Kenya Independence Essay: The Forgotten Fight For Kenyan Independence

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The Forgotten Fight for Kenyan Independence “We did not want to leave until the British came to understand that this country belongs to the Kenyan Africans” (Calatayud and Moore). This quote from Gitu wa Kahengeri is here to say that despite any trouble that may have come from this, they wanted to be free from British rule. Being oppressed in multiple forms by the British, the Kenyans pushed for a rebellion that would later be entitled “The Mau Mau Rebellion.” This was a war that meant to much to Kenyans at the time, but every story has a beginning. In the beginning, all that there was was a small group called “The Kikuyu.” The Kikuyu people were the first and most abundant people to form the Mau Mau group and to create the want to fight and …show more content…

“In 1963, independence for Kenya was won. More than 1 million acres were redistributed to 45,000 Kenyans, but many large farms were left intact and taken over by powerful Kenyans” (David 226). The Kenyans may would have lost if it wasn’t because of the British that was unprepared and had a bad military at the time. Just three years after the Mau Mau had won the war, they managed to successfully escape from the clutches of their former British overlords. Like any other country would, the Kenyans attempted to rebuild their broken nation. They all felt ecstatic and patriotic with the victory that they had secured, but they had no idea of what was to come. After their failed attempt to establish a government in their land that would be kind to its citizens, the country of Kenya fell right back into an even worse situation. The country has lost large amounts of money, making mostly everyone unstable financially. Most Kenyans these days live malnourished with big chances of not being able to see another day. They live in poverty, with a lack of food, and they also have a horrible government. At certain places, some people would kill just because another person is against their current leader. “The spectre of Mau Mau has haunted Kenya since the revolt’s eruption in the early 1950s, and it has shown no sign of abating” (Alam 21). The Kenyans fought so hard for what they thought would end up being complete independence, but it only ended up being even worse for them. The Mau Mau has continued to live on until 2003 when their government banned

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