Ex-Mau Mau Fighters and Land Issues in Kenya: The Case of Ndeffo, 1968-2013

Abstract

One of the objective of the Mau Mau fighters was to reclaim land that had been lost to white settlers through land alienation. After independence, however, the government of Kenya was reluctant to give the ex-Mau Mau fighters and other landless people free land. Landless Kikuyu therefore formed land-buying companies such as Ngwataniro, Nyakinyua and the Nakuru District Ex-freedom Fighters Organisation (NDEFFO). NDEFFO, a land-buying company exclusively for former Mau Mau fighters owned three farms: Marwa, Engashura and Lusiru farm. However, the self-help activities of NDEFFO have not been subjected to critical analysis. This study was guided by the following objectives; to examine government’s efforts in addressing landlessness among the Mau Mau Veterans, to analyse the reasons for the formation of NDEFFO and the extent to which the organisation achieved its objectives. The study was based on both primary and secondary data. Archival data were obtained from the Kenya National Archives in Nairobi while oral data was collected from informants in the three NDEFFO farms in Nakuru County. The informants comprised 47 men and 32 women, mainly ex-Mau Mau fighters. Secondary sources included books, journal articles, dissertations/theses, and conference papers. Selected secondary sources informed the theory and while others complimented data from the primary sources. Data was interpreted and presented as per the objectives above. The postcolonial theory, which critically examines both the colonial and post-colonial experience of the Third World societies, guided the study. In addition, the theory demonstrates how post-independence elites that emerged out of the colonial situation are reproduced in the postcolonial society. The research found out that NDEFFO was formed for the well-being of its members and that the postcolonial government neglected the Mau Mau veterans’ plea for land. The agitation for land by Mau Mau veterans is a generational problem enacted in the lives by their children. The study adds knowledge as well as contributing on existing literature on peasantry struggles. It also provides information that will contribute towards the creation of national land policy as envisioned in Kenya’s Vision 2030.