Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 1905–1963 — 1987

By Tabitha Kanogo

“Dr Kanogo has followed the fortunes of these squatters. It is an amazing story. At first, when white settlement was in its infancy, the squatters lived in a ‘heaven.’ They prospered greatly by utilizing the vast and virgin lands which the Europeans could not at first put under production.

“This ‘heaven’ lasted only until around 1923. Then the white settlers began to assert themselves, by demanding more labour hours from the squatters. By using the colonial state, they initiated laws to restrict squatter cultivation and animal husbandry and, by the early 1940s, the vast quantity of the squatter livestock had been got rid of. The squatters became poorer and poorer, disillusioned and angry.

“Dr. Kanogo proceeds to narrate the story of squatter involvement in the Mau Mau movement--in particular female participation--the first time a Kenyan historian has actually done field work on Mau Mau instead of simply mouthing propaganda.”

William R. Ochieng — Professor and chairman of the history department, Kenyatta University

“A first-rate piece of research and analysis [and] also very exciting. It is a social history of the Kikuyu squatters on the White Highlands, who became possibly the most important group in the composition of Mau Mau and, thereafter, a most significant pressure group in the politics of decolonization, since it was their spontaneous action in occupying a number of settler farms which ensured the political necessity of the settlement schemes. It has intimate and detailed data on the everyday life of the squatters before the 1940s. It has some marvellous pictures of their ingenuity, establishing what was essentially a Kikuyu colony, where there should only have been obedient farmworkers.”

John Lonsdale — Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge

“This is a provocative piece of work, which should interest several audiences. First, students of Kenyan history. Secondly, economic historians, especially those interested in labor history. Finally, from a comparative point of view, those interested in the socio-economic bases of revolution.”

Bethwell A. Ogot — Professor of history, Kenyatta University