52. See, for example, KNA, AB 2/44/14, memorandum from Lewis to officer in charge, Manyani Camp, “Classification—Disposal of Juvenile Detainees,” 30 April 1955.
53. Samuel Kariuki Gakuru, interview, Nyeri District, 21 March 1999.
54. KNA, PC/NKU 2/17/32/100, memorandum from A. C. C. Swann to the ministers of local government, health, and housing and community development, “Care of Kikuyu Children Left Without Guardians as a Result of the Emergency,” 30 November 1954; KNA, PC/NKU 2/1/17/32/101, memorandum from the acting secretary of local government, health, and housing to Wainwright, 7 December 1954; and KNA, PC/NKU 2/17/32/102, memorandum from T. Askwith to A. C. C. Swann, “Care of Kikuyu Children Left Without Guardians as a Result of the Emergency,” 17 December 1954. For the views of missionaries and voluntary associations like the Salvation Army and the Red Cross on the orphan and waif and stray problem, see, for example, KNA, AB 4/10, Christian Council of Kenya, “Annual Report 1955–56,” 9 February 1956; and KNA, AB 4/10/1, The Federation of Social Services in Kenya, “Annual Report 1954,” March 1955.
55. KNA, AB 2/69/18/1, memorandum from R. B. Lambe, “Girl Children beyond Control,” 22 March 1957; and KNA, AB 2/69/46, memorandum from Colin Owen, “Place of Safety for Females,” 25 June 1957. Note that some of these juvenile prostitutes, as well as those boys and girls who took to petty thieving in Nairobi, were generally arrested for vagrancy or pass-law violations and repatriated to the reserves. Many, though, were shrewd enough to claim Kiambu as their home district, thus easily making their way back to Nairobi. A cyclical process emerged whereby thousands of juveniles were arrested and repatriated, only to return to Nairobi and a life of petty crime or prostitution. See KNA, BZ 16/3/10, memorandum from G. M. Kimani, African probation officer, “Langata: Ending Report for February & March 1955,” 31 March 1955; KNA, AB 2/75/16/1, memorandum, “Juvenile Reception Groups,” 25 November 1957; and KNA, AB 2/4/37, memoranda from the Community Development Department, “The Problem of Juveniles in Nairobi” and “Juveniles in Nairobi,” 26 April 1955.
56. KNA, AB 2/64/17, memorandum from Ohanga, “Juvenile Remand Homes,” 31 August 1955.
57. KNA, AB 17/14/138, memorandum from district commissioner, Fort Hall, to E. H. Windley, 24 June 1955.
58. Movement for Colonial Freedom, Truth About Kenya—an eye witness account by Eileen Fletcher, 1956.
59. For example, the telegrams and savingrams in PRO, CO 822/1239, “Detention of Juvenile Delinquents in Kenya.”
60. See, for example, PRO, CO 822/1236, Eileen Fletcher, “My Comments on the Government Memorandum concerning my charges about Kenya,” 8 January 1957.
61. HCD, vol. 553, cols. 1087–1213, 6 June 1956. See also the colonial secretary’s brief for the debate, PRO, CO 822/1239, “Memorandum on Allegations published by Miss Eileen Fletcher on conditions in prisons and camps,” no date.
62. “No More Whitewash,” Observer, 17 June 1956.
63. HCD, vol. 558, col. 1419, 31 October 1956.
64. Ibid., col. 1420, 31 October 1956.
65. PRO, CO 822/1237/6, enclosure 1, Philip Meldon, 2 January 1957, 1.
66. PRO, CO 822/1237, letter from Philip Meldon to Major James Breckenridge, 22 December 1956.
67. Peace News—the International Pacifist Weekly, 11 January 1957; Reynolds News, “I Saw Men Tortured,” Philip Meldon, 13 January 1957; and PRO, CO 822/1237/30, letter from Philip Meldon to Alan Lennox-Boyd, 4 February 1957.
