State of Emergency. The Full Story of Mau Mau

1963 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 254
Author(s):  
Donald C. Savage ◽  
Fred Majdalany ◽  
Alan Rake ◽  
George Bennett ◽  
Carl Rosberg
Keyword(s):  
1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce J. Berman

In the twenty-odd years since the declaration of a state of emergency in Kenya in October 1952, the analysis of the phenomenon known as ‘Mau Mau’ has undergone a fundamental revision. The initial interpretation, advanced by the colonial authorities and their apologists and by a few (mostly British) scholars, explained ‘Mau Mau’ as a fanatic, atavistic, savage religious cult consciously created and manipulated by a group of unscrupulous, power-hungry leaders. It was said to be rooted in a mass psychosis affecting an unstable tribe freed from the anchoring constraints of tradition. It was also said to have had no direct links to socio-economic conditions in the colony or to the policies of the Kenya government. This interpretation, popularized by a large and sensational journalistic literature, went virtually unchallenged for more than a decade. During this period ‘Mau Mau’ and its antecedents were largely ignored by social scientists. As late as 1965, Gilbert Kushner could report that a search of major anthropological journals revealed, at best, only peripheral mention of Mau Mau. Where ‘Mau Mau’ was explicitly considered, the basic premise of the official explanation was generally accepted, and the phenomenon was treated as a nativistic cult or revitalization movement.


Author(s):  
John M. Gachoki

The article sets out to examine the correlation between the drinking problem that has beset youth of Central Kenya and the oaths that were taken by residents in the region in the wake of the struggle for socio-political and economic independence (in 1950s). It is worthwhile to recall that the Mau Mau philosophy discouraged the abuse of drugs, and especially alcohol. It was the belief that the breach of oaths spelt calamity. The youth might disassociate themselves from beliefs of their fathers and forefathers. However, since most of them are Christians, nominal or practical, they should be awed because the bible has it that, ‘’. . . I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation . . .’’ (Deuteronomy 5:9). Characteristically, the communities in Central Kenya share many aspects of culture, especially beliefs and religious practices. For example, breach of oaths was a taboo. The article seeks to establish the connection between the high degree of alcohol abuse to the violation of oaths that the Mau Mau (freedom fighters) patriots took before and during the State of Emergency (1952-1960). Certainly, anything taboo was ominous. Mau Mau agitated for independence, and more importantly, the return of land, the bond that bound together the living, the dead and the unborn. Land was seen in our indigenous society as sacred and it was not to change hands in any way. Mau Mau took oaths to the effect that whoever breached it would attract catastrophe, including death. In view of this, the article would seek to establish if the drinking problem in the Mount Kenya (central) region is a consequence of breaching Mau Mau oaths.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-495
Author(s):  
Melvina Afra Mendes de Araújo

To extinguish the Mau Mau, a movement driven by land issues that marked Kenya, the colonial government declared a state of emergency in 1952, creating villages to which the Kikuyu population was displaced, as well as detention camps for the guerrillas. Therefore, it is worth analyzing the relationships amongst Consolata missionaries and the Mau Mau guerrillas, which led to an approximation between these missionaries and the Kikuyu.


2000 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 200-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Casson

In May 1955, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, visited Fort Hall in Kenya’s Kikuyu native reserve. The colonial government had declared a state of emergency nearly three years before in response to a secret and violent Kikuyu anti-colonial movement which it knew as Mau Mau. In the ensuing guerrilla war several thousand were killed, almost all of them Africans, and some eighty thousand Kikuyu were held in detention camps.


1976 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tamarkin

This article attempts to trace the origins of Mau Mau movement in Nakuru, the capital of the White Highlands, and to follow its development through the turbulent post-war years. Mau Mau here is seen as a distinct militant movement which advocated the use of violence in the anti-colonial struggle. It developed within the ranks of the Kikuyu Central Association whose moderate political strategy it rejected. It had a distinct social basis, both its leadership and its mass support coming from the ranks of the dispossessed urban Kikuyu lumpenproletariat. Mau Mau emerged, by 1952, as the dominant African political force at the cost of alienating most non-Kikuyu tribes, and intensifying divisions and hatreds within Kikuyu society. Although Mau Mau did not have definite plans for a large-scale guerrilla war when the State of Emergency was declared in October 1952, nor was it prepared for such a war, it was certainly developing along these lines. There was a large measure of continuity between pre-Emergency Mau Mau and the forces which were later engaged in the forest fighting. The forest fighting was primarily a response, not of the bewildered Kikuyu masses, but of an organized militant and violent movement. It is not suggested that Nakuru's model applies to other Kikuyu areas. On the contrary, it is suggested that the full story of Mau Mau in Kenya will be revealed only after a series of intensive local studies have been undertaken.


