SCH

OOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES

UNIT CODE: BHU 2202

UNIT TITLE: RELIGION AND POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN AFRICA

lECTURER: REV. DR. REGINA KINUTHIA

2020

Purpose: To study various historical religious anthropological and political causes of the se
movements.

Expected Learning Outcomes (Objectives):

By the end of the course, the students should be able to:

i) study various historical, religious anthropological and political causes of movements in

Africa.
ii) Discuss major causes of various political movements in Africa
iii) Differentiate socialism and capitalism
WEEK 1-3 Lesson 1: Reasons behind the emergence of different religious
movements.
 Historical
 Religious
 Anthropological
 Political

WEEK 4-7 Lesson 3: Case studies of various political ideologies

 What is an ideology?
 Capitalism
 Sociology
 Other political ideologies

WEEK 8-13 Lesson 5: Case studies of specific movements

 The Mau Mau - Kenya
 Mungiki - Kenya
 Chinkororo - Kenya
 Maji Maji - Tanzania
 Kimbanguism – Congo
 Baghdad Boys – Kenya
 Jeshi la Mzee – Kenya
 Chimurenga - Zimbabwe
 Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) – Kenya

WEEK 14 Lesson 6: The future of Political Religious Movements in

contemporary modern democracies.

Teaching/Learning Methodologies
Lectures; Tutorials; Class Discussions

Instructional Materials and Equipment

Handouts; Chalk boards

Course Assessment

Examination - 70%; Continuous Assessments (Exercises and Tests) -30%; Total - 100%

Recommended Text Books

i) Gary Zacharias (2005); Religions And Religious Movements – Christianity; Greenhaven

Press
ii) Spear (1999); African Expression of Christianity; James Currey Ltd.
iii) Blakely J.D. and water E.A. Van Beek and Dennis L. Thomson (1970). Religion in Africa
James Currey London Heinmann
Text Books for further Reading

i) Anderson Rose (1971). The Forgotten Front. The East African Campaign. Hen Strachan
Publishers

Introduction

The mention of the word ‘politics’ causes red warning lights to flash in the minds of many
Evangelicals.

NB. They have always engaged in humanitarian work and people in need especially in medical
and educational programs

Whenever the church becomes politically embroiled a cry of protest can and is expected from
both within its membership and from outside The noise is “The church should keep clear of
politics” Also “Religion and politics don’t mix”
DEFINITION.

1.Broad: Politics denotes the life of a city {polis} and the responsibilities of citizens {polites} It
is concerned therefore with the whole of our life in human society

-Politics therefore is the art of living together in a community In addition a human person
is a psychosomatic being

2.Narrow: Politics is the science of government It is concerned with the development and of
specific policies with a view to their being enshrined in legislation It is about gaining power for
social change

QUESTION.

From the above definitions was Jesus involved in politics?

Answer:

In the narrower sense, he clearly was not He never formed a political party, adopted a political
programme or organized a political protest He took no steps to influence the policies of Ceasar,
however, his whole ministry was political For he had himself come in to the world in order to
share in the life of the human community, and he sent proclaimed and inaugurated was a
radically new and different social organization, whose value and standards challenged those of
the old and fallen community In this way, his teaching had ‘political’ implications It offered an
alternative to the status quo. His kingship, moreover, was perceived as a challenge to Ceasar’s,
and he was therefore accused of seduction

Relationship Between the Social and Political Services

SOCIAL SERVICE SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION

1.Relieving human need Removing the cause show human need

2.Love/people Activities that show love of people

3.Philanthropic activity ……………………..……………………..Political and economic

activity
4.Seeking to minister to individuals …………………………..Seeking to transorm the structure
of society and
………………………………………………………………………………….families

5. Works of mercy………………………………………………………The quest for justice

Socio-political action, Looks beyond person to the structures, beyond rehabilitation of prisons
inmates to the reform of the prison system, beyond improving factory conditions to securing a
more participatory role of the workers, beyond caring for the poor to improving- and when
necessary transforming- the economic system and political system, until it facilitates their
liberation from poverty and oppression.

It is clear then that genuine Christian social concern will embrace both social service and social
action

NB: It would be very artificial to divorce them Some cases of need cannot be relieved at all
without political action {the harsh treatment of slaves could have been ameliorated, but not
slavery itself, it had to be abolished} To go on relieving other needs, though necessary, may
condone the situation which causes them

EXAMPLES

If the travelers on Jerusalem-Jericho road were habitually beaten up, and habitually cared for by
Good Samaritan, the need for better laws to eliminate armed robbery might be well overlooked

If road accidents keep occurring at a particular crossroads, it is not mire ambulances that are
needed but the installation of traffic lights to prevent accidents

It is always good to feed the hungry; it is better if possible to eradicate the causes of hunger

CONCLUSION

If we truly love our neighbours, and want to serve them, our service may oblige us to take {or
solicit} political action on their behalf

Why is there hostility to the idea of Church getting politically Involved?

Politicization of Christianity, that is the internal transformation of the faith itself , so that it
comes to the defined in the political values Christianity cannot be reduced to or identified with a
political programme

FEAR

The contemporary Church’s political emphasis tends to eclipse what should be its central
concerns, namely:

-The individual {personal redemption}

-The inward {The indwelling Christ}

-The eternal {The ethereal qualities of immortality}

Some Churches {truly} have lost these dimensions altogether Yet in retaining them, must not
overlook its corporate, external and temporal responsibilities.

NB Christians are citizens of two kingdoms and have responsibilities in both Cf to love God with
all our being and our neighbours as ourselves are thread together

-The Contemporary Church’s political opinions are nothing but “the moral and political idealism
of the surrounding culture “All the church does is “tag along, offering a religious gloss” to
borrowed ideas. It conforms instead of criticizing

-The Contemporary Church’s political contribution is amateurish; it lacks the necessary expertise
to participate

-The Contemporary Church’s political expectations are naïve {lacks experience, wisdom or
judgement} because it tends to forget human fallibility and sin

NB: However, the above criticism affects only some churches and does not refute the fact that
Christian Church have socio-political responsibilities

To whom does Christian political responsibility belong?

All individual Christians should be politically active in that sense that, as conscientious citizens,
they will:-
Vote in elections

Inform themselves about contemporary issues

Share in public debate

Write to a newspaper

Lobby their member of parliament

Take part in a demonstration.

Some individuals are called by God to political service, in either local or national government

Christians who share particular moral and social concerns should be encouraged to form or join
groups which study issues at a deeper level and take appropriate action In some cases this will be
exclusively Christian groups; in others Christians will want to contribute their biblical
perspective to mixed groups whether in a political party, a trade union or a professional
association

The church must teach both law and the good news of God This is the duty of Church’s pastors,
teachers and other leaders And “when the church concludes that Biblical faith or righteousness
require it to take a public on some issue, then it must obey God’s word and trust him with the
consequences.”

CAUTION: The church, group, individual etc should not enter this field without the necessary
expertise.

However, when all do their homework thoroughly and take time and trouble to study a topic
together in order to reach a common Christian mind and recommend common Christian action,
their informed and united stand is extremely influential

BIBLICAL BASIS

-Dt.10:12-20-Defend the fatherless, widow and love the alien, giving him food and clothing

-Mi.6:8-Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly before God

-1Ki.18-Elijah at Carmel-Challenges people to choose between Yahweh and Baal

-1Ki.21-Elijah at Jezreel against Ahab over Naboth’s murder

-Jer.19:4-Elijah at Jezreel against Ahab over Naboth’s murder

-Jer.19:4-People had forsaken Yahweh in favor of foreign gods...poured blood of the innocent

-Ezk.22:3-4 –Shedding blood in her midst and making idols

-Mk.6:6-He went about villages teaching

-Acts.10:38-He went about doing good and healing

-Lk.15:11-32-Prodigal son -Highlights conversion

-Lk.10:30-37-Good Samaritan-Highlights social action.