68. PRO, CO 822/1237, Philip Meldon, “My Two Years in Kenya,” no date, 4–5.
69. Ibid., 5, 7.
70. PRO, CO 822/1237/30, letter from Philip Meldon to Alan Lennox-Boyd, 4 February 1957.
71. PRO, CO 822/1237, Philip Meldon, “My Two Years in Kenya,” no date, 2.
72. PRO, CO 822/1237/1, secret telegram from Baring to secretary of state for the colonies, 31 December 1956.
73. Ibid.
74. PRO, CO 822/1237/3, telegram no. 9 from secretary of state for the colonies to Baring, 3 January 1957.
75. Ibid.
76. Baring and Lennox-Boyd corresponded directly on the conditions of Manyani Camp; the colonial secretary was trying to determine if the continued use of the riot squad in Manyani Camp constituted a breakdown of government control and a pervasion of indiscriminate violence. Ultimately, the Colonial Office denied any problems at Manyani, but this correspondence reveals otherwise. See PRO, CO 822/1237/19, savingram no. 499/57 from Baring to secretary of state for the colonies, 20 February 1957. In addition to the Medical Department condemning Gilgil, Nairobi received numerous reports about the camp’s conditions. See, for example, Father Colleton’s report whereupon visiting Gilgil he commented, “I must confess that I was appalled by the conditions prevailing in this camp,” KNA, AB 17/14/95, memorandum from Colleton to Askwith, 26 March 1955.
77. PRO, CO 822/1237, letter from Lennox-Boyd to Fenner Brockway, 6 March 1957.
78. PRO, CO 822/802/141, telegram from E. W. M. Magor to Buist, 19 December 1956.
79. For details on the liaison officers’ reports, see KNA, AB 4/121, “CCK Reports—Inspection of Camps, 1956–58” and KNA, AB 17/14, “Christian Council of Kenya and Roman Catholic Mission, 1954–56.”
80. PRO, CO 822/795/96, brief for secretary of state for the colonies “The Moral Rearmament Movement at Athi River Camp,” c. July 1956. For details on the liaison officers’ reports, see KNA, AB 4/121, “CCK Reports—Inspection of Camps, 1956–58” and KNA, AB 17/14, “Christian Council of Kenya and Roman Catholic Mission, 1954–56.” At Kisumu Prison, for example, Father Colleton made the following observations: “All the Mau Mau convicts are in chains continually. It is quite understandable and reasonable that an individual convict who attempts to escape or is guilty of a serious breach of discipline should be chained for a limited period. But I doubt the wisdom of subjecting a whole section of men—numbering some hundred—to the same drastic treatment for an indefinite space of time…. When I mentioned the matter to the Superintendent, he informed me that it is a Government Order made for security reasons. It appears to me that it would be preferable that ten convicts should escape—and probably be captured—than that hundreds should be perpetually degraded and tortured and thus embittered for the rest of their lives. This may appear an exaggeration but I suggest that anyone who thinks so should visit Kisumu Prison and form his own opinion…. The response of the convicts to my address was exactly as I expected under the circumstances—sneers and political questions and obvious hatred for anyone with a white face.” KNA, AB 17/14/106B, memorandum from Colleton to Askwith, “Kisumu Central Prison,” 28 April 1955. In addition, Canon Webster—who often filled in for Church, even before his dismissal—constantly emphasized the lack of support for spiritual rehabilitation—in both manpower and material needs. Moreover, he commented upon his inability to access the detainees and Mau Mau prisoners, mainly due to “security grounds.” See KNA, AB 4/121/21, Eric Webster, “Report on Spiritual Welfare—Prisons, Prison Camps, Detention Camps and Works Camps,” March 1956; and KNA, AB 4/121/87, Eric Webster, “Spiritual Welfare—Chaplain’s Report to Commissioner of Prisons, October 1956,” 5 January 1957. Commentary was also provided on the conditions of the camps themselves.
81. PRO, CO 822/1787/14, minute to file from Mathieson to Buist, 11 March 1957.
82. PRO, CO 822/1199/48, letter from Gorell Barnes to Baring, 29 October 1956.
83. Mathieson not only agreed with this statement but in fact had a hand as a Colonial Office representative in influencing the composition of the CPA delegation. See PRO, CO 822/1787/14, minute to file from Mathieson to Buist, 11 March 1957.
