Inside this Article:
Learn more on Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru a kenyan activist after Harry Thuku's arrest, Muthoni Nyanjiru was arrested and this is what transpired
The woman Muthoni Nyanjiru did not put up with cowards. Only a few people are aware of her existence, nearly a century after she proved that it was better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
The legacy of Nyanjiru dates back to 1922 in colonial Nairobi. You can probably imagine how much worse it was back then if the refrain "living in Nairobi is hard" still rings true now.
Because Muthoni Nyanjiru used her courage and paid the ultimate price 100 years ago, her name has come to represent one of the most valiant deeds in Kenyan history.
On that day of senseless colonial brutality, which claimed 250 lives, Nyanjiru was among the first victims. According to reports, white settlers at the neighboring Norfolk Hotel took part in the slaughter. Harry Thuku Road honors the tragedy today, but Nyanjiru is the one who is most vividly remembered for her bravery and selflessness in giving her life for her nation.
|
| Muthoni Nyanjiru |
Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru Nairobi in 1922
In Nairobi in 1922, there was an issue with political turmoil, illegal arrests, and venereal diseases.
Every city, no matter how developed, requires a steady stream of pleasure to support its growth. Young Nairobi was the same. After the First World War, white settlers and travelers looking for excitement flooded the area.
After the railway's completion, Indian industries have prospered. Also, Africans were drawn to the urban innovations. Several of them had abandoned their wives while looking for work or had become men in the streets of the quickly expanding administrative center.
A constantly moving, pulsating monster named Dry-Spell created dust and did cartwheels everywhere it went. The underprivileged had only to ask for a break. They stumbled right into Nairobi's first generation of prostitutes' warm, welcoming arms.
The majority of these women were Kikuyu and had been brought along by relatives. They had either relocated to the town to avoid planned marriages, domestic disputes, or poverty after recently losing their property, or they had simply spotted an opportunity for entrepreneurship and seized it. It was irrelevant why they did it.
The cheap lodgings, a plethora of patrons, and the absence of pimps and brothel proprietors were what mattered. They have no one to answer to. They made more money than men doing side work brewing and selling beer.
Had there been financial institutions serving African women back then, they would have been laughing all the way to the bank. The funds were instead backed by real estate and other investments. For the longest time, more than half of Pangani, the first "African location," belonged to them. With one exception, the tale was excellent.
They felt killed by the government.
The Nairobi Council, which has a long history of being an asshole, has previously prohibited Africans from making beer. The brewery that was promptly established in Pumwani was succeeding, but not well enough. Someone made the observation that cunning Africans appeared to be finding their buzz elsewhere. Crackdowns were necessary in typical government form. Those who were discovered to be still brewing were harassed and extorted.
There were also discussions about expelling prostitutes from the city and destroying their brothels as a means of reducing the spread of syphilis. In the same year, Karen Blixen and Baron Bror Blixen's marriage had already been ended by the illness. The women weren't prepared to be taken advantage of without a fight. They were seeking for an opportunity to express how they felt. And as a result, they may have had a role in one of Kenya's first revolutionary episodes.
Protest-on-Harry-Thuku-Arrest
The Ides of March in 1922 saw the occurrence of two unique events. First, a gathering of about 7,000 people took place outside the Kingsway police station, now known as the Central Police Station, on Kingsway (also known as Harry Thuku Road), in what appeared to be a prayer meeting. After nearly fifteen minutes of prayer, the majority of the gathering calmly dispersed. Through the night, a sizable number camped outside. The second strange event happened at this point.
Almost 250 ladies gathered as evening fell and the Nairobi chill began to bite at the campers. Just outside of the lines of police. They focused on the task at hand while ignoring the bugs from the neighboring muddy river. a swearing-in ceremony.
.webp "protest-on-harry-thuku-arrest")
|
| Protest-on-Harry-Thuku-Arrest |
James Njoroge oversaw the administration of it with a group of East African Association members. Njoroge was a prominent political figure; in 1927, the Kikuyu Central Association was established during a meeting held in his home. Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru and Elizabeth Wariara, her stepdaughter, were two of these women. It was odd because women weren't supposed to swear oaths according to Gikuyu tradition. The family's male representative often did.
The following morning was sunny and muggy. As the long rains were approaching, the situation was ideal for a demonstration. A larger audience gathered this time as the crowd. Around 8,000 Africans, plus a few Indians here and there. This time, they wouldn't be dismissed so quickly. Their commander needed to be released.