SIMILARITIES IN THE LAST TWO

1.A victim-a man who himself in a desperate plight {of personal sin and sin of other people}

2.A rescue-from alienation in a distant land {salvation by faith} and from violent assault on the
road {salvation by good works}

3.A display of love-love triumphs over prejudice {prodigal is forgiven although he deserves no
such treatment; the Samaritan takes care of the robbers’ victim although he is an unknown Jews
who has no claim on him}

4.A sub plot-dramatizes the alternative to what is being commended- elder brother; priest and
Levite

ILLUSTRATIONS

-Bishop Festo Kivengere of Uganda during Amin’s rule

-Cardinal Sin of Philippines in F Marcos reign

-Church in Kenya during 2002 election

CONCLUSION
1.Christians will submit conscientiously to state only when its God given authority being used to
promote good and punish evil To stand for this cowardice has to be kept away

NB. A Christian who is a coward is a contradiction in terms

2.The church is the conscience of the society and has to ensure checks and balances

3.Both presidents Kenyatta and Kibaki have challenged the church to occupy its place in
ensuring that the government that delivers and blamed for its wrongs

4.Christian must seek the good of the people in all–round dimensions

Case Studies of Selected Religion and Political Groups in Africa

1. Introduction
In Africa, the name for a group of youth organized to do so something outrageous shifts from
militia to gang to vigilante, and back, depending on when you are assessing it and who is paying
them at the time. The escalation of insecurity is often how gangs and mob units’ form, and
eventually morph into militia and mafia-type groups made of young boys. Gangs gain political
angles, or political militia become gangs, vigilantes are used by politicians and businessmen. The
fact that we have not been killed by one group or the other, or its splinter groups, or the strayed
bullets by now is a total surprise and a proof that there is indeed a God.

There are many of such group in Africa. But for this course we are going to consider specific
movements which include Mungiki (Kenya), Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) (Kenya),
Mau Mau (Kenya), Chinkororo (Kenya), Baghdad Boys (Kenya), Jeshi la Mzee (Kenya), Maji
Maji (Tanzania), Kimbanguism (Congo) and Chimurenga (Zimbabwe)

2. Mungiki

Emergence
Different sources have different explanations as to how and why the movement was formed.
 a) Mungiki emerged in the 1980s as something of a gang that combined criminal vigilante
activities with cultural preservation. For instance, they advocate for cultural rites such as
circumcision for both male and females.
b) Mungiki is designed to continue with the Mau Mau agenda of fighting for land and
freedom as they believe that freedom has never been won.
c) Mingiki began as a local militia in the former white highlands to protect kikuyu farmers
in the disputes over land.
d) Mungiki is a response by young people to socio economic and political frustrations with
the ruling class. These frustrations include unemployment and general social neglects that
leave young people frustrated and disillusioned. So they seek to establish parallel
government with their own rules and regulations

Membership
Mungiki is concentrated in the region of central Kenya, Nairobi and part of the Rift Valley. It has
a strong presence in the slums of Nairobi; Its handlers and supporters, are said to include some
senior members of the Kikuyu elite. It is alleged to have close links to senior Kikuyu politicians.

Structure
The Mungiki is a highly structured group: The national overall structure is broken down into a
defined cell structure, each divided into five platoons of 10 people each. Even with this, the
actual hierarchy remains largely unknown outside the group and of course, the complicit police.
Mungiki is divided into 3 wings: religious, Political and military wings.

Funding

 Mungiki controls a large chunks of land in major parts of Kenya and own properties in
big towns.
 They have infiltrated the business industry particularly the transport one, where they are
in charge of every bus terminal in Kenya, where Matatu operators are forced to part with
several hundred each day as “protection fees.”
  They confiscate the property of small business owners, who refuse to pay a daily “fees”
in many middle and low class estates. To avoid this these people are silently forced to
finance the group for ‘protection’ and ‘permission.’
 They charge people privately for access to basic services such as electricity, water and
sanitation provided by the Government. Offenders often find themselves disconnected
from these facilities.
 Tenants moving in or out of some slums have to pay a fee to Mungiki worth Ksh150
which soared to Ksh2,000.

Discipline

Mungiki holds “trials” for people who violate its strict rules of dress or behaviour, detaining,
maiming and even killing those it finds guilty.

Weaponry includes guns, machetes, knives and clubs.

Activities
 Whenever their members are killed or arresting by security forces they retaliate by killing
and mutilating those who oppose them.
 Pushed to the corner Mungiki organizes systematic, brutal killings of women and
children of the communities that oppose them.
 Mungiki casts itself as the defender of the harassed Kikuyu in the Rift Valley.
 Mungiki advocates for a return to indigenous African traditional practices like sniffing
tobacco, Female genital Mutilation, leave their hair uncut. Remember, at one time
mungiki terrorized any woman found wearing trousers or mini-skirts claiming it was not
African.
 They kill mercilessly mostly by Be-heading the victims. In 2002 50 people were killed in
Nairobi clashes pitting matatu owners against the sect. In June 2007, the gang embarked
on another campaign, beheading defectors, conductors, matatu drivers, and killing almost
indiscriminately. The retaliation campaign led to over 10 extrajudicial killings by the
police in Mathare alone.
  In July 2007, members of the sect/gang/militia killed a two-year old, decapitated and
mutilated the body in what is thought to have been ritual killing.

Future
Does Mungiki’s has a future?
 Although Mungiki is officially banned in Kenya the movement continues to thrive
because political leaders usually find them useful in terrorizing their opponents
 In tune with the inevitable changes in the global arena, Mungiki is reported to be silently
sponsoring some of its young members for higher studies in socialist learning institutes in
Latin America as part of a strategic plan to acquire power

CHINKORORO MOVEMENT 1961-1990

1. Introduction
Chinkororo represents the armed wing of the Abagusii community, which is found in several
districts in the western ethnic Luo-dominated Nyanza region. The group was outlawed in the
1990s. Traditionally, Chinkororo was a community defence force, guarding territory against
cattle rustlers and other perceived "enemies". The Chinkororo also undertook retaliatory attacks
whenever there were raids in Kisii areas. Politically, Since the post-election violence, elements
of the Chinkororo have engaged in clashes with Kalenjin youths from the neighbouring Sotik
district in the Rift Valley region. It is also used by politicians to attack candidates who are seen
as a serious challenge to the dominant political leaders in Gusii politics. The politicians
manipulate the militia using money and other benefits with a view of tilting the balance against
their opponents.

2. Emergence
Chinkororo movement never existed in the pre-1961 period. Chinkororo movement emerged to
counter the activities of Morans and Kalenjin warriors. The state security failure along the Gusii/
Maasai/ Kipsigis borders accounts for the emergence of Chinkororo movement among the
Abagusii of Kisii County.
Cattle raiding along the borders led to the emergence of symbiotic relationship between the
supply of Chinkororo activities and its demand by the Gusii community.
The movement emerged as rebel members of society who rejected the societal security goals and
their means of achieving them and came up with their own lifestyle and rules of self-defense.

The Morans and Kalenjin warriors evicted all non-Kalenjin ethnic groups living in the former
Rift valley province. Some members of Abagusii were also affected and evicted and Chinkororo
stood to defend one of their own just like Mungiki emerged to protect their own Gikuyu and the
Morans to protect their own Maasai and Kipsigis kinsmen.

In addition, it is important to note that although formed in 1972 Chinkororo first came into the
limelight in 1973 when a group of Gusii men dressed in Maasai attires crossed the border and
stole 140 cattle in Narok.
Its intensity grew when again it came into the national limelight in 1983 during the tribal flare up
along the Gusii /Maasai borders. The clashes were reported to be politically motivated to serve
the interests of the then KANU regime.

3. The Meaning of Chinkororo

 Chinkororo movement refers to a group of border residents who lived in the forest,
armed, with the sole purpose of defending the Gusii territory against cattle raiding by the
Maasai Morans and Kalenjin warriors. At times the movement engages in acts of cattle
rustling to compensate those whose livestock are stolen but never recovered.
 Chinkororo is a group of warriors that is deployed in the defense of territorial integrity of
the Gusii people when it is under threat from other ethnic communities.
Emergence: Chinkororo was first used in 1962 to refer to Gusii warriors who participated in the
inter-ethnic conflict between the Gusii and the Maasai. Nevertheless, how this movement came
to identify itself with the name Chinkororo has generated three interpretations.
1. Etymologically the term Chinkororo is derived from a Gusii word Enkororo, which refers
to a Columbus Monkey, identified because of its gentleness, long tail and black and white
spots, that lives in the forest, especially on trees near water catchment areas. A Columbus
monkey is so gentle unless the territory where her young ones live is invaded, when it
 responds fast and in a fierce manner that can lead to the death of the invader. The
chinkororo have almost similar characteristics as the Columbus monkey, like the fighters
staying in the forest as the animal did as well as the swiftness and fierce response to
threats of invasion in their territory.
2. The term Chinkororo originates from a Gusii term Obororo that simply means anger.
According to the clan elder interviewed, Chinkororo movement takes up the name
because their rise was triggered by anger of being attacked by their neighbors (the Maasai
and Kipsigis) constantly. Whenever they are fighting Chinkororo members fight due to
the rage of losing their livestock or annoyance of the Gusii being attacked and killed by
the Maasai and Kipsigis Morans. The term Chinkororo is linked to the state of being
angry.
3. Chinkororo simply means, “we rain on you.” Just as rain (thunder and hail) is destructive
and can lead to death so is this militia when provoked in a battlefield. Like hail stones
falling from the sky, so do they throw their arrows to their enemy non-stop.

