Dedan Kimathi on Trial: Colonial Justice and Popular Memory in Kenya’s Mau Mau Rebellion

433 Pages·2017·3.538 MB·English

by  Julie MacArthur (editor)

DEDAN
KIMATHI
ON TRIAL
Colonial Justice and Popular Memory
in Kenya’s Mau Mau Rebellion
Edited by JULIE MACARTHUR
Foreword by M˜ıcere G˜ıthae Mu˜go and Ngu˜g˜ı wa Thiong’o
Dedan Kimathi on Trial
Ohio University Research in International Studies
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Executive Editor: Gillian Berchowitz
Dedan Kimathi on Trial
Colonial JusTiCe anD PoPular MeMory in
Kenya’s Mau Mau rebellion
edited by Julie Macarthur
Introductory Note by Willy Mutunga
Foreword by Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
ohio university research in international studies
Global and Comparative studies series no. 17
ohio university Press
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Cover image: Dedan Kimathi on trial, 1956. Getty images
Cover design: beth Pratt
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
names: Macarthur, Julie, 1982- editor. | Mutunga, Willy, writer of
introductory note. | Mugo, Mĩcere Gĩthae, writer of foreword. | ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o,
1938- writer of foreword.
Title: Dedan Kimathi on trial : colonial justice and Kenya’s Mau Mau
rebellion / edited by Julie Macarthur ; introductory note by Hon. Chief
Justice Willy Mutunga ; foreword by Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo and ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.
other titles: research in international studies. Global and comparative
studies series ; no. 17.
Description: athens, ohio : ohio university Press, 2017. | series: ohio
university research in international studies. Global and comparative
studies series ; no. 17 | includes bibliographical references and index.
identifiers: lCCn 2017036215| isbn 9780896803169 (hc : alk. paper) | isbn
9780896803176 (pb : alk. paper) | isbn 9780896805019 (pdf)
subjects: lCsH: Kimathi, Dedan, 1920-1957--Trials, litigation, etc. |
Kenya--History--Mau Mau emergency, 1952-1960. | Mau Mau--History.
Classification: lCC DT433.577 .D425 2017 | DDC 967.6203--dc23
lC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017036215
Contents
list of illustrations
ix
introductory note
willy mutunga
xi
Foreword
mĩcere gĩthae mũgo and ngũgĩ wa thiong’o
xiii
acknowledgments
xix
abbreviations
xxiii
introduction
The Trial of Dedan Kimathi
julie macarthur
1
Primary Documents
1 Trial of Dedan Kimathi 41
2 Judgment 137
3 appeal to the Court of appeals for eastern africa 152
4 appeal to the Privy Council of the united Kingdom 156
5 interrogation report of Dedan Kimathi 175
v
6 exhibit no. 20—signed arrest statement of the accused 191
7 exhibit no. 22—original Gikuyu Version of
Kimathi letter, 20 october 1954 193
8 exhibit no. 22a—official english Translation of
Kimathi letter, 20 october 1954 199
9 exhibit no. 23—Kimathi letter, 30 March 1954 207
10 exhibit no. 24—Kimathi letter, 6 March 1954 210
11 exhibit no. 25—letter from Chief Muhoya to
Dedan Kimathi, 2 June 1954 211
12 exhibit no. b1—surrender leaflet, 24 august 1953 212
13 exhibit no. C1—surrender leaflet, 24 august 1953 213
14 exhibits nos. D1 and D2—surrender leaflet and
safe Conduct Pass, 18 January 1955 215
15 Final letter from Kimathi to Father Marino,
17 February 1957 218
Critical Essays
chapter 1
Mau Mau on Trial
Dedan Kimathi’s Prosecution and Kenya’s Colonial Justice
david m. anderson
233
chapter 2
Mau Mau’s Debates on Trial
john m. lonsdale
258
chapter 3
The unfolding of britain and Kenya’s Complex Tango
An Uneasy Return to a Critical Past and Its Implications
nicholas kariuki githuku
284
vi i Contents
chapter 4
Dedan Kimathi
The Floating Signifier and the Missing Body
simon gikandi
317
chapter 5
Memorialization and Mau Mau
A Critical Review
lotte hughes
339
appendix
372
bibliography
381
Contributors
395
index
399
Contents i vii

Illustrations
Maps
1 Colonial Kenya, c. 1956 xxiv
2 Central Kenya xxv
3 Capture scene xxvi
Figures
1a–b exhibit no. 20, signed arrest statement
of the accused 191
2a–f exhibit no. 22, original Gikuyu version of
Kimathi letter, 20 october 1954 193
3 exhibit no. D2, Mau Mau safe conduct pass 217
a.1 exhibit no. 1, plan of capture scene 375
a.2 exhibit no. 6, pistol 375
a.3 exhibit no. a, X-ray photograph of Kimathi’s
bullet wound to the thigh 376
a.4 exhibit no. 21, photo of Dedan Kimathi,
June 1953 377
a.5a–b Warrant of execution 378
Photographs
Following page 220
1 Dedan Kimathi with pen, 1953
2 Dedan Kimathi after his capture, 1956
ix