Harry Thuku Detained
On March 14, the colonial administration detained Harry Thuku, a leader of the EAA who was energetic, young, and very well-liked. Together with Waiganjo Wa Ndotono and George Mgekenyi, he was held in the police station. Since there were no keyboard activists at the time, the EAA's call for a general strike really resulted in transport workers, domestic workers, and government employees leaving their jobs and coming together in protest.
Several World War One veterans received large tracts of land in Kenya during the Soldier Settlement Program of 1919, but they lacked the labor force and means to cultivate it. They requested assistance from the government. It increased just taxes. "Use every conceivable legitimate influence to entice able-bodied indigenous to enter the labor field," was the directive given to chiefs.
Their already pitiful salaries had been lowered by a third and would now be subject to taxation. The chiefs now had a chance to mess up anyone they did not like. Women would be detained for days on end until the task at hand was finished. Some would come back raped and pregnant..
Thuku became known as "Munene wa Nyacing'a," or the chief of women, due to his outspoken opposition to forced labor. The ladies loved him. His growing radicalism and influence were a threat to the regime.
Strong chiefs, including the well-known Koinange wa Mbiu, the abhorred Philips Karanja James, and the infamous headmen Josiah Njonjo (the father of Charles Njonjo) and Waruhiu wa Kung'u, despised him to his very core. He had established a name for himself by traveling the nation and advocating against the Kipande system, low pay, and heavy taxes.
Harry_Thuku
Winston Churchill, the new British Secretary of State for the Colonies, buckled under pressure as a result of his manifestation of this outrage, which had astonishing results. Government employees were prohibited from hiring people for private gain under a new regulation. Sexual abuse also drastically dropped along with forced labor. Of course there would be a commotion when the populist hero was arrested.
By 9:00 am, the gathering had become quiet and peaceful, with many people sitting and occasionally entering into prayer. With his askaris in the station and some on Government Road (now Moi Avenue), J.C. Bentley, the acting commissioner of the Kenya Police, knew things were under control.
Even guests at the Norfolk Hotel directly behind him were at ease enough to partake in drinking, the sharing of war tales, anecdotes of adventures, and everything else white imperialists thought entertaining in 1922. Bentley requested that the demonstrators select six men.
It was. He went to see Sir Charles Bowring, the colonial secretary for the East African Protectorate, with the assistance of the six chiefs. The objective was to arrange Thuku's release. Thuku was assured that he was not in danger by the secretary. He was only being detained in order to set up a trial that would be transparent and impartial. The delegation was persuaded to cancel the protest.
Nearing lunchtime, the harsh Nairobi heat was roasting the crowds back at the station. Both of them became famished and agitated. The scenario was being explained to a newly arrived unit of more than 200 women. Some people grasped the opportunity to demonstrate their oratory prowess. Their remarks incited the populace to an outpouring of rage. The mob was boiling and churning by the time the group arrived back.
|
| Harry-Thuku-Arrest |
Two representatives spoke to the audience. After telling them what the government planned to do with Thuku, he asked them to disperse. According to some reports, one of these individuals was a young Jomo Kenyatta, which is highly likely given that he joined the party that year and was resuming his legal identity as Johnstone Kamau.
Dissatisfaction emerged as word of the new information passed through the tense throng. The officials were yelled at and accused of accepting a bribe. The worst, though, appeared to be over when a sizable portion of the throng up to leave.
However, Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru stood up furious. She had taken the pledge the day before, been there, and wasn't going to give up so quickly. She wasn't just traveling all the way from Weithaga in Murang'a. She had neglected her work, suffered the heat of the sun on her bald head, the weight of her hangi pulling down her earlobes, hunger, exhaustion, and damned mosquitoes, along with the other women in the crowd.
And for nothing at all? In her breast, rage, disdain, and resolve coalesced into determination. Her ancestors had been courageous. as well as pride. She wasn't about to return home a failure, though. She wasn't about to let the white man to further oppress the population by the side of the complacent men. to silence every sane voice raised by the people. It was enough for Muthoni. She grabbed hold of her calico dress and yelled while raising it above her shoulders.
"Remove my dress, and hand over your pants! Men, you are cowards! Why are you holding out? There is our leader inside! Let's find him together!
Then things got serious.
