AGĩkũyũ, 1890-1965

This book, written in Gikuyu this book is
intended to serve as a textbook for students of history who are
interested in studying the history and culture of the Agikuyu people and
their involvement in the struggle for national independence. The
material is chronologically arranged in four sections, covering the
entire range of Kenyan history, from the colonial period to 1965.

The
first section (1884-1920) covers the primary resistance to the
establishment and consolidation of colonial rule. The second section
covers 1920 – 1940 when the forces of independence operated within the
framework of colonial “democracy”. In a practical sense, the period
witnessed the peasant-worker alliance against colonial occupation, the
formation of the first African political organizations, including the
Young Kikuyu Association, East African Association, Kavirondo Young
Association, Kikuyu Central Association, North Kavirondo Young
Association, Ukamba Members Association, and Taita Hills Association.
The period also witnessed the formation of the trade union movement and
the intensification of the anti-imperialist cultural resistance. Section
three 1940-1952  details anti-colonial efforts whose objective were to
overthrow the colonial system through electoral politics and create a
non-racial democratic society. From this formed a national
anti-imperialist front, the Kenya African Union, in 1944 under the
leadership of Jomo Kenyatta. At this stage, divergent class and
individual interest began to manifest themselves within the African
population. The fourth section, 1952-1963, was that of the armed
independence movement, the formation of the Mau Mau movement with its
armed wing, the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), led by Field Marshal
Kĩmathi, which sought to eradicate the colonial system altogether.