Evanson N. Wamagatta. Controversial Chiefs in Colonial Kenya

Ask any student of the Mau Mau Rebellion of 1952–1960 and of the end of empire in Kenya for the name of a colonial chief and most likely they will respond with Chief Waruhiu. But they will usually know only two things about him: that he was shot dead with a pistol in broad daylight by Mau Mau, and that this shocked the British colonial administration so much that it hastened the Declaration of a State of Emergency on October 22, 1952. It seems extraordinary and disrespectful that he has crouched in the shadows for so long; just a passing reference in our lectures, at best accompanied by the gruesome black and white photos of the “murder in the best Chicago style” (143). However, this is no longer the case. We now have Evanson N. Wamagatta to thank for producing a fascinating history and forensic examination of an important and misunderstood figure. And Controversial Chiefs in Colonial Kenya: The Untold Story of Senior Chief Waruhiu Wa Kung’u, 1890–1952, is a welcome reminder of the powerhouse of home-grown scholarship within Kenya. (It was also nice to see a photo of him alive for a change; it was given to the author by one of the chief’s daughters.)

Administration (probate law) · Ancient history · Archaeology · Colonialism · Declaration · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · State (computer science) · State of emergency · Style (visual arts) · White (mutation) · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies