Mau Mau uprising haunts Britain 60 years on

The ruthlessness exercised by the British Empire over a century ago to suppress  anti colonial uprisings  has come back to haunt them like a ghost in the night.  Grim accounts of torture,sexual assault and a host of other nefarious acts committed by Colonial Britain puts them on par with today's brutal regimes. 

© Martin Rowson 2012

Paulo Muoka Nzili, 85, Wambugu Wa Nyingi, 84, and Jane Muthoni Mara, 73, have been relentless in their efforts in reminding  the world of Britain's shameful past. The heroic elderly Kenyan trio started out as a five man team from their humble beginnings, to take on one of the world's most well known and respected authorities: the British Government. The fourth claimant, Susan Ciong'ombe Ngondi, died two years ago aged 71, while a fifth dropped out.

Horrific accounts of abuse and torture carried out by British officials in former colonies have been laid bare once-more for any who have missed it in their life span. Such was the grand scale of atrocities committed by the British records shown during the 1950s Eoka uprising refer to British officials as 'Her Majesty's Torturers.'(The Guardian).

The British Government has acknowledged Colonial Britain's disgraceful role in the torture and abuse of the three claimants as "it does not dispute that each of the claimants in this case suffered torture and other ill treatment at the hand of the colonial adminstration." 

Hundreds of thousands died or disappeared during the eight year period of the Mau Mau uprising. It is then safe to say the Government accepting claims of torture from these three elderly Kenyans who live to tell their story, may as well accept the torture accounts of many other Kenyans during the Mau Mau revolution. It is hardly conceivable the almost decade long revolution saw only three victims of torture.

Documents which ordered the torture of Mau Mau fighters lay hidden in Hanslope Park- Her Majesty's Communication Center. It reveals the attorney general  of the British administration to Kenya, Eric Griffiths-Jones writing to governor Sir Evelyn Baring, upholding torture and emphasising on the need for complete secrecy conducting such opprobrious deeds .

"vulnerable parts of the body should not be struck, particularly the spleen, liver or kidneys", and it was important that "those who administer violence … should remain collected, balanced and dispassionate. If we are going to sin, we must sin quietly."(The Guardian)

However the Home Office feels its should not be brought into accountability over heinous acts carried out by it's predecessors as 'the time limit for bringing a civil action is three to six years ' plus the fact that 'key decision makers are dead and unable to give account of what  happened.'

Suffice to say waiting around for an apology will be equivalent to rounding up polar bears vote in favour of summer.  We should all just roll over our backs and forget the diabolical punishments meted out to people fighting for independence because it happened over a long time ago.

The story of this elderly Kenyan trio reminds us of Britain's ignominious colonial past mired in barbaric horrors of cruelty and grand scale inhumaneness which history has largely overlooked.