The early story of Harry Thuku and the Kikuyu Central Association resistance to the expropriation of land, labor, and life by British imperialism in today’s Kenya.

‘East Africans in Revolt’ from The Pan-Pacific Monthly. No. 37. June-July, 1930.

MOST workers conceive of Kenya as a place where white settlers go to start farms, on which they grow coffee, sisal, wheat and maize, etc.

It must be clearly understood that all the land in Keny a is owned by the natives, having been acquired by them by hereditary right from time immemorial. In spite of this fact, the British Government has assumed that all land in Keny a comes under their direct control (under Crown Lands Ordinance) for disposal according to their discretion and, of course preferably to white settlers.

In consequence of this attitude of the Government, the former native owners of land in Kenya find themselves deprived of the land to which they had hitherto held all traditional rights and title. In short, they are robbed.

The native of Kenya, in fact, all Africans–whether they have come into contact with European civilization or not–prefer to live as their forebears have done, namely, in their villages, which are more or less self-supporting. Their wants are few and their economic requirements are simple and easily supplied, in as much as they can grow their own food and rear their own cattle and sheep. This preference for a simple life is beyond the comprehension of the majority of Europeans, accustomed as they are to the more complex form of life in the West.

“SUPERIORITY” FALSEHOOD

What is not understood often leads to mis-conception, with the result that the white settlers think the mentality of the Africans is on a much lower level than their own. This engendered the false and pernicious idea of the superiority of the white man over the black.

The British Government stepped in–Kenya was declared a Protectorate (later Colony) and all ownership of land was ignored as though it had never existed and the Government assumed the sole control. The white settlers were granted land concessions, the Government then imposed a system of taxation which the native found an additional burden. He had been deprived of his land; he had now no source of income. He could neither grow his food supply nor rear his cattle or sheep independently, with the result that he was forced to go and work for the white settlers to get money to pay the Government tax.

This iniquitous state of affairs led to the formation of the East African Association, to fight against these oppressive measures. At this time, the white settlers decided to reduce the wages of the native laborers.

Wages were about twelve shillings a month and the poll tax was twelve shillings a year, and the hut tax was also twelve shillings a year. Each grown-up man has to pay the poll tax, and if a man is responsible for more than one hut, or has old people who are not able to work, dependent on him, he has to work several months each year only to pay taxes.

The Government in 1920 raised the taxes from twelve to sixteen shillings each, and at the same time the settlers tried to lower the wages, so that the position was very bad for the Africans. And so a few of them met together and formed the East African Association.

At first, it went very slowly, owing to the fact that most of its members were in Government employ. The first Chairman was in a high position in the Government service, and was forced by the Government to resign from the Chairmanship of the Association; and then the people elected Harry Thuku.

Thuku was elected at a great meeting at Dagoretti, where all the chiefs and headmen and many thousands of the people authorized him to organize to defend the interests of the African people. Thuku was also in the Government service, and the Government tried to force him to resign from the Association, but Thuku refused, and resigned instead from the Government service, and gave his whole time to the Association.

GIRLS FREE FOR WHITES

Besides the taxes and the low wages, the British District Commissioners would send an order to the chiefs, that they must provide a certain number of girls to “work” for each white settler, and thus the African girls were forced to leave their villages and be at the mercy of the whites.

Harry Thuku organized the agitation all over the country, and everywhere he had great meetings of the people. The biggest meeting was held at Nairobi. There were over twenty thousand at that meeting.

Thuku organized his meetings like this: he called his committee together and made arrangements. Then each member of the committee went out and told the most important man in a village and he would pass it on to all his people, and also send a messenger to the next village, and so the news of the meeting was passed from village to village, until within a few hours the whole district knew of it, and the people came pouring into the place arranged.

AGITATION EVERYWHERE

All the people followed Thuku and saw that what he said was right, and he became very popular. He carried on agitation everywhere against the forced labor of girls and also against the taxes, and he sent telegrams to British members of Parliament. As a result of his agitation, the Government had to abolish the forced labor of girls, and to reduce the poll and hut taxes again from sixteen shillings to twelve. Therefore, Thuku was still more popular, and the girls and young men made songs about him and sang them in the villages.

Thuku wanted to go on and build up the organization to fight against the other grievances of the Africans; but, of course, the British Government was now very frightened of him, and they decided to stop his agitation. They wanted to arrest him, but he had not done anything illegal, and it was dangerous for them to touch him, because all the people followed him. So they invented a trick.

The Government prepared a document, saying that the people did not want Thuku, and that he was a bad man. The head official went around to all the chiefs and headmen, and informed them that if they did not sign this document they would lose their positions. He told them also that Thuku was trying to take away their positions and become king of the people.

And so, many chiefs and headmen signed the document, although many could neither read nor write and did not know exactly what was in it. Then the document was sent to the Governor, and he issued a warrant for the arrest of Thuku. Thuku was arrested on March 15, 1922, and taken to the police headquarters in Nairobi. The same night the office of the Association was raided by the police, and all the records and documents were seized except those which the committee had already removed. The committee of the Association at once sent out messengers, and the news spread quickly all over the country.

News was sent out, too, in the same way, that in the morning nobody should commence work. The people began to come in to Nairobi from all sides, and a great crowd waited all night outside the police headquarters. And all night people were coming in.

When the white masters awoke in the morning, all over the country they could find no one to work. They shouted, “Boy! Bring me my horse!” but there was no answer. The white ladies called “Boy! Bring me my tea!” but there was no boy and no tea. All the servants and chauffeurs and everyone had gone to get Harry Thuku out of prison.