4. Factors Which Informed the Rise of Chinkororo

The emergence and growth of Chinkororo was necessitated by THREE factors.
First, the Abagusii have had conflicting relations with the Kipsigis and the Maasai along border
regions, who repeatedly drove away large herds of cattle, raped women and killed the Gusii
young men who tried to resist them. Tracing such livestock was a difficult task on the side of the
Abagusii who had no single military unit under one command. This feeling of deep insecurity led
to Gusii border residents to find along lasting solution to their predicament. to counter attack the
activities of the Morans and Kalenjin warriors. Thus, the Abagusii came up with Chinkororo
movement. Due to the swift way that the group tracked stolen cattle, the member enjoyed the
immense good will of the Abagusii community, who sent their boys to be initiated into this
movement. This was the beginning of the expansion and spread of Chinkororo movement.
Secondly, Chinkororo movement was triggered by negative ethnicity. There was a feeling of we-
them dichotomy that had cropped up among the three communities at the borders (Maasai, Gusii
and Kipsigis) during the president Moi’s regime. Accordingly, the Gusii border residents felt
that the Kalenjin and Maasai Morans attacked them often simply because president Moi was
their relative. No action was taken whenever their cows were stolen. They maintained that
Moi government sent non Gusii GSU troops who killed Gusii men and raped their mothers and
sisters mercilessly. The Abagusii felt that coming together to protect their territory was the only
way for their survival because the government had failed them. The movement is made up of
Gusii people only. No other ethnic group is represented yet there are numerous ethnic groups
living along the borders of Gusii, Maasai, and Kipsigis apart from the three ethnic groups.

Thirdly, given the negative ethnicity and feeling of insecurity, Abagusii felt that it would be wise
for them to have a military wing in order to be like their neighbors. The Gikuyu had in central
Kenya had the Mau Mau to fight for the Kikuyus who had been alienated from their land, the
Maasai had their Morans and the Kipsigis had the Kalenjin warriors and the Kuria had the Mura
movement.

5.Dress Code
Chinkororo had a distinct dress code at the time of the movement’s formation. Given the idea
that they wanted to be like their rivals (Maasai Morans and Kalenjin warriors) most of their attire
resembled that of the Morans and Kalenjin warriors. The red cotton like skin is the only top
garments that Chinkororo wore especially when going to the battle field. This skin could be
smoothened using cow milk cream and then decorated using dust ground from red stones to
serve the purpose of red ochre that is normally used by the Maasai to give the resemblance to the
Maasai Morans. Wearing red garments (shuka) as the Maasai Morans enabled the Chinkororo
fighters to disguise themselves; therefore, their rivals could not easily identify them. This gave
Chinkororo easy victory in a battlefield, to surprise and confuse them.

Later, Chinkororo used a red cotton shuka instead of the skin. The above was due to the idea
that cotton cloths were lighter compared to skins and enablied one to jump easily during war.
The garment was tied from the right shoulder to the left hip that helped to hold it tight to
the waist, and enabled the Chinkororo fighters to escape the arrows shot by an enemy, by
moving aside leaving the garment to swing freely. The arrow could pierce through the flying
garment without touching the body of the fighter.
They also wore spotted attire, which made them look more like wild animals, especially a
Columbus monkey, that was common in the region. With this, their rivals could not easily
identify them. Thus, the Chinkororo could easily attack their enemies and kill them. The black
and white garment was also useful in attracting Moran thieves whenever they wanted some for
interrogation on Maasai and Kalenjin war secrets.
On their head, Chinkororo did not wear anything, but kept long hairs which they plated using
cloth threads and then applied it with a liquid mixture of milk cream and red powder grinded
from stones.
Animal skins were used as shorts. These garments were made from the skins of sheep, goat or
jackal.
On the feet, they wore sandal made from animal skins, which enabled them to protect their feet
from thorns and stones.
They applied a milk cream mixed with mold, to prevent themselves from cold and insect bites.
Occasionally, they wore bands made of animal skins especially the leopard or python on their
wrists, as a sign of heroism and bravery, a message to their rivals on how tough they could be in
war.
In terms of residence, Chinkororo fighters stayed in the forest in many cases.

6. Favorite Foods
In terms of Foods, they lived on roasted meat from wild animals. Sometimes they could send
some few members to the villages to collect milk, porridge, and bananas, the porridge was
normally sugarless. They believed that a man who took sugarless porridge was stronger than
one who depended on sugared porridge
They also preferred bananas to ugali because bananas were taken to be lighter thus made one
flexible unlike ugali that made one heavy and tired. Such heavy meal could not make one a good
fighter. However, a close look at the diet reveals that the fighters used staple Gusii meals since
bananas normally referred to as matoke is the main staple meal of the community.
In the forest, Chinkororo lived a simple lifestyle and they kept off women. Women were not
allowed into the Chinkororo camps unless for bringing food at stipulated times and places.
 Weapons used by the Chinkororo include machetes, spears, clubs, bows and arrows.
 The financiers: At its inception, the key financiar was Simeon Nyachae, one of the
Kenya richest personality. Today some Gusii politicians finance the militia, especially
during national elections. Also the community provides foods like goats, chicken and
money to the group.
Question
Explain the significance of Chinkororo lifestyle in achieving the sole purpose of the group.
1. Red dress code: By looking like the Morans, they were able to go deep into the Maasai
terrain without being recognized. This enabled them to attack their rivals both from inside
and outside making their victory easy.
2. The white and black dotted dress code: communicated the fierce nature of the group.
Wearing skins of dangerous animals like leopards and pythons was a symbol of how
fierce the group was. In addition, the attire enabled them to avoid insect bites and cold at
night in the forest.
3. Staying in the forest, the fighters demonstrated their boldness and that they were not
afraid of anything even the wild animals.
However, most aspects of their dress code had undergone changes by 1990. Specifically, the skin
attire was no longer worn since cotton cloths had replaced them.
Question: Does this group have a future? What do you think?

The Baghdad Boys

Emergence

 The Baghdad Boys of Kisumu emerged in the early 1990s around the same time as the
Gulf War, which might explain the choice of name.
 It emerged as the Luo tribe vigilante defense gang, against the ethnic cleansing by the
Mungiki, who they viewed as moral savages for the act of circumcising people by force
than for their crime of killing Kenyans for sport.
 The Baghdad Boys is the original grouping that was the Luo tribes answer to the Mungiki.
 As the divisive Mungiki permeated through Nairobi slums, members of the Luo tribe
living in Nairobi slums formed their own defensive vigilante gang.
 Today the Baghdad boys are active in Kibera, Kenya's largest slum, whose members are
drawn mostly from the Luo community, Mathare, Huruma, Baba Dogo, Kariobangi North
and Kariobangi South quarters of Nairobi’s Eastlands district.
 Financier
 Like Mungiki, the group runs extortion rackets, notably on public transport operators.
 The militia is also financed by politicians who use them widely during national elections,
a case in point are the 1992 and 1997 elections.

Activities

 They have followed the Mungiki business of cutting-heads model, beat-downs, murders,
illegal taxation, racketeering, and others.
 They also engage in public executions, the most common being stoning a target until he
or she is unable to walk, and then burning them alive. For instance, in 2007/8 post-election
war, there was a famous photo, where a group of men are holding a dreadlocked man as
another drives a machete into his skull.
 The group later disbanded into several factions, with Taliban being the biggest and most
influential. Other splinter gangs include China Squad Nyalenda Base, the Chief Squad,
Nyamasaria Massive, Kenda Kenda, Kondele, Karamojong Boys, Saba Saba, Artur
Margaryan, Kebago and American Marines.
 Members communicate and identify themselves via a system of secret hand signals.
 They have no membership oath or cells throughout the country, but have squads in
various slum locations.
 The weapons of the Taliban include knives, slingshots and machetes.

MOMBASA REPUBLICAN COUNCIL (MRC)

Mombasa Republican Council

Emergence
Question
Is Mombasa Republican Council an armed gang, a secessionist group, or a political party?.
Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) is a separatist movement based in the coastal city of
Mombasa, Kenya. Formed in 1990s, the MRC, was dormant until 2008, when it first raised
claims that Mombasa should secede from Kenya to become an independent state. Due to these
secessionist demands, the government declared it illegal in 2010, along with 33 other ‘organized
criminal groups’.

