Basis of conflict among peasant communities

Nearly thirty five years ago the broad mass of the Kenyan people, particularly those from central Kenya and the Rift Valley took up arms to wage a protracted people's war against British imperialism. The war was fought under the auspices of Kenya Land freedom Army (KFLA), popularly known as Mau Mau led by Dedan Kimathi. The Mau Mau war was the first one of the kind in colonial Africa. Others FLN, MPLA, FRELIMO, PAIGO, ZAMA, SWAPO, etc. were to come later. it posed a great challenge to the position of British imperialism, not only in Kenya but throughout Africa, and hence it was crashed with massive repression and bestiality. But to-day more than ever the Mau Mau question still remains a subject of great concern, controversy and inspiration among Kenyan Scholars and politicians.

Paper presented to the International Seminar on Internal Conflict, 21st - 26th September 1987; sponsored by International Alert, London; Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University; International Peace Research Institute, Oslo; and The United Nations University, Tokyo.