Mau Maus The Prosecutor's Case Study

This trial was between a group called the Mau Mau and Great Britain. Great Britain colonized Kenya in 1895. Great Britain's colonization of Kenya had major effects, good and bad.But in the early 1900’s, the Kenyans wanted independence. They formed a independence group called the Mau Mau. The Mau Mau were mostly made up of a tribe called the Kikuyu. As they tried peaceful protests and demonstrations, the Mau Mau were usually attacked by the British. Britain believed in order to stop the Mau Mau from their independence movement and the violence they were causing on the Britain's, Britain needed to use force. The purpose of this trial was not to make a decision about if Britain's violence was justifiable or not, but to figure out if the Mau Maus

violence was justifiable or not.
The purpose of this trial was to find if the Mau Mau’s violence was justifiable or unjustifiable. We used what we saw and heard during the prosecutor's case and defendant's case to make a decision.
The Prosecutor's Case believed the Mau Mau’s violence was unacceptable and they should be punished for their actions.

In order for the us, the jury, to agree with the prosecutors, they brought witnesses to the stand. Jacinta Waruiru was the first be called to the stand. She was a witness to the vicious Mau Mau attack. She told us that her family was a loyalist to the British. She was Chief Luka Wa Kahangara’s wife. Mrs. Waruiru told us about the day she and her family were attacked. She told us that the Mau Mau came to her house and killed thirteen members of her family. They killed her husband first and her housewives and their husbands housewives too. While running with a child in her arms, the Mau Mau shot her in the leg, head, and back. At that time she dropped the child, and he/she got shot while on the ground. As Mrs. Jacinta was seeking shelter behind a tree she saw her family get tortured and killed by the Mau Mau. Also she told us that all of her cattle were killed, her family’s house was burned down, and her husband’s body was cut up into pieces by the Mau Mau. The Prosecution also brought Ian Henderson to the stand, a colonial police officer. He was responsible for the capture of the Mau Mau leader, Dedan Kimathi. He came up to the stand and told us about how all he wanted was peace in Kenya. He said that since the Mau Mau have been in Kenya, it had become more tense. Prosecution also brought Evelyn Baring to the stand. he was the governor of Kenya. He told us

that he brought education, schools, and hospitals to Kenya. Baring said conization helped Kenya. Another witness for the prosecution was Winston Churchill. He was for imperialism and believed that higher power countries like Great Britain should control countries like Kenya.
The defense's case argued that the Mau Mau’s violence was justifiable.

order for the jury to agree with the defense they first brought Hussein Onyango Obama to the stand. He told us that he was not a part of the Mau Mau. And also said that he has had done nothing wrong to the British. but he was captured and tortured by the British for two years as a thought he was involved in the Mau Mau. Obama also served for the British. Dedan Kimathi was a leader of violence against Kenyan and British authorities. He said said he and the Mau Mau tried peaceful protests, but they did not work and so used violence to try and fight for their independence.

Mr. Dedan also told us that British forced labor onto Kenyans, what up their tribes, and took away their culture. He said in order to defend themselves from the mistreatment by the British they needed any use violence. Barbara Castle was also a witness for the defense. She was a member of the British Parliament. She told us she went down to Kenya to investigate the allegations about the British police bragging about brutally killing the Kenyans.

We decided that the Mau Mau’s violence was justifiable in this case.The one fact that made us lean towards the decision was that there were among 30,000 Kenyans who lost their lives toward this uprising, and only 30 British died. As both the defendants and prosecutors did an excellent job, I believed that the Defense's case was more organized with facts, arguments and quotes that helped me

as a Jury member have empathy and sympathy for the Mau Mau.