Mau Mau

Mau Mau , secret insurgent organization in Kenya , comprising mainly Kikuyu tribespeople. They were bound by oath to force the expulsion of white settlers from Kenya. In 1952 the Mau Mau began reprisals against the Europeans, especially in the "white highlands," claimed as Kikuyu lands. The settlers retaliated and non-participant Kikuyu were killed by the Mau Mau. Jomo Kenyatta and other nationalist leaders were imprisoned. By 1956, however, British troops hunted down the Mau Mau in the mountain forests. Most leaders were captured and executed. Later the entire Kikuyu tribe was resettled within a guarded area. The state of emergency decreed (1952) in Kenya was ended in 1960 and Kenyatta was released; he subsequently became prime minister (1963) upon independence, and president (1964) when the country became a republic.

Mau Mau Anti-colonial terrorist group of the Kikuyu of Kenya. In 1952, after repeated attacks on Europeans, Britain declared a state of emergency and drafted in troops. Within four years, the conflict claimed c.100 European and 2000 anti-Mau Mau Kikuyu lives. More than 11,000 Mau Mau died before the state of emergency ended in 1960. Kenya achieved independence in 1963, and elected Jomo Kenyatta, a reputed former member of the Mau Mau, as its first prime minister.