Its slogan is Pwani Si Kenya (The Coast is not part of Kenya).

Grievances

That secession would liberate the people of the coast region from marginalization by the
successive governments in Kenya. It became a prominent presence in the politics of coastal
Kenya during 2010 and 2011.

Objectives

To ‘liberate’ the coastal people ‘from mistreatment and marginalization by successive Kenyan
governments’.

The Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) or as It was first called, the Republican Council (RC)
was inspired by the Kaya Bombo raiders, a group of 278 members who came at fore in 1997.
MRC was formed as the Republican Council in 1998 around the same time the Kaya Bombo
raids subsided, and was also made up, at least originally, of ethnic Digo men.

MRC originated first as a little-known group based in the coastal district of Kwale in
Mulungunipa Forest. In June 2007, police launched a manhunt in the region for suspected
members of an illegal group calling itself the Mombasa Republican Council. Days later, the
police ambushed and arrested several suspects in the Mulungunipa Forest as they trained with the
alleged intent of causing “chaos” at the coast. However, charges against the group were dropped
after they had been held in remand prison for several months.

The history of MRC

Origin

The group traces its secession claims to the 1895 and 1963 agreements transferring the ten-mile
strip of land along the coast to the Government of Kenya from Zanzibar.

 Some critics characterize these British agreements as a form of bribery designed to

facilitate colonization of the interior. The group contests these agreements as invalid,
because they were enacted without the consent of coastal stakeholders, and says the state
of Kenya has failed to honor the provisions designed to protect the coastal population.
 In response, the government declared the group to be an illegal organization, together
with another 33 groups.
 Mombasa Republican Council contested the government's decision in the court. The high
court of Mombasa lifted the ban and ruled that claiming the group was illegal was
unconstitutional

Grievances

Complained over multiple, longstanding grievances and setting out a defiant agenda that poses
an existential threat to the Kenyan state by demanding independence for the coast.

 Continuing disputes over land ownership

 the sense that wealth and jobs are largely held by ‘up-country’ people
 the belief that the coast is deprived of educational facilities and that the revenues
generated by tourism all end up elsewhere;
 The t-shirts, flags, and graffiti of MRC supporters repeat the slogan Pwani si Kenya –
‘the coast is not Kenya,’ rendered sometimes, in self-consciously voguish text-speak, as
Pwani C Kenya.
 In late 2011 they began to call for a boycott of Kenya's next national elections; when
rowdy youths disrupted a trial poll exercise in Malindi in March 2012, the MRC was
blamed. The threat to disrupt the elections was evidently viewed as particularly alarming,
with potentially wider consequences for the unity of the nation.
  Government reactions swung unevenly between repression, accusations that the MRC is
linked to Somali militants

Activities:

They are remembered for attacking a strategic village and holding the villagers’ hostage as they
fought off government resistance and killed people, using traditional weapons and foreigners
wielding guns.

Attacked a police post, a police station, and basically anything else at the Likoni Ferry station
that had a portrait of president Moi in it

Killed 6 officers and stole more than 40 guns, which they used to kill mainland communities, the
tribes that would vote the other way, in the December elections. They later retreated to the Kaya
Bombo forest, hence the name, when security forces arrived the next morning. The guerrilla wars
did not end, even after elections ended in December, they continued to December of 1998. The
police found themselves outmatched by a group that was seemingly coordinated, effective, and
almost any other adjective you can use to describe a successful militia, which had numerous
opportunities to practice as coast politicians jostled for power.

Leadership: The commanding officer of the group was one Juma Bempa. They had a military
structure headed by ethnic Digo men who had served in the police or military. The group also
included a retinue of mercenaries and some security forces might have crossed over during the
yearlong conflict.

Grievances: personnel matters (promotions and demotions, disciplinary actions.

Structure: a detailed analysis of the including the uniform issued to different ranks, the raiders
had the military structure and was divided into different “companies, ”

Activities: attacked the post office, shops, homes, and everyone else.
This is the group which went on to form the Mombasa republican council (MRC), gang, which
was strongly used by KANU politicians to exploit the local politics to win both the 1992 and 97
national elections.

weapons

The youths arrested were armed with machetes and knives.

Leadership: Formed around the brother of a cabinet minister, who was the alleged ringleader of
the youth in Mulungunipa forest. The suspect was described as a former soldier who had been
sacked from the armed forces on disciplinary grounds.
Grievances: The group claims areas around Mombasa and the coastal area is not Kenya.

Membership: It has both Muslim and Christian supporters.

Leadership: The leader of the group is Omar Mwamnuadzi and he was charged in 2014 along
with 11 other members.

Objectives

 to address perceived political and economic discrimination against the people of the coast
province.

Grievances: A group in Kenya’s Coast Region known for its controversial demands for
secession

Activities: It’s campaign to mobilise inhabitants of the coastal region not to participate in the
forthcoming general elections.

Future: Concerns about the group are heightened by reports that its member’s recruit children
and engaging in oath taking and illegal military training, similar to the actions of other infamous
rebel groups on the continent.
 The MRC has since challenged the ban in court while, instructively, also becoming more
bellicose and tenacious in its demands.
 The MRC’s secession claims are, however, rooted in history and can be traced to a 19km-
wide strip known as Zanj, established under the influence of Zanzibar, itself controlled by
the Sultan of the Persian Gulf state of Oman.
 Later the strip was administered by the British as a protectorate. At the 1963 Lancaster
negotiations for Kenya’s independence it was recommended that the coastal strip be
officially made part of Kenya and the Sultan of Zanzibar be compensated for the loss.

Grievances: Some in the MRC claim that there was a separate 50-year lease agreement
signed by Kenyan Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta and his Zanzibar counterpart Mohamed
Shante in which the Kenyan coastal strip is integrated into Kenya. The MRC claims that this
lease expires next year, when the coastal strip should ‘regain’ its independence.

Future: Today, many people in the Coast Province do not seem to support the MRC’s
secessionist calls, although they strongly back the group’s other substantial grievances
around land issues and the dominance of the local coastal economy by people from other
regions of the country. The land issue is a big problem in Kenya, where the elite and
influential people have, since independence, capitalized on their patronage to register
themselves as land owners. As a result, people at the coast remain squatters and accuse the
Kenyan government of marginalization, discrimination and neglect.

Grievances : The MRC also argues that despite the fact that the Coast Province is a major
contributor to Kenya’s economy through tourism and the port of Mombasa, locals remain
among the poorest in country. It is this perception around skewed development that is
propelling ‘coastal nationalism’. However, the group seems to be selectively using historical
documents to advance its leverage.

 Given the geo-strategic importance of the coastal strip to Kenya, it seems unlikely that
the government will accede to the MRC’s demand for secession in the foreseeable future.
 Future-Nonetheless, dealing with the MRC might not be as simple as it seems given the
life cycles of similar groups in the region that are founded on genuine grievances and
 which over time grow into terrorist or criminal networks. The MRC’s strength is yet to be
established, with its current population base fewer than 500 000 people.
 Future: MRC is allegedly said to have set up a military wing that trains inside the
Mulungunipa forest on the Kenyan South Coast. This contradicts the group’s non-violent
claims.
 In 2013 general elections, leaders softening their stance towards the group in a hope to
attract votes. This boosted the MRC’s importance as politicians and top businessmen
eyeing political offices resorted to funding the group and using its youths to advance their
political causes.

Activities: The MRC has been involved in incidences of violence.

In the short term, the government of Kenya needs to find ways, including discreet ones, to
dissuade the group’s leadership from supporting violence. It would then need to establish its
goodwill and at least seek to pacify it through mutual engagement. In the medium and long term,
the Kenyan government and others in Africa facing similar challenges should respond to local
grievances and ensure inclusive, fair and participatory processes in the distribution of national
resources. This is essential if they want to prevent similar social formations that emerge to
advocate for legitimate rights only to transform and threaten the security and integrity of the
state.

JESHI LA MZEE aka KAMJESH

The term ‘Chimurenga’ was originally used to describe the first rising against British rule of the
1890s. The Rhodesian Bush War of the 1970s is known as the Second Chimurenga.