WOULD NOT GO AWAY

When the white men got to their business houses and offices, there were no clerks there, and no African did any work for the whites: that day. The Committee of the Association sent round to say that if anyone worked for the whites he was no African, and the people were all determined not to work if Thuku was kept in prison.

By ten o’clock in the morning the crowd had grown enormously, and a deputation was sent to tell the Governor that they would not go away unless Thuku was released. The Governor was not there, he had gone to another town, and the Deputy Governor told the deputation to tell the crowd to go away and then they would have a conference.

All the officials were excited and would not give any reply, and only told them to send the people away. Of course, this was only to get the people to go so that the Government could take off Thuku to some other place. The people understood that it was only a trick, and so they decided to remain until Thuku was released.

WOMEN SHOT DOWN

In the meantime, inside the police headquarters, the police had been standing round inside the wall, which was six to seven feet high; the police are always armed there. The Government also prepared soldiers and machine guns and armored cars. At about midday, the police started firing on the crowd.

I was in the crowd myself and saw men, women and children killed, and many others lying in agony. It was a most terrible massacre of people who were quite unarmed and defenseless, and the people of Kenya will not forget it.

The police headquarters are in the middle of the town, in a great square, and this square was packed with people. By the morning more than a hundred thousand were there, and they were coming in from the country all the time. Therefore, when the shooting began, very large numbers were shot down, although the people only tried to get away. The official report said that twenty-five were killed, but this is absurd.

HUNDREDS DEAD

McGregor Ross, who was in Kenya at the time, said in his letter, published by the Manchester Guardian, on March 20, 1929, that 150 were killed, and this is certainly not an exaggeration. A very much larger number must have died from their wounds, for their friends took them away and were afraid to report when they died, because they would themselves have been arrested for taking part.

When the police had started firing, the military were brought quickly into the streets with machine guns and armored cars, and they paraded the streets all day and night in order to terrorize the people.

Even after the shooting, the crowd came back, and again the Government had to use a trick. The police drove a car through the streets towards the station guarded by police and they said that Thuku was inside. The people followed it, and then Thuku was really driven in another car to another station about 25 miles away, and he was taken to a distant place, called Kismayu.

The same day, the military paraded the African quarters chasing the people that were found talking in groups. The following week a number of people were arrested, and most of them had sentences imposed, ranging from 2 years, 1 year, 6 months and 3 months; and many who were not arrested had fines for having been on strike they were fined 4 shillings a month, to be reduced out of their wages for a period of six months.

ARRESTS AND FINES

After the arrest of Thuku the members of the East African Association were scattered, and those that remained in the organization had to meet secretly. But the chiefs were encouraged by the British Government to form an organization for themselves, which would do all that the British Government wanted.

When it was known who had signed the document telling the Governor that the people did not want Thuku, they became very unpopular, and the girls and boys invented songs containing the names of these chiefs, and condemning their action. These songs spread all over the country and became famous, and the young people would sing them continually. The chiefs got very angry and decided that anyone found singing these songs would be arrested or fined.

In the meantime, the East African Association–Thuku’s organization–had been working, but still secretly and had not been able to hold their meetings openly; and in 1925 it was decided to change the name to the Kikuyu Central Association, so that people could join this organization without fear of arrest. The new association is working openly, has several thousand members, and publishes a paper. The members are not the chiefs, but the working people.

The chiefs’ organization is quite separate; it must be remembered that the chiefs hold their positions from the Government; and as no man can serve two masters, the chiefs cannot serve the British Government and, at the same time, fight against it in the interests of their own people.

The Kikuyu Central Association has sent several petitions for the release of Thuku and two others who were deported at the same time as Thuku. The petitions demanded that he should be released or tried in a court of law. But all the petitions have failed, and Thuku still remains without trial, and he has been kept under detention for over seven years. No one is allowed permission to visit Thuku.

Neither the “Labor” Government, of 1924 nor the present “Labor” Government have listened to the demand of the Africans to release Thuku. That is because they want to prevent the Africans developing their organization. But the Kikuyu Central Association is carrying on its work. The struggle is very difficult for Africans, and they are looking to British workers to help them against the white employers and their Government.

The Pan-Pacific Monthly was the official organ of the Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat (PPTUS), a subdivision of the Red International of Labor Unions, or Profitern. Established first in China in May 1927, the PPTUS had to move its offices, and the production of the Monthly to San Francisco after the fall of the Shanghai Commune in 1927. Earl Browder was an early Secretary of tge PPTUS, having been in China during its establishment. Harrison George was the editor of the Monthly. Constituents of the PPTUC included the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the Indonesian Labor Federation, the Japanese Trade Union Council, the National Minority Movement (UK Colonies), the Confédération Générale du Travail Unitaire (French Colonies), the Korean Workers and Peasants Federation, the Philippine Labor Congress, the National Confederation of Farm Laborers and Tenants of the Philippines, the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions of the Soviet Union, and the Trade Union Educational League of the U.S. With only two international conferences, the second in 1929, the PPTUS never took off as a force capable of coordinating trade union activity in the Pacific Basis, as was its charge. However, despite its short run, the Monthly is an invaluable English-language resource on a crucial period in the Communist movement in the Pacific, the beginnings of the ‘Third Period.’

PDF of full issue: https://fau.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fau%3A32140/datastream/OBJ/download/The_Pan-Pacific_Monthly_No__37.pdf