Author(s):  
Gerald Horne
Keyword(s):  

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-45
Author(s):  
Akihiko Shimizu

This essay explores the discourse of law that constitutes the controversial apprehension of Cicero's issuing of the ultimate decree of the Senate (senatus consultum ultimum) in Catiline. The play juxtaposes the struggle of Cicero, whose moral character and legitimacy are at stake in regards to the extra-legal uses of espionage, with the supposedly mischievous Catilinarians who appear to observe legal procedures more carefully throughout their plot. To mitigate this ambivalence, the play defends Cicero's actions by depicting the way in which Cicero establishes the rhetoric of public counsel to convince the citizens of his legitimacy in his unprecedented dealing with Catiline. To understand the contemporaneousness of Catiline, I will explore the way the play integrates the early modern discourses of counsel and the legal maxim of ‘better to suffer an inconvenience than mischief,’ suggesting Jonson's subtle sensibility towards King James's legal reformation which aimed to establish and deploy monarchical authority in the state of emergency (such as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605). The play's climactic trial scene highlights the display of the collected evidence, such as hand-written letters and the testimonies obtained through Cicero's spies, the Allbroges, as proof of Catiline's mischievous character. I argue that the tactical negotiating skills of the virtuous and vicious characters rely heavily on the effective use of rhetoric exemplified by both the political discourse of classical Rome and the legal discourse of Tudor and Jacobean England.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fradhana Putra Disantara

This study aims to analyze the relevance of the �health emergency� status to the existing legal theory and condition as well as to identify the validity of the Circular Letter of the Rector of State Universities. To this end, this study applied the statute and conceptual approach. The study was conducted by inventorying primary and secondary legal materials to obtain a proper and critical review of the legal issues under study. The results showed that the determination of the �health emergency� status by the government was inappropriate due to the uncertainty of the regulations issued by the government to determine the current condition. Thus, the status of the COVID-19 pandemic is a �legal emergency� status. Further, the Rector�s policy through the Circular Letter is valid judicially, sociologically, and philosophically. The determination of the �legal emergency� status can be done by issuing a Perppu without a �state of emergency� from the President. Finally, it is suggested to firstly get an approval from the Ministry of Education and Culture regarding the issuance of the Rector�s Circular Letter. Besides, further study is needed as this study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic.�Keabsahan Surat Edaran Rektor Perguruan Tinggi dalam Pandemi Covid-19Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisa relevansi status �darurat kesehatan� dengan teori hukum dan kondisi yang ada dan keabsahan atas Surat Edaran Rektor Perguruan Tinggi Negeri. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah statute approach dan conseptual approach. Penelitian dilakukan dengan menginventarisasi bahan hukum primer dan sekunder, guna mendapatkan kajian yang seyogianya dan telaah kritis terkait isu hukum. Hasil penelitian menyatakan penetapan status darurat kesehatan oleh pemerintah kurang tepat, dikarenakan tidak menentu-nya peraturan yang dikeluarkan oleh pemerintah untuk menetapkan kondisi saat ini. Sehingga, status pandemi COVID-19 merupakan status darurat hukum. Kebijakan rektor melalui Surat Edaran adalah absah secara aspek yuridis, sosiologis, dan filosofis. Penetapan darurat hukum cukup dilakukan dengan menerbitkan Perppu tanpa pernyataan darurat dari Presiden. Saran peneliti adalah di perlukan persetujuan pada Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan terkait terbitnya Surat Edaran Rektor, dan dibutuhkan penelitian lebih lanjut dikarenakan penelitian ini dilakukan pada masa COVID-19 yang bersifat temporal.�


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