Peter Poole

Peter Poole (born c. 1932 - died August 18, 1960 in Nairobi, Kenya) was a British-born Kenyan engineer and shop owner. He is the only white in Kenya executed for killing an indigenous African person [1][2].

On October 12, 1959 he was charged for killing Kamawe Musunge in Gordon Road, Nairobi. Musunge had been riding a bicycle when Poole's two dogs stopped him. Musunge threw stones at a dog, for which Poole shot Musunge dead with a Luger pistol [3]. Musunge was Poole's houseboy [1]. Poole was executed on August 18, 1960. At the time Kenya was still under British rule, and the verdict was received dismally by white settlers in Kenya, who could not accept that a white man could be sentenced for killing an indigenous African [3].

Poole had emigrated to Kenya from Essex and was an engineer by profession [4]. He owned an electrical shop on Nairobi's Government road (now Moi Avenue) [2]. Poole served in the British army during the Mau Mau Uprising [1]. Peter Poole was married with two children. His father was Norman Poole [3].

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Time, August 29, 1960: White Man Hangs
  2. ^ a b Daily Nation, May 7. 2009: Year when all men became equal at the end of a rope
  3. ^ a b c Christine Stephanie Nicholls: Red strangers: the white tribe of Kenya Timewell Press, 2005. ISBN 1857252063
  4. ^ Truecrimelibrary.com: Peter Poole – Kenya