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Mau Mau veterans, Kimathi family accuse State of betrayal

The public during the 63rd commemoration of freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi at Dedan Kimathi Memorial High school in Nyeri on February 18, 2020. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  Nicholas Komu

What you need to know:

  • The veterans were speaking at Dedan Kimathi Memorial High School where the anniversary was marked.

  • The family insists it knows the spot inside Kamiti Maximum Security Prison where Kimathi was buried.

  • The few surviving veterans now feel they did not enjoy the freedom they fought for.

Mau Mau war veterans and the family of freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi have accused the government of betraying them.

They claimed that the government had barred them from burying the body of the freedom fighter.

As they commemorated 63 years since Dedan Kimathi's execution, Mau Mau veterans said they had been neglected, betrayed and cheated by the government.

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ANNIVERSARY

The veterans were speaking at Dedan Kimathi Memorial High School on Tuesday.

They demanded to be given the land they fought for and the body of Kimathi whom they claimed has been treated as a terrorist by the State.

Dedan Kimathi's daughter Evelyn Wanjugu accused the government of lying to the family and frustrating their efforts to acquire land for Mau Mau veterans.

Elders sing during the 63rd commemoration of freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi at Dedan Kimathi Memorial High school in Nyeri on February 18, 2020. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

"We are tired of being betrayed and lied to by the Kenyan government for more than 60 years," Ms Wanjugu said.

FREEDOM

The family insists it knows the spot where Kimathi was buried inside Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.

The government has refuted the claim and declined to issue exhumation orders to the family.

The few surviving veterans now feel they did not enjoy the freedom they fought for.

"If we fought for half the independence, give us guns and we'll fight for the other half. Kenya government should ask the British government to reveal the spot where Kimathi was buried," Mau Mau veteran Brigadier Kiboko said.

In the headlines