Nairobi: A Mau Mau compensation lobby group now says it hopes the enactment of the Public Benefits Organization Act will hasten compensation efforts for its members. James Njuguna Mahuria, who chairs the Jeramiah Mugi Foundation, says a planned debate over the provisions of the Act on March 25 could be the silver lining that will unlock the chances of receiving compensation from the former colonial masters.
According to Kenya News Agency, Mahuria argues that among the issues his foundation is pushing for is to ensure all those who suffered under the British Colonial administration are fully compensated regardless of one’s ethnicity. “We want this Bill (The Public Benefits Organizations Act) to be implemented without any amendment or deletion. The late President Mwai Kibaki had already assented to this Bill, and it is prudent it be retained as it is. Under this Act, we believe anybody who either lost his land or suffered incarceration under the colonial government will eventually receive compensation from the government,” he said.
The Public Benefits Organizations Act 2013 came into force on May 14, 2024, with the aim of regulating non-governmental organizations and public benefit organizations. A Public Benefit Organization is a charitable membership or non-membership grouping of individuals or organizations, which is autonomous, non-partisan, non-profit making, and engages in public benefit activities.
Mahuria stated that his family lost a large piece of land in Kinangop in Nyandarua, which he still hopes to reclaim. He lauded a court ruling in Nakuru that granted Mau Mau veterans the right to evict 200 squatters from their 100-acre piece of land, which they had invaded and settled in.
Kamango Mukonyoro and more than 700 Mau Mau descendants obtained the orders after Justice Anthony Ombwayo allowed them to evict the squatters in a month’s time if they failed to vacate the land. The Mau Mau veterans were allegedly given the land by the late President Daniel Moi in 1996 after paying Sh820,000 for it. This was after they lost land in Gilgil, Dundori, Elburgon, Molo, Londiani, Nyahururu, Nanyuki, and Nyahururu to colonial settlers.
“Today we are glad that former Mau Mau veterans in Njoro were able to get justice after a court decision that allowed them to evict squatters from their 100-acre land,” Mahuria stated. “Following such a ruling, we hope our family will one day repossess 200 acres of land in Kinango that was illegally taken from us during the colonial era. Today this land is home to Karima Girls Secondary School. We are also claiming a house that had been given to my grandfather by a white British officer but later taken away after the Britons left the country,” he added.
The foundation has also distanced itself from any political leaning after police blocked the members from using the Othaya stadium where they intended to conduct a thanksgiving ceremony. However, in January, the British Government denied claims of the existence of any compensation funds for descendants of Mau Mau freedom fighters.
British High Commissioner to Kenya Neil Wigan, while responding to Chinga ward MCA Kiruga regarding the reparation twist, clarified that the final settlement claim was made in 2013. Wigan said any allegations leveled against the Head of State Dr. William Ruto or his government of withholding such monies were therefore fallacious. “We wish to clarify that the British Government has not disbursed any compensation to the Government of Kenya or to any individuals or groups associated with Mau Mau descendants since the 2013 final settlement of claims,” read the letter.
Wigan further cautioned the public against falling prey to individuals soliciting money from individuals or groups while purporting to be in a position to facilitate compensation. In June 2013, then UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, announced his government’s decision to pay compensation money to all Kenyans tortured by the British colonial administration during the Mau Mau uprising. Hague said his government would disburse US $20 million as compensation to the victims while disclosing that the UK government did reckon that Kenyans were tortured and regretted abuses that took place then.
“I would like to make it clear now, and for the first time, on behalf of Her Majesty’s government, that we understand the pain and grievance felt by those who were involved in the events of the state of emergency in Kenya,” he told the House of Commons in June 2013. “The British government sincerely regrets that these abuses took place and that they marred Kenya’s progress towards independence.” He added.
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) puts the number of Kenyans tortured and executed during the Mau Mau rebellion at 90,000, with another 160,000 being detained in inhumane conditions. The Mau Mau uprising, which lasted between 1952 and 1960, arose as an agitation for freedom and repossession of land that had been alienated from Africans by the British colonialists.