After their comparatively easy defeat in 1893 it was not surprising the Matabele should, as
Selous put it, ‘try the chances of rebellion’. In 1893 the white victory had been fast and dramatic;
and the Matabele appeared thoroughly cowed. However, Dr Jameson had gone, at the end of
1895, on his most celebrated raid, this time into the Transvaal, and had ended in a Boer gaol with
the bulk of Rhodesia’s fighting men.
Jameson’s raid was made all the more irresponsible by the fact that he knew better than anyone
that the Matabele had not been properly disarmed after 1893; for he had been told by Lord
Ripon, the Liberal Colonial Secretary, not to press the Matabele too hard to surrender their fire-
arms. The Matabele, and later the Mashona in the Chimurenga war, were to exact a more terrible
revenge for Jameson’s folly than did the Boers.

The Matabele were waiting for a chance such as this; they may not have lost more than 2000
men in 1893, and the best part of 20,000 warriors had not faced the bullets of the whites. Now
their land was being given away in large tracts to whites by the haphazard British South Africa
Co. administration; the Company had mishandled the cattle question by taking as loot not only
Lobengula’s animals but any others they fancied; the Company had given the Matabele two
useless reserves at Gwaai and Shangani to live in, and had failed to make its peace with the
spirits of the land.

Now, in the face of these grievances, the Company had disarmed the whites by sending their
fighting men off with Jameson, the Administrator, to Kruger’s prisons. On top of this, a terrible
outbreak of rinderpest caused them to shoot any cattle that had been left with the Matabele. No
wonder the gods, and the Matabele, were not happy! The threads of opportunity and grievance
were brought together early in 1896 by the old chief priest of the Matabele, Lobengula’s friend
Umlugulu.

The Mau Mau Uprising

The Mau Mau was a nationalist armed peasant revolt against the British colonial state, its policy
and its local supporters.

Kenya was settled by Europeans at the start of the twentieth century. The settlers concentrated in
the fertile central highlands, mainly farming coffee and tea. They displaced large numbers of the
Kikuyus who had worked the land as migratory farmers for centuries.

In 1920, Kenya became a crown colony of the British Government. The settlers were able to
introduce a number of restrictions on land ownership and agricultural practice in order to protect
their own interests and push the Kikuyu out. Forced from their traditional tribal areas, many
alienated Kikuyus migrated to the capital Nairobi.

In the early 1950s, resentment grew amongst the Kikuyu tribe against European settlement and
their lack of political representation.

In 1952, the kikuyu there was already the Mau Mau uprising who started their attacks against
Kikuyu loyal to the government. Strongly guerrilla or paramilitary in outlook, Mau Mau used
secret ceremonies to enforce allegiance amongst its members and began a campaign targeting
European settlers in their isolated farms. Mau Mau formed forest gangs in the Aberdare and
Mount areas, from where they would emerge to carry out attacks against the civil authorities and
settlers.

These attacks increased and a state of emergency was declared by the Governor Evelyn Baring in
October 1952. Leading members of the Mau Mau organisation, including Mzee Jomo Kenyatta
Kenya’s future president, to be detained by the authorities.

The Mau Mau stepped up its attacks on European settlers, culminating in the attack on the
village of Lari in March 1953, in which 84 Kikuyu civilians, mainly women and children, were
murdered. British troops began to reinforce local forces to try and counter these attacks. The
Home Guard was strengthened and security measures began to be put in place on the Kikuyu
Reserve to protect civilians and livestock.

British military operations started to concentrate on areas where Mau Mau was most active.
These included 'Operation Anvil,’ a British military operation where British troops attempted to
remove suspected Mau Mau from Nairobi and place them in Langata Camp or reserves. The
operation began in Nairobi on 24 April 1954 and took two weeks of serious mass screening,
arrest and detention of huge numbers of Mau Mau and its supporters. At the end of it 20,000
Mau Mau suspects had been taken to Langata, and 30,000 more had been deported to the
reserves. Large-scale sweeps also took place in the Aberdare and Mount Kenya areas during
1955. British intelligence on the Mau Mau also improved with the introduction of pseudo-gangs,
led by Kikuyu-speaking Europeans disguised as Africans, who infiltrated the forest gangs. The
British military operations effectively ceased in November 1955. By this point thousands of Mau
Mau members had been detained and they had suffered over 10,000 casualties.

The Causes of the Mau Mau rebellion

 Joblessness: It was due to unemployment of the ex-soldiers who had been promised jobs
after the World War II, but instead were made gatekeepers on European-estates.
Similarly, people were retrenched, traders pushed out to business by Asian retail trade
monopoly and European settlers. Therefore, by 1952 the young energetic African went to
the forests of Aberdare and Mountain Kenya Rift Valley and waged a violent offensive
against the British hoping for a change.
 Landlessness: Africans wanted their land especially the Kikuyu who had been displaced
from the fertile Kenya highlands. The European had used the support of the colonial
government to take away land including the ancestral land to which they attached great
value. Many were pushed into reserves and camps were they suffered from congestion,
starvation and diseases like typhoid, cholera.
 Kipande System: It was a reaction against the Kipande system. This was a method of
identity cards imposed on Africans to restrict them from unnecessary movements. The
kipande system required moving with a ‘PASS’ which was big a metallic card carried in
the neck of the African.
 Racial Discrimination: The introduction of racial discrimination in Kenya. This was
discrimination according to colour. The Europeans equated the black colour with low
intelligence, uncivilized, barbaric and a backward race. All the best hotels, restaurants,
schools, recreational centres and most fertile soils in Kenya were reserved for the whites
only.
 Taxation: Africans were fed up of heavy and harsh taxation by the Europeans. Failure to
pay tax was punishable by taking away the land or even imprisonment. So the Africans
were forced to go and work under harsh condition and for long hours, yet poorly paid.
This forced them to join the uprising.
 Dominance of the economy by the Asian and white settlers. The Africans were not
allowed to take part in meaningful business, were not given positive consideration in
 awarding jobs. The whites upheld the view that blacks were only fit to work as Shamba
boys on the colonial farms or maids in the European and Asian homes. To this end, the
Africans revolted so as to change the situation for the better.
 Social Service: Africans wanted to be exposed to the social services e.g. education. The
white settlers feared the educated Africans for losing their white color jobs in the
government as well as losing unskilled African labour on their farms. In this respect they
discouraged African education. In so doing, they worked to frustrate the African efforts
to set up schools even the few educated Africans were not employed in the civil service.
So these unemployed Africans fought for the preservation of their right as an educated
class.
 African Culture: Africans feared a gradual destruction of their culture by the whites e.g.
the missionaries were totally against the circumcision of women among the Kikuyu and
the traditional view of twins.
 Representation: Africans wanted a fair share in the administration of their country
(Parliament). For a long time, many Kenyans were excluded from decision making and
political participation the whites and Asians in the Legislative Council did not represent
their interests.
 The return of Jomo Kenyatta in the 1950s’ after his studies in Europe, he came back
with a wider vision in politics after participating in various conferences (Manchester
conference of 1945) therefore this made enabled him convince the Kenyans about their
rights and they therefore united and rebelled.
 The role of educated Kenyans, this group of people by nature of their education became
aware of their rights as citizens of Kenya and it is along that they started campaigns of
educating the people about their place in society. This prompted them to rebel against the
whites.
 Cash crops: The colonial policy discouraged Africans from growing cash crops like
coffee, tea, cotton, pyrethrum for fear of competition with the Africans. They feared that
they would grow rich and challenge the colonial administration. This led to too much
poverty so they joined the rebellion hoping to find a solution.
 Forced Labour: Africans were obliged by colonial law to offer labour on the plantation
this was to be done forcefully without offering any payments. This kind of new slavery
 inspired the occurrence of the Mau Mau rebellion as the first violent revolt against the
British after World War II.
 Second world war: The Influence of the Second World War many Kenyans who
participated in this war discovered the weakness of the white man and the loopholes in
their systems of administration. These included General China, Didan Kimathi among
others. These people had acquired good military skills, enjoyed high standards of living,
realized that some Africans were braver then some whites. These joined together with the
unemployed Kenyans with a hope of gaining their Independence.

RESULTS OF THE MAU-MAU RISING

 Loss of Life:
Many people lost their lives which led to depopulation. 100 Europeans and 2000 Pro-British
Africans lost their lives. Over 10,000 energetic men were killed and this massive loss of
productive labor led to economic decline in Kenya after 1956.

 Legislative council
The Kenyans were allowed to participate in the Legislative council in large numbers. In 1958, a
constitution (Lennox) was drawn which provided for 15 members of African representation to
the council and therefore members like Arap Moi ,Oginga Odinga ,Tom Mboya joined the
legislative council who became influential in the independence struggle.