84. PRO, CO 822/1787/31, extract from minutes of a meeting of the Executive Committee of the UK branch of the CPA, 2 April 1957.
85. For details on the active support of some Catholic missionaries, see KNA, MAA 9/930/1, minute from the secretary of African affairs, K. M. Cowley, to E. H. Windley, 8 June 1954; and MAA 9/930/5, memorandum from Ernest Bastin, general superintendent of the Methodist
mission, to E. H. Windley, 20 June 1954.
86. “Bishop Protests at C.M.S. Pamphlet,” East African Standard, 24 January 1955.
87. RH, Mss. Afr. s. 486, Sir Arthur Young, papers, box 5, file 1, Arthur Young, “Introduction to Sir Arthur Young,” no date.
88. As quoted in “Church Missionary Society’s Concern About Kenya,” East Africa and Rhodesia, 3 February 1955.
89. As quoted in ibid.
90. HLD, vol. 190, no. 19, cols. 1153–54, 10 February 1955.
91. See, for example, KNA, AB 17/14/100B, letter from S. A. Morrison to Governor Baring, “Comments by Church Leaders on the Present Situation in Kenya,” 29 March 1955; KNA, MAA 9/930/41, memo from provincial commissioner, Central Province, to minister for African affairs, 22 February 1955; and RH, Mss. Brit. Emp. s. 365, Fabian Colonial Bureau, papers, box 117, file 4, 21–29, letter from anonymous CMS missionary to B. Nicholls, and forwarded to the Fabian Colonial Bureau, 23 November 1953.
92. KNA, MAA 9/930/11, memorandum from Archbishop Beecher to Turnbull, 15 December 1954.
93. KNA, AB 8/34/85, “The Christian Council of Kenya—Minutes of the Meeting of the Standing Committee,” 27 November 1953.
94. RH, Mss. Brit. Emp. s. 365, Fabian Colonial Bureau, papers, box 117, file 4, 33–35, “An Open Letter from Leaders of Christian Churches in Kenya,” 7 December 1953. The letter was published through the Church Missionary Society in London, with the assistance of B. D. Nicholls, the CMS information officer. The signatories to this letter included Archbishop Leonard Beecher; David Steel, the moderator of the Church of Scotland in East Africa; R. Macpherson, clerk of synod, PCEA and CSM; E. Bigwood, territorial commander, the Salvation Army; E. A. Bastin, district chairman of the Methodist Church in Kenya; and W. Scott Dickson, general secretary, CCK.
95. Time, 7 December 1953. The case of Captain Griffiths was covered by numerous papers at the time. See, for example, the Daily Worker, “Kenya: Sack The Guilty,” 28 December 1953; and the Times, “Capt. Griffiths in the Box,” 11 March 1954. See also Evans, Law and Disorder, 262–64.
96. RH, Mss. Brit. Emp. s. 365, Fabian Colonial Bureau, papers, box 188, file 2B, item 30, “Kenya Church Leaders’ Second Statement on Abuses of Power by Certain Members of the Forces of Law and Order,” 8 January 1954.
97. Note the churches made many statements about the rehabilitation efforts as well as the Christian conversions of former Mau Mau adherents throughout the Emergency. See, for example, RH, Mss. Afr. s. 1681, Africa Bureau, papers, box 291, file 9, 3–24, press conference by the bishop of Mombasa, 1 April 1954; and box 291, file 9, 30, “Report of the Bishop of Mombasa’s Address to Members of Parliament and others in the House of Lords,” 26 May 1954.
98. Askwith, interview, 8 June 1998; John Lonsdale, personal correspondence with author, 20 July 2004.
99. KNA, CS 1/16/19, memorandum from church leaders to Governor Baring, 18 January 1955; and minutes of the meeting between the acting governor and church leaders, 2 February 1955.
