Backpacking Through Africa 18

 
90,000 Kenyans – mainly Kikuyu – were killed, maimed, and tortured; another 160,000 were imprisoned in camps under inhumane conditions.

The uprising nevertheless shook the settlers deeply. When the problem was settled at the London conference in 1960, many settlers left for Rhodesia, South Africa, and Australia.

With a Backpack Through Africa 17: Mau Mau

 The colonial authority panicked. They declared a state of emergency, and began confining people to "protected villages" surrounded by barbed wire and ditches, where a curfew applied.

By the defeat of the Mau Mau rebels in 1960, 13,500 Africans – Mau Mau guerrillas, civilians, and soldiers – had died, along with about 100 Europeans, including 32 settlers.

Backpacking Through Africa 16 Mau Mau uprising

 Their demands escalated,but the colonial authority was less willing to concede. Members of the Kikuyu, Maasai, and Luo tribes began gathering at meetings where they solemnly swore death to Europeans and their collaborators.

The Mau Mau uprising began. The rebellion against whites quickly degenerated into widespread slaughter, especially among individual parties, attacks on farms, and killing livestock.

 Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)