She had just spoken a traditional Kikuyu slur. A woman your mother's age being exposed to the elements is regarded as a curse. When a lady reached a breaking point when she couldn't take any more of the trash in the present, guturamira ng'ania was a rarely used last resort. Under those circumstances, it typically signified that the male authority was no longer respected.
The ultimate and most potent mark of defiance against the patriarchal system that a woman could use was this. Wangari Maathai and her associates at Freedom Corner would employ the same strategy seventy years later.
The Massacre
As hundreds of women recognized the signal and supported Muthoni Nyanjiru, ululations and yells pierced the tense air. Those who were leaving suddenly changed their minds. She moved in the direction of the police lines. The crowd roared as they followed her, with her persistence piercing their adrenaline-soaked ranks like electric currents.
Captain Carey's jaw dropped in disbelief. Despite being the Superintendent of Police, he and his colleagues had greatly misjudged the population they had derogatorily referred to as "the indigenous."
The fence made of aluminum sheeting was in danger of being destroyed by the thousands who had earlier remained calm.
He immediately ordered the forty askaris to engage, and they knelt down and raised their weapons after being at ease. Nyanjiru and her soldiers continued to advance until their throats were being pinched by the bayonets.
Captain Lumley, the acting assistant commissioner of police, who shared their amazement and bewilderment, placed 20 askaris in elevated positions where they could fire over the fence and gave them 20 extra rounds of ammunition. Each side thought about calling the other's bluff during a tense silence.
A portion of the crowd suddenly surged towards the direction of the prison door. It was here! Through the window of his cell, Thuku was observing. He was aware that the populace saw him as their savior, and that they were ready to rescue him in return. He closed his eyes and crossed his fingers in anticipation of the instant the door would suddenly open, bringing freedom with it.
The first shot was then released.
They continued to run at him, unabated.
When the cops saw this, they went completely insane and started shooting randomly into the throng. Turn-by-turn gunfire was resumed by the second line of police officers who were on the Government Road side. The town center was now inaccessible as a result. The crowd was helpless and lost, and their only option was to flee along Kingsway. It led to Museum Hill as it is today.
That endeavor was declared unsuccessful. At the Norfolk Hotel, the white settlers and bounty hunters snatched up their guns and cheerfully executed them in cold blood. They were so permanently associated with one of the largest pre-Mau Mau killings.
By the time the smoke cleared and the dust settled, at least, two hundred people lay dead and dying on the field. More sustained life-threatening injuries that some would succumb to in hiding. The official government figure claimed there were 21 fatalities; 17 men and four women all African; and 28 injuries. Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru was among the first to fall, but her badassery would live forever.
Harry Thuku was banished first to Kismayu, which at the time was a part of the Kenyan Border District, then to Marsabit, Witu, and Lamu. Till 1931, he was held without being put on trial. He left broken-hearted. His previous fire had been put out by British tactics such as blackmail, brainwashing, and torture. He changed his allegiance and afterwards spoke out against the Mau Mau and Nationalists.
Waiganjo and Mugekenyi saw a similar end. Waiganjo would eventually be freed in 1925 and became the leader of the "tribal police." He would enter his hamlet in the evening amidst trumpet blasts while riding a mule, and he would greet people by stroking the tip of their heads with the flywhisk. That, however, is a tale for another time.
The EAA was forbidden after the massacre.
The cops who claimed to have been on duty for more than 24 hours were eventually cleared by an investigation, but the sacrifice wasn't entirely in vain. African complaints were taken seriously, the levy was lowered from 16 to 12 shillings, and it was never raised again with the sole intention of meeting labor shortages. Later that year, Sir Edward Northey was dismissed as governor.
On that day, women took charge and performed one of the most valiant acts in Kenyan history, giving their lives in the process. Even if their participation in the fight for independence would be minimized, they would still perform the same thing thirty years later.
The Nairobi sex prostitutes, who made up a sizeable portion of the population, were expelled in 1924. They returned to Pangani and Pumwani and reopened their enterprises. Several people returned to their rural homes.
94 years later, Muthoni Nyanjiru and the hundreds of her countrymen there that day are hardly ever mentioned in the country. Ideally, a monument will be built in their honor and their entire narrative will be taught to kids one day.
Thank you for visiting our Kiki's History website, and we hope that you find our content both informative and enjoyable. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We value your feedback and appreciate your support.
Most Popular Post [See Here]
.webp)
.png)
0 Comments