 Economic Activities
Kenyans became involved in various economic activities as equal partners from which they had
been excluded .They were allowed to grow profitable crops like coffee, tea, cotton from which
they obtained profits and improved their standards of living.

 Political Parties
It led to the formation of political parties. Due to the increased constitutional reforms and
increased education, African elite emerged and these formed strong political parties which
included Kenya African National Union. (KANU) Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU).
These parties strongly advocated for Kenyan Independence.

 Detention
It led to the leaders of the Mau-Mau and many people being arrested and detained in prison for a
long time hence their suffering and misery for example Jomo Kenyatta detained for seven years
and Dedan Kimathi.

 Independence
The activities of the Mau Mau uprising put pressure on the colonial government to the extent that
Kenya got her independence in 1963. The colonial government was forced to undertake social,
economic as well as political reforms. In 1958, constitutional reforms were adopted which
quickened the way to multi-racial form of government in Kenya. For the first time the Africans
were included in the local and national politics in Kenya.
 Departure of White Settlers
The uprising led to the exodus of many white settlers in Kenya and the plans to make Kenya a
white man’s country became futile. After 1956, all parts that were racially restricted were made
open to all races including the Kenyan highlands.
 Food Shortage
Farms were destroyed which led to food shortage in the area. There was massive destruction of
the food stores, granaries and burning of fields and yet people were confined in camps and
reserves. These became congested and over crowded with no land for agriculture. The political
instability destabilized the agricultural development in Kenya.
 Loss of Money
The war was costly to both Britain and Kenya. Britain. For example, it’s estimated that the
British Government spent over 50million pounds on buying auxiliary weapons and financing the
war. In addition, there was loss of business and therefore money since trade was paralyzed.
Administrative centers, churches, farm machinery worth millions of pounds were also destroyed.

 Withdrawal of Labor policy

 The colonial administration was forced to with draw the foreign labour policy and many
Kenyans began looking for jobs in their own country reducing the Asian domination of the
commercial and retail sectors.

 Rise of New leadership

The removal of Kikuyu leaders gave an opportunity to other leaders to rise up, example, Tom
Mboya, Oginga Odinga etc. These worked to sensitize the Africans to fight on and intensify
the massive destruction of property that belonged to the British, Asian retail shops were
frequently looted. This created economic pain that forced the British subdue to the African
cry for independence by promising quick constitutional transformation.
 The whites accepted that a multi-racial society was the only solution and each race had to
accept peaceful existence with one another. Equality of races was witnessed in schools,
agriculture and government especially the ministerial ranks. The exclusive white occupation and
settlement of Kenya highlands was abolished. In this respect the Mau Mau achieved the
objective of its leaders i.e. Equal treatment of races.
 New settlement patterns
Mau Mau rebellion affected the settlement patterns of the kikuyu: Small and protected villages
were created by the government as a means of separating civilians from guerillas (fighters). A
total of 80,000 Kikuyu men, women and children were confined in detention camps. The 1952
state of emergency forced the kikuyu to live in the protected villages together instead of the
formerly scattered settlement. This later enabled easy provision of schools, health services, and
market services to the people.
 Release of political prisoners
For instance in August 1961 Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was released, elected to Legislative Assembly
and made president of Kenya African National Union (KANU).Similarly, 173 prisoners who
were released by rebels during the height of the Mau Mau uprising.

 Increased Africanisation of Kenya’s educational system.

Africans were allowed to access good quality education similar to that of the white settlers.
Many were admitted in public schools, more schools for the African children were constructed
even in the rural areas. Further still African children were given priority on scholarship awarded
by the government which never happened before.

In conclusion, the British were quick to hand over power to Africans i.e. Ghana 1957,
Tanganyika (Tanzania) 9/12/1961, Uganda 9/10/1962, Kenya 12/12/1963. This was done so as to
avoid worse embarrassment and bloodshed as the case was with the Mau Mau in Kenya.

The Maji Maji Rebellion

Introduction
The Maji Maji Rebellion, sometimes called the Maji Maji War, was a violent African resistance
to colonial rule in the German colony of East Africa, an uprising by several African indigenous
communities against the German rule in response to a German policy designed to force African
peoples to grow cotton for export, lasting from 1905 to 1907.

Background
After the Scramble for Africa among the major European powers in the 1880s, Germany had
reinforced its hold on several formal African colonies. These were German East Africa (now
Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and part of Mozambique), German Southwest Africa (present-day
Namibia), Cameroon, and Togoland (today split between Ghana and Togo). The Germans had a
relatively weak hold on German East Africa, but they did maintain a system of forts throughout
the interior of the territory and were able to exert some control over it. Since their hold on the
colony was weak, they resorted to using violently repressive tactics to control the population

Germany began levying head taxes in 1898, and relied heavily on slave labor to build roads and
accomplish various other tasks. In 1902, Peters also ordered villages to grow cotton as a cash
crop (for export). Each village was charged with producing a quota of cotton. The Headmen of
the village were left in charge of overseeing the production, which set them against the rest of the
population. These German policies were not only unpopular, they also had serious effects on the
lives of Africans. The social fabric of society was being changed rapidly. The social roles of men
and women were being changed to face the needs of the communities. Since men were forced
away from their homes to work, women were forced to assume some of the traditional male
roles. Not only that, but the fact that men were away strained the resources of the village and the
peoples’ ability to deal with their environment and remain self-sufficient. These effects created a
lot of animosity against the government at this period. In 1905, a drought threatened the region.
This, combined with opposition to the government's agricultural and labor policies, led to open
rebellion against the Germans in July.

The insurgents turned to magic to drive out the German colonizers and used it as a unifying force
in the rebellion. A spirit medium named Kinjikitile Ngwale, claimed to be possessed by a snake
spirit called Hongo. Ngwale began calling himself Bokero and developed a belief that the people
of German East Africa had been called upon to eliminate the Germans. German anthropologists
recorded that he gave his followers war medicine that would turn German bullets into water. This
"war medicine" was in fact water (maji in Swahili) mixed with castor oil and millet seeds.
Empowered with this new liquid, Bokero's followers began what would become known as the
Maji Maji Rebellion.

The Uprising
The followers of Bokero's movement were poorly armed with spear and arrows, sometimes
poisoned. However, they were numerous and believed that they could not be harmed because the
German's bullets would turn to water. They marched from their villages wearing millet stalks
around their foreheads. Initially they attacked small outposts and damaged cotton plants.
On July 31, 1905, Matumbi tribesmen marched on Samanga and destroyed the cotton crop as
well as a trading post. Kinjikitile was arrested and hanged for treason. Before his execution, he
declared that he had spread the medicine of the rebellion throughout the region.
On August 14, 1905, Ngindo tribesmen attacked a small party of missionaries on a safari; all
five, including Bishop Spiss (the Roman Catholic Bishop of Dar es Salaam) were speared to
death.
Throughout August, the rebels moved from the Matumbi Hills in the southern part of what is
now Tanzania and attacked German garrisons throughout the colony. The attack on Ifakara, on
August 16, destroyed the small German garrison and opened the way to the key fortification
at Mahenge. Though the southern garrison was quite small (there were but 458 European and
588 local soldiers in the entire area), their fortifications and modern weapons gave them an
advantage. At Mahenge, several thousand Maji Maji warriors (led by another spirit medium, not
Bokero) marched on the German cantonment, which was defended by Lieutenant von Hassel
with sixty African soldiers, a few hundred loyal tribesmen, and two Machine guns. The two
attacking tribes disagreed on when to attack and were unable to co-ordinate. The first attack was
met with gunfire from 1000 meters, and after the tribesmen had stood firm for about a quarter
hour they broke and retreated. After the first attack, a second column of 1,200 men advanced
from the east. Some of these attackers were able to get within three paces of the firing line before
they were killed.

While this was the apex of the uprising, the Ngoni people decided to join in the revolt with a
force of 5,000. The Muslim Gwangara Ngoni were relatively recent arrivals in the region,
descendants of a remnant of the Ndwandwe confederation defeated by the Zulu in 1818 (other
Ngoni states were formed in Malawi, Zambia, and north-central Tanzania). German troops,
armed with machine guns, departed from Mahenge to the Ngoni camp, which they attacked on
October 21. The Ngoni soldiers retreated, throwing away their bottles of war medicine and
crying, "The maji is a lie!”