100. KNA, MA 9/930/52, letter from S. A. Morrison to Sir Evelyn Baring, 29 March 1955.
101. KNA, MAA 9/930/60, memorandum “Affirmations of Church Leaders,” May 1955.
102. KNA, MAA 9/930/57, memorandum “Representations by Christian Council of Kenya on Emergency and Post-Emergency Planning,” 13 April 1955.
103. KNA, MAA 9/930/62, memorandum “Christian Council of Kenya—Complaints against Public Officers,” 10 May 1955.
104. KNA, MAA 129/27, letter from Reverend Peter Bostock to Reverend Canon M. A. C. Warren, 30 November 1953.
105. Records of the Anglican Church, Imani House, Nairobi, “Mau Mau” files, box 2, Christian Council of Kenya, “The Forces of Law and Order,” c. January 1954.
106. Records of the Anglican Church, Imani House, Nairobi, “Mau Mau” files, box 1, letter from W. Carey to Reverend Canon M. A. C. Warren, 12 January 1954. In his biography of Carey Francis, L. B. Greaves quotes the Anglican missionary as saying “the Security forces, and particularly the Police, have been involved in many acts of brutality to prisoners (sometimes amounting to deliberate and despicable torture).” Greaves went on to note that Francis “did in fact draft letters to the Times and the Manchester Guardian, but did not post them [not wanting to] aggravate still further the immense difficulties that faced the Administration.” L. B. Greaves, Carey Francis of Kenya (London: Rex Collings, 1969), 116, 120.
107. Records of the Anglican Church, Imani House, Nairobi, “Mau Mau” files, box 1, Sam Morrison, “Kenya Survey and the Christian Council of Kenya,” September 1954.
108. RH, Mss. Afr. s. 1681, Africa Bureau, papers, box 291, file 3, “Press Release—Statement by Church Leaders in Kenya,” 8 July, 1956.”
109. See, for example, PRO, CO 822/802/131, letter from detainees, Kisumu, to secretary of state for the colonies, 7 June 1956. For an example of detainees asking for a return of stolen property, see PRO, CO 822/131/113, “Re: Grievances: Loss of Property at Mackinnon Road Camp,” 14 February 1956.
110. See, for example, PRO, CO 822/729, minute from Sir S. Abrahams, 15 October 1953.
111. RH, Mss. Brit. Emp. s. 527/528, End of Empire, Kenya, vol. 2, Will Mathieson, interview, 157.
112. PRO, CAB 128/27, 9 (8), 17 February 1954—Kenya, detention of Mau Mau supporters.
113. PRO, PREM 11/339, “Admiral Mountbatten’s courtesy visit to Turkey,” 1953; PRO, PREM 11/340, “Decision to omit Egypt from itinerary of visits made by Lord Mountbatten,” 1952–53; and “Mountbatten’s Wife Enraged Churchill,” Daily Telegraph, 3 January 2004.
114. Joanna Lewis argues this point well in “‘Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me a Mau Mau’: The British Popular Press and the Demoralization of Empire,” in Mau Mau and Nationhood: Arms, Authority and Narration, ed. E. S. Atieno Odhiambo and John Lonsdale (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), 227. Additionally, Lewis offers here an excellent account of the importance and influence of the tabloid press on the popular understanding of Mau Mau.
115. The most important analyses of the Europeans’ perceptions of Mau Mau come from John Lonsdale, “Mau Maus of the Mind: Making Mau Mau and Remaking Kenya,” Journal of African History 31 (1990): 393–421; and Dane Kennedy, “Constructing the Colonial Myth of Mau Mau,” International Journal of African Historical Studies 25, no. 2 (1992): 241–60.
116. David Maughan-Brown presents the evidence for the Daily Worker and its unique position on Mau Mau in Land, Freedom, and Fiction: History and Ideology in Kenya (London: Zed, 1985), 159–60.
117. “Report on Kenya,” New Statesman and Nation, 6 December 1952; and “Imperialism in Our Time,” New Statesman and Nation, 14 February 1953.
118. Manchester Guardian, 17 February 1953.
119. Ibid., 14 November 1952.
120. As quoted in Barbara Castle, “Police and Administration in Kenya,” Socialists and the Colonies Venture, Journal of the Fabian Colonial Bureau 7, no. 9 (1956).
