Speech on Mau Mau Compensation

On Thursday, the British government announced it will pay $30.8 million in compensation to elderly Kenyans tortured by British colonial forces.

The out-of-court settlement will be split between 5,228 victims, leaving about $4,100 per claimant.

Here is the full speech delivered by British Foreign Secretary William Hague on the Mau Mau Compensation.

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement on a legal settlement that the Government has reached concerning the claims of Kenyan citizens who lived through the Emergency Period and the Mau Mau insurgency from October 1952 to December 1963.

During the Emergency Period widespread violence was committed by both sides, and most of the victims were Kenyan.  Many thousands of Mau Mau members were killed, while the Mau Mau themselves were responsible for the deaths of over 2,000 people including 200 casualties among the British regiments and police.

MauMau Veterans to sue British Government

A historic judgment made in a British High Court on Friday has given three elderly Kenyans the right to sue the British Government for torture and sexual abuse during the Mau Mau Uprising.

The three Senior Kenyan citizens who include Jane Muthoni Mara, Paulo Muoka Nzili and Wambugu Wa Nyingi were allegedly subjected to torture and sexual abuse to the extent of castration in Nzili’s case.

High Court Judge Richard McCombe rejected the British’s Government argument that too much time had elapsed for a fair hearing to take place and ordered for a full trial.

The fourth Kenyan, Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua who was part of three seeking justice died while waiting for the case to reach trail.

The trio’s prayers have been answered and can now sue the British Government for compensation.

Back in the country, it was all celebration and dance with over 100 Mau Mau Veterans gathered at the Kenya Human Rights Commission Offices in Nairobi.

Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu who recently received the Mo Ibrahim Award said that the British government should take responsibility and show compassion towards the senior victims. 

The British government, which is bracing itself for other numerous legal claims from Kenyans who were allegedly illegally imprisoned and abused during the colonial era, has said it will appeal the High Court ruling.  

“Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?” – Mahatma Gandhi

50 outstanding Pre & Post Independence and Second Liberation Heroes

Tomorrow Kenya marks the 49th Madaraka Day; this is after the British colonialist handed over the nation to its inhabitants on 1^st June 1963. Many Kenyans who had nationalistic ambitions and protested the rule were violently suppressed. The struggle of this Kenyans and the later generation of second liberation crusaders have made me embark on writing a list of 50 Kenyans who make tomorrow a day to celebrate.

Here is the list of 50 remarkable Pre & Post Independence and Second Liberation Kenyans