Mau Mau uprising in Kenya

In October 1952 the British colonial government of Kenya declared a state of emergency against Mau Mau, a militant movement mainly of Kikuyu people, the largest ethnic group in central Kenya. Its fighters, who called themselves the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, swore secret oaths and waged guerrilla war from the forests of Mount Kenya and the Aberdare range. Britain arrested nationalist leaders including Jomo Kenyatta, brought in troops and aircraft, detained tens of thousands without trial in camps, and moved around a million Kikuyu into fortified villages. The movement's main commander, Dedan Kimathi, was captured in 1956 and hanged in 1957.²³

The revolt grew out of land: white settlers held the fertile highlands while many Kikuyu were squatters or crowded into reserves, and postwar hopes of reform, raised by African service in World War II, were frustrated. Officially about 11,000 rebels were killed, more than 1,000 people were hanged, and Mau Mau killed some 1,800 African civilians and 32 European settlers. Revelations of abuse, such as the killing of 11 detainees at Hola camp in 1959, discredited the policy in Britain, and Kenya became independent in December 1963 with Kenyatta as leader.¹²³