Mutunga to present Dedan Kimathi's trial documents to freedom fighter's family

A statue of late freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi in Nairobi. Freedom fighters died without tasting the fruit of independence. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Kimathi was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, contrary to Regulation 8A (1) of the Emergency Regulations, 1952 as well as unlawful possession of ammunition at the time.
  • He was sentenced to death for the first count and seven years imprisonment with hard labour for the second.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga is expected to present a certified copy of the late freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi’s trial to his family on Thursday.

The file was recently obtained from the Senate House Library of the University of London in the United Kingdom.

The case file relates to his 1956 trial and conviction as a Mau Mau leader in Nyeri and the subsequent appeal against the death sentence imposed on him.

The file had been handed to the library as a donation from the private collection of the lawyer who represented Kimathi, Mr Ralph Millner, who is now deceased.

Mr Kimathi was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, contrary to Regulation 8A (1) of the Emergency Regulations, 1952 as well as unlawful possession of ammunition at the time.

He was sentenced to death for the first count and seven years imprisonment with hard labour for the second.

Because of the magnitude of his contribution to fighting for Kenya’s independence from the British colonialists, his case file is set to be among key exhibits in the Judicial Museum of Kenya that is about to be completed and will be based at the Supreme Court.

According to the Chief Justice, the museum will feature information and collections covering key epochs in the evolution of the Kenyan judiciary, from traditional African justice systems through the colonial era and the early post-independence period to the modern era.

Kimathi’s case file will be presented at the Supreme Court buildings from 10am before it is released to the public.

ARMED MILITARY STRUGGLE

At the time of his birth in October 1920 in Thege Village, Tetu Division in Nyeri, he was known as Kimathi wa Waciuri.

He later became leader of the Mau Mau, which in the 1950s led an armed military struggle known as the Mau Mau rebellion against the British colonial government in Kenya.

Kimathi and his fellow Mau Mau rebels are now officially recognised as heroes in the struggle for Kenyan independence. In the past, they were viewed with contempt, especially by the colonialists.

He was captured and executed in 1957, and though his arrest ended the forest war, the rebellion defeated the British colonial government.

He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison and his body has not been recovered.

His bronze statue now stands in Nairobi’s city centre on Kimathi Street. He is depicted clad in military garb, holding a rifle in the right hand and a dagger on the other, symbolising the last weapons he held in the struggle for Kenya’s independence.

The Dedan Kimathi Stadium in Nyeri, formerly known as the Kamukunji Grounds, was also renamed after him.

He was married to Ms Mukami Kimathi.