121. I am grateful to Anne Perkins and Anthony Sampson for sharing their insights with me regarding the place of anticolonial politics within the Labour movement during the postwar period.
Ten: Detention Exposed
1. John Cowan, interview, London, England, 24 July 1998; and RH, Mss. Afr. s. 2095, Terence Gavaghan, Corridors of Wire, 2.
2. Nderi Kagombe, interview, Ruguru, Mathira, Nyeri District, 24 February, 1999.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Anonymous, interview, Kariokor, Nairobi, 14 December 1998.
6. Kagombe, interview, 24 February 1999.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Anonymous, interview, Westlands, Nairobi, 8 August 2003; Maingi Waweru, interview, Muhito, Mukurweini, Nyeri District, 25 February 1999; and Wachira Murage, interview, Aguthi, North Tetu, Nyeri District, 25 February 1999.
10. The European Convention on Human Rights and Its Five Protocols, Section 1, Article 15, paragraph 1.
11. For further details regarding the derogation clause of the European Convention, see PRO, CO 822/1334/52,
memorandum, “Security Powers of Colonial Governors,” June 1959.
12. PRO, CO 822/888, minute from Mathieson to Gorell Barnes, 23 July 1955.
13. Ibid., minute from Gorell Barnes to Lloyd, 27 July 1955.
14. PRO, CO 822/798/34, minutes of the Council of Ministers, Resettlement Committee, seventeenth meeting, 27 April 1956.
15. PRO, CO 822/1229/1, brief for the secretary of state for the colonies for visit to Kenya, “The Continuation of the Emergency,” 1957.
16. For a detailed description of Johnston’s responsibilities, see PRO, CO 822/794/43, memorandum from Edward Windley, “The Council of Ministers—Special Administrative Organisation: Central Province,” 17 September 1955; and PRO, CO 822/794/44, letter from Baring to C. M. Johnston, 4 October 1955.
17. Muraya Mutahi, interview, Aguthi, North Tetu, Nyeri District, 25 February 1999.
18. See KNA, JZ 7/4/73B, copy of letter to the Right Honorable Sir Thomas Dugdale, MP, from the secretary of state for the colonies, 7 December 1956.
19. Wilson Ndirangu, interview, Ruguru, Mathira, Nyeri District, 24 January 1999.
20. Ibid.; see also, “Police Stand by after Prison Disorders,” East African Standard, 28 November 1956; and “Warders Quell Mutiny,” East African Standard, 29 November, 1956.
21. Mutahi, interview, 25 February 1999.
22. KNA, AB 1/119/149, memorandum from Greaves to Askwith, “Perkerra Rehabilitation Camp/Marigat Works Camp—Monthly Report by Community Development Officer in Charge,” 31 January 1957.
23. KNA, AB 1/119/150, memorandum from Askwith to Greaves, 11 February 1957.
24. T. G. Askwith, interview, Circencester, England, 8 June 1998.
25. KNA, JZ 4/20, “Classification of Detainees,” 4 March 1955.
26. PRO, CO 822/798/32, Resettlement Committee, “Releases from Custody and Rate of Absorption of Landless K.E.M.,” 25 April 1956.
27. Note that the detainees, once reclassified, would then move up and down the Pipeline to camps that corresponded with their new classification. The special commissioner also designated certain camps as “special rehabilitation camps,” where prisons and rehabilitation staff were supposed to convince the newly segregated “Y1s”—or lesser hard cores—of the benefits of confession. For a reconstruction of this system, see KNA, JZ 2/17, A. B. Simpson, memorandum, “Classification of Detainees,” 12 October 1956; KNA, AB 2/23/2, R. Tatton-Brown, memorandum, “Classification,” 9 October 1956; KNA, AB 1/84/2, “Movement of Detainees,” 20 October 1956; KNA, JZ 6/26/50A, Ministry of Community Development, Community Development Conference, 14–17 January 1957; and KNA, JZ 6/26/48, “Minutes of the 18th meeting of the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee,” 12 November 1956.
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