau Mau nonetheless promised something different. Personally, I was eager to know how this liberation movement is different from those of Bangladesh, and how ordinary folks organized to fight the oppression and insults that come with colonial rule. It was my quest for a comparative angle. Finally, a tale from Jalal-e-Din Rumi (1207–1273) illustrates my sojourn in Kenya. An ocean fish once came to visit a pond fish. The pond fish was eager to show the ocean fish its pond. It swam and dipped up and down and asked, “Have you ever been in water so deep?” Then it asked, “Tell me what the ocean looks like. Is it as deep as this pond?” The ocean fish could not find any words to describe the ocean to his friend. Instead, he said, “Please come visit sometime and I will show you around. Maybe you can swim in it.” My interest in Kenya has something to do with every human desire to leave his or her “pond” and be in the “ocean”—allegorically speaking, of course. pal-alam-00fm.qxd 6/14/07 6:00 PM Page xi Until lions have their own historians, the tale of hunt will always glorify the hunter. —A Kikuyu Proverb The cruelties of property and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression. —C. L. R. James pal-alam-00fm.qxd 6/14/07 6:00 PM Page xii Acknowledgments People from three continents were involved in the production of this book. The bulk of the materials for the book were collected while I was a Fulbright Senior Fellow in Kenya (2000–2001, 2001–2002) and again as Fulbright Senior Specialist (July–August 2003). So first thanks goes to this organization. While in Kenya I was affliated with the Sociology Department, University of Nairobi, where I meet Dr. Octavian N. Gakuru, who was Chair of the Department at that time. We spent numerous hours talking about Mau Mau and Kenyan politics. A Kikuyu from Central Province, Octavian was acutely aware of Mau Mau’s enigmatic place in Kenyan history and politics. Then there was Kimani, the electrician extra- ordinaire, who every morning (except Sunday, when he attends church) opened his small mobile electrical shop just outside my apartment build- ing. We spent countless hours discussing Mau Mau and Kenyan politics while he worked, drinking tea and eating mundazi, the Kenyan version of doughnuts. While I was in Nairobi, two U.S. embassy officials, Constance Colding Jones, Cultural Attaché and Dr. Justus Mbae, Cultural Affairs Specialist, helped me achieve a smooth transition into a wonderfully chaotic and hec- tic life there. Margaret W. Gachihi of History Department of the University of Nairobi helped me to connect with Mama Cinda Reri, whose interview is included in Chapter 4. The interview was done in Kikuyu, and Margaret played the role of interpreter. I also benefited from Margaret’s master’s the- sis on the role of women in Mau Mau, which she submitted to the depart- ment in 1986. The staff of the Kenya National Archives (KNA) helped to locate numerous primary documents on the movement. Without their help, this book might not have been possible. While at the University of Nairobi, I taught a graduate a seminar on development and social change and happened to get to know a group of brilliant young Kenyans who were in that class.

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