Upon the outbreak of the fighting, Count Gustav Adolf von Götzen, governor of East Africa, had
requested reinforcements from the German government. Kaiser Wilhelm immediately ordered
two cruisers with their Marine complements to the troubled colony. Reinforcements also arrived
from as far away as New Guinea. When 1,000 regular soldiers from Germany arrived in October,
Götzen felt he could go on the offensive and restore order in the south.
Three columns moved into the rebellious South. They destroyed villages, crops, and other food
sources used by the rebels. They made effective use of their firepower to break up any attacks the
rebels might launch. A successful ambush of a German column crossing the Rufiji River by the
Bena kept the rebellion alive in the southwest, but the Germans were not to be denied for long.
By April 1906, the southwest had been pacified. However, elsewhere the fighting was bitter.
A column under Lt. Gustav von Blumenthal (1879–1913, buried at Lindi) consisting of himself,
one other European and 46 Askaris fell under continuous attack as it marched in early May,
1906, from Songea to Mahenge. The Germans decided to concentrate at Kitanda, where Major
Johannes, Lt. von Blumenthal and LT. Von Lindeiner Wildau eventually gathered. Lt. von
Blumenthal was then sent along the Luwegu River, partly by boat. The southeast campaign
degenerated into a nasty guerrilla war that brought with it a devastating famine.

The famine following the Maji Maji Rebellion was partly planned. Von Götzen was willing to
pardon the common soldiers as long as they gave up their weapons, leaders and witch doctors.
However, he also needed to flush out the remaining rebels and famine was the chosen weapon. In
1905 one of the leaders of German troops in the colony, Captain Wangenheim, wrote to von
Götzen, "Only hunger and want can bring about a final submission. Military actions alone will
remain more or less a drop in the ocean."
Not until August, 1907, were the last embers of rebellion extinguished. In its wake, the Maji-
Maji rebellion left 15 Europeans and 389 African soldiers and between 200,000 and 300,000
insurgents dead. It also broke the spirit of the people to resist and the colony remained calm,
thanks also to a change of governors which brought a more enlightened regime, until the
outbreak of World War I. Lions in the area developed a taste for human flesh in the wake of the
slaughter and the Songea region is still plagued by man-eaters.

Aftermath and interpretation

The Wahehe Rebellion of 1891-1898 is viewed by historians as a precursor of the Maji Maji
uprising. The suppression of the Maji Maji people changed the history of southern Tanzania.
Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people died or were displaced from their homes. In the
wake of the war, the imperial government instituted administrative reforms so that, by the
outbreak of the First World War, Tanganyika could be said to be among the better-administered
European colonies in Africa. The rebellion became a focal point in the history of the region.
Later Tanzanian nationalists used it as an example of the first stirrings of Tanzanian nationalism,
a unifying experience that brought together all the different peoples of Tanzania under one leader
in an attempt to establish a nation free from foreign domination.
Later historians have challenged this view, claiming that the rebellion cannot be seen as a unified
movement, but rather a series of revolts conducted for a wide range of reasons, including
religion. The Muslim Ngoni chiefs were offered Christian baptism before execution. Many
people in the area itself saw the revolt as one part of a longer series of wars continuing since long
before the arrival of Germans in the region. They cite the alliance of some groups with the
Germans in order to further their own agendas.

Causes of the Majimaji rebellion

i) The people of Southern Tanganyika wanted to regain their independence.
ii) Africans were against German's ruthless, harsh and cruel rule
iii) The Ngoni were revenging for the 1898 massacre
iv) They were against land alienation
v) Africans resented Christian Missionaries condemnation of their culture and religion, which
they viewed as witchcraft.
vi) The Germans forcefully raped, fornicated and committed adultery with the Ngindo women
hence annoying the African men
vii) They resented heavy taxation by the GEAC officials.
viii) Africans opposed cotton growing because it was a cash crop and not a food crop
ix) Africans were against forced labour.
x) Role of religion - Kinjeketile Ngwale encouraged people to resist the colonialists using the
magic water that he claimed would make them immune to the bullet

What were the effects of the Maji Maji uprising

Just like any other rebellion in east Africa the maji maji fighters were defeated
Many people lost their lives its estimated that 75000 people were killed during the suppression of
the rebellion
As a result of the killing there was heavy depopulation in the southern Tanganyika
There was massive destruction of property settlements villages were burnt down cotton farms
uprooted and building demolished
A period of famine set in because any people had neglected farming and many crops were
destroyed in the scorched earth policy of the Germans
Africans lost trust in the traditional leaders, religion and medicine men. They learnt that bullets
cannot be defeated NY just mere water
There was the displacement of the African especially in the south and many were forced out of
their land
The movement and unnecessary mixing of people resulted into the spread of diseases like
dysentery and small pox
The rebellion was a source of inspiration for future nationalists like Julius Nyerere and Oscar
kambona. They learnt a lot from the mistakes of the rebellion and tried to avoid them in future
Africans realized the superiority of the Germans after being defeated with their magic water
They also learnt that fighting cannot solve each and everything hence they sought other means
like negotiation and diplomacy in an effort to regain their independence
Africans who collaborated with the German were rewarded they became rich and influential after
the uprising
Economic activities like agriculture and trade came to a standstill in southern Tanganyika
because of the constants fights
Many people were crippled in the war campaigns and others forced into exile especially to
Mozambique
The Germans also learnt from the rebellion forcing them to change in their administration eg the
governor was sacked and replaced by a new one called von Reichenberg
The new governor carried out a number of political reforms for example he sacked the harsh
akidas and the jumbes also abolished corporal punishments

Economic reforms were also instituted forced demands by the settlers were controlled taxes
relaxed and mistreatment of the Africans was punishable
African were encouraged to grow cash crops on their own individual plots rather than on a
communal basis seeds and market were provided
African were to be given priority I'm everything and no longer taken for granted as was the case
before
The new governor also instituted social reforms and improved health services
As far as education was concerned Africans were encouraged to go to school and scholarships
were given to promising students
The rebellious areas were put under military leaders to keep a close eye on Africans so to avoid
the above
The rebellion marked the establishment of the German colonial rule in Tanganyika. This was
done under the excuse of rule of law.
CAT: CHIMURENGA

Political ideologies

1. Introduction

A system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political
theory and policy.

It is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially as held

for reasons that are not purely epistemic/knowledgeable, in which "practical elements are as
prominent as theoretical ones.

It is a set of opinions of a group or an individual.

ideology refers to a set of political beliefs or a set of ideas that characterize a particular culture.

A political ideology is a set of ethical ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social
movement, institution, class or large group that explains how society should work and offers
some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order.

In Kenya for instance, the politics takes place in a framework of a presidential representative
democratic republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and
of a multi-party system, in accordance with a new constitution passed in 2010.

Executive power is exercised by the executive branch of government, headed by the President,
who chairs the cabinet, that is composed of people chosen from outside parliament.

Legislative power is vested exclusively in parliament, while the Judiciary is independent of the
executive and the legislature.
In this topic we shall consider the major political ideologies in Africa: anarchism, absolutism,
liberalism, conservatism and socialism. These five major political ideologies have played a key
role in history by shaping governments and political movements.

2. Anarchism

Anarchism literally means “without rule.’

Anarchism is often manifested through public protests, violent behavior, burning tyres or
engaging in battles with the police. Anarchists are lawless hooligans and anarchy is about chaos
and pointless violence.

This is the belief that the best government is absolutely no government. This ideology argues that
everything about governments is repressive and therefore must be abolished entirely.

Another ideology related to anarchism is nihilism, which emphasizes that everything, both
government and society, —must be periodically destroyed in order to start anew.

Nihilists reject traditional concepts of morality in favor of violence and terror.

Anarchism and nihilism were once associated with socialism because many anarchists and
nihilists supported the socialists’ call for revolution and the complete overhaul of government
and society in the early to mid-twentieth century.

Perhaps the best example is the country of Somalia which was governed by anarchists for over
20 years. The 2007/2008 post-election disputes temporary placed Kenya in the hands of
anarchists.

3. Absolutism

This is the belief that a single ruler should have control over every aspect of the government and
of the people’s lives. Absolute rulers had a variety of titles, including chieftain, king, shah,
pharaoh, emperor, sultan, and prince. In some cultures, the absolute ruler was seen as a god in
human form. Other peoples believed that their ruler had the divine right of kings, meaning that
God had chosen the ruler to govern the rest. As a result, many cultures with absolute rulers
practiced some form of caesaropapism, the belief that the ruler is head of both the governmental
authority and the religious authority. Thomas Hobbes an English philosopher, was perhaps the
most persuasive proponent of absolutism. He argues that life without governments is “nasty,
brutish, and short” and that people must willingly submit to absolute rulers—even tyrannical
ones—in order to live longer, more stable lives. Plato the Greek philosopher, firmly believed that
the best government would be run by a benevolent absolute ruler who would have the people’s
best interests at heart.

