Talk:Harry Thuku

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Cpsa,

I've edited some of your changes; what follows is explanation.

Contents 1 Pending deportation 2 Warnings were given 3 The Shooting 4 Casualties 5 Reserve 6 References

[edit] Pending deportation

Immediately before the shootings, a delegation of six men spoke to the colonial Secretary. He promised that Thuku would be fairly tried. Deportation was (and is) a punishment; if Thuku was to be deported, then the assurances were false. At any rate, the decision to exile Thuku without charge or trial seems to have been taken after the shootings. I have removed the reference to deportation.

[edit] Warnings were given

No warnings were given before the firing began, as was admitted at the inquest. [references].

What might seem rather remarkable here is that there is no evidence given that the askaris were ordered to fire on the crowd by their officers; but when it is considered that the askaris were on duty for practically 18 hours continuously, that they were subjected to the taunts and jeers of the crowd the entire morning, and that the officer in charge of them was on the ground at the time the first shot was fired in a scuffle with one of the most aggressive ringleaders, it appears to me their action is not to be wondered at or criticised^[1]

Observers inside the crowd noted that it was unusually orderly:

The crowd was mostly seated in groups and very orderly...^[2]

[edit] The Shooting

Most sources agree that the main agitation before the shooting came from several women in the crowd, who came within a few feet of the soldiers' bayonets.^[3] This does not constitute a lethal threat.

Further, your change gives the impression that only KAR troops were involved in the shooting. In fact, white civilians joined in: some of them, on the verandah of the Norfolk hotel, shot protesters in the back.^[4]

[edit] Casualties

I've been unable to track down the white paper you mention. The figure you quote seems to be identical to that given at the inquest. It is almost certainly a massive undercount. In any case, it is unclear that the colonial administration's count takes precdence over the estimates of (relatively) disinterested historians.

[edit] Reserve

The reference to Thuku returning to his own reserve is misleading, since 'Kikuyu' is, variously, the proper name of a town in Kiambu district, the proper name of the territory habitually occupied by the Agikuyu, and the proper name of the territory supposedly occupied by the Agikuyu. It would be more accurate to report that Thuku was allowed to return to Kiambu district.

[edit] References

1. ^ Testimony of BA Crean, Nairobi Resident Magistrate, pp. 17-18 in Kenya Colony and Protectorate. 1922. Papers Relating to Native Disturbances in Kenya, Cmd. 1961.
2. ^ Reverend WJ Wright, at p. 51 of Carl Rosberg and John Nottingham (1966), The Myth of 'Mau Mau': nationalism in Kenya. New York: Praeger.
3. ^ See pp 313-316 of Audrey Wipper (1989), "Kikuyu Women and the Harry Thuku Disturbances: Some Uniformities of Female Militancy", Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 59.3: 300-337.
4. ^ See Lonsdale 2004 for white civilian involvement in the shootings, and Thuku 1970:33 for the claim that white civilians shot protesters in the back.