A good example of absolutism in African is Swaziland, which is an absolute monarchy.

Absolutist Beliefs in the following:

 A strong sense of order: Everything should be carefully structured, including society.

Disorder and chaos are generally considered to be dangerous.
 A clear-cut law of nature (or law of God): This law must be obeyed. According to this
law, some people are inherently better than others. A natural hierarchy (a power
structure in which some people have authority over others) exists. Therefore, the superior
should rule the inferior. This general view is called elitism, or elite theory.
 The wisdom of traditional values and institutions: New ideas are considered
dangerous to the order of things.

4. Liberalism

Liberalism, also known as classical liberalism comes from the Latin liberalis, is a broad political
ideology or worldview founded on the ideas of liberty and equality. John Locke is the key
founder of liberalism. He argued that the rule of law should replace both tradition and absolutism
in government; that rulers were subject to the consent of the governed; and that individuals had a
fundamental right to life, liberty, and property. Liberalism adopts a wide collection of views
depending on their understanding of these principles, and can encompass ideas such as free and
fair elections, free trade, private property, capitalism, constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free
press, and the free exercise of religion.
Liberalism first became a powerful force in the early 1500s-1700 during the European discovery
of the Americas, the rise of Protestantism, the beginnings of the free-market economy, and the
early stages of the scientific revolution that altered Europe fundamentally. People began
developing different ways of thinking to take account of these changes.

Liberal Believe in the following:

 Individualism: The individual takes priority over society.

 Freedom: Individuals have the right to make choices for themselves. This freedom is not
absolute, and some behaviors, such as murder, are prohibited. Freedom of religion is a
particularly important freedom to come out of liberalism because so many governments
at the time were very closely tied to a particular religious creed.
 Equality: No person is morally or politically superior to others. Hierarchies are rejected.
 Rationalism: Humans are capable of thinking logically and rationally. Logic and reason
help us solve problems.
 Progress: Traditions should not be kept unless they have value. New ideas are helpful
because they can lead to progress in the sciences, the economy, and society.
 The free market: Liberalism and capitalism go hand in hand. Liberals like the free
market because it more easily creates wealth, as opposed to traditional economies, which
often have extensive regulations and limits on which occupations people can hold.

 Perhaps the most important of the new ideas is liberalism (also known as classical
liberalism). This type of liberalism, which began in England in the 1600s, differs from
American liberalism. Classical liberalism developed when such thinkers as John Locke
(in his Second Treatise of Government in 1690) rethought the relationship between the
individual and society, as well theorized about the rights and responsibilities of the
individual. These ideas formed the foundation for many political systems still operating
today.

These basic characteristics of liberalism have led liberals to argue in favor of a limited
government, which draws its power from the people. In practice, this has meant favoring a
democratic government.
One of the key proponent of liberalism is J. S. Mill (1861), the English philosopher who argued
that good governments should be unrestricting enough to allow people—both men and women—
to pursue their own interests and achieve their own potential as they see fit. Fostering
individuality would, in turn, benefit society as a whole, because fewer people would feel
restricted or marginalized. Mill also believed that representative democracy was the best form of
government because it allowed people to express their individuality and provided them the
opportunity to take a more active role in the political process. According to Mill, the more active
the people are, the more satisfied they are with their government.

5. Conservatism

Conservatism also known as classical conservatism is a political and social philosophy that
promotes traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. Conservatisms
seek to preserve a range of institutions such as religion, parliamentary government, and property
rights, with the aim of emphasizing social stability and continuity. It began as a reaction against
the liberal ideas taking hold of Europe during the French Revolution in the late eighteenth
century. Edmund Burke (1790), is one of the founding architects of classical conservatism.
Burke and other conservatives attacked liberalism for many reasons. They argued that liberalism
destroyed tradition. In its rush to overturn the old and bring in the new, liberalism and capitalism
ruthlessly attacked traditional institutions and beliefs.

Conservative Beliefs

 Stability: Stability is a precious thing, and change must be made gradually in order to
preserve it. Undermining stability is very dangerous because societies can easily fall into
chaos and violence. Classical liberals frequently called for revolution, which opens the
door to great turbulence, according to the classical conservative view.
 Concreteness: Liberalism is too abstract. It focuses on freedom and equality, not on the
concrete way people live every day.
 Human fallibility: Liberalism overestimates human beings. Humans are frequently
ignorant, prejudiced, and irrational. By ignoring these defects, liberalism becomes
unrealistic.
  Unique circumstances: There is no universal answer to the problems of society; the
circumstances are unique in each country.

Classical Liberalism versus Classical Conservatism

Issue Liberalism Conservatism

Only valuable if it serves a
Repository of acquired wisdom; collection of best
Tradition purpose; we should not be afraid
knowledge from many years of practice
to overturn tradition

Essential for human flourishing;

Excessive freedom is bad; lets people ignore
people are free to do as they
Freedom societal responsibilities and overlook social
please as long as they do not hurt
customs
others

Relies on reason; the great
success of the scientific
Reason
revolution can be repeated in
human affairs if we use reason
Thinks reason is fallible and prone to error; human
beings cannot discover the best way to govern
through thinking. Instead, we must base our
judgments and decisions on experience.

Dangerous because it breaks down traditional

Valuable because it unleashes
Free economic roles. The profit motive corrodes
tremendous economic growth
Market customary mores and reduces all relationships to
and efficiency, enriching society
cash transactions.

Socialism

This is a political, social, and economic philosophy encompassing a range of economic and
social systems characterized by social ownership of the means of production and workers' self-
management of enterprises. It includes the political theories and movements associated with such
systems.
It arose as a response to the Industrial Revolution, which was the emergence of technologies
such as the steam engine and mass production.

The Industrial Revolution started in England in the last years of the eighteenth century and had
spread to much of Europe and America by the end of the nineteenth century. It caused major
upheavals: In a very short time, many people were forced to abandon agricultural ways of life for
the modern mechanized world of factories.

Early versions of socialism, often dubbed “utopian socialism were put forward in Europe in the
first part of the nineteenth century, but truly influential socialist theories did not emerge until
industrialization expanded in the mid-nineteenth century. Karl Marx is the best-known theorist of
socialism, along with Friedrich Engels, Karl Kautsky, Vladimir Lenin, and Antonio Gramsci.

Socialist Beliefs

 Collectivism: Human beings are social by nature, and society should respect this.
Individualism is poisonous.
 Public ownership: Society, not individuals, should own the property.
 Central economic planning: The government plans the economy; there is no free
market.
 Economic equality: All citizens have roughly the same level of prosperity.

The Evolution of Socialism

Socialism evolved in a variety of ways. Communism and democratic socialism are the two most
prominent evolutions of socialism.

 Communism: An authoritarian and revolutionary approach to achieving socialism. As an

ideology, communism emphasizes a classless society in which all members jointly share
the means and output of production. The regimes of the Soviet Union and communist
China embody this ideology. Communists such as Vladimir Lenin, who became the first
premier of the Soviet Union in 1917, argued that people can and must make the transition
to socialism quickly rather than waiting for it to evolve. Authoritarian and violent
 measures are often required because the defenders of capitalism will fight ferociously to
stop socialism from coming into being.

Communism Today

With the fall of communist regimes in Russia and Eastern Europe, communism has been in
retreat for most of the 1990s and 2000s. There are, for example, fewer communist movements
around the world than during the Cold War. But there are still several major communist regimes,
including the governments of North Korea and Cuba.

 Democratic socialism: A peaceful and democratic approach to achieving socialism. As

an ideology, democratic socialism also emphasizes a classless society in which all
members jointly share the means and output of production. But unlike communism,
democratic socialism attempts to achieve its goals peacefully via the democratic
processes. Democratic socialists reject the need for immediate transition to socialism in
favor of a gradualist approach, achieved by working within a democratic government.
Economic inequalities should be remedied through a welfare state, a system that
provides aid to the poor and help to the unemployed.

Democratic Socialism Today

Democratic socialism has been quite successful in western Europe and Scandinavia. Many
governments there have extensive welfare systems that have remained largely intact even when
democratic socialists are voted out of office. Dem-ocratic socialist parties exist in many
democracies around the world. Germany’s Social Democratic Party and Britain’s Labor Party are
contemporary examples of successful political parties heavily influenced by democratic
socialism.