Controversial Chiefs in Colonial Kenya : The Untold Story of Senior Chief Waruhiu Wa Kung'u, 1890–1952

Senior Chief Waruhiu wa Kung’u is one of colonial Kenya’s most controversial chiefs. His name has gone down in history as a traitor who was assassinated because he sold his country to the British colonizers. This book is the untold story of the controversial life of Senior Chief Waruhiu who served the colonial government for thirty years. He believed his white superiors’ authority was God-given and to disobey them was tantamount to disobeying God himself. That was why he was considered loyal, obedient, dependable, responsible, efficient, and a tower of strength. Chief Waruhiu’s violent death dealt his reputation a devastating blow, as it provided his critics with a basis to portray him as a traitor who sold out to the colonizers. Although Waruhiu believed that the Africans were not yet ready for self-government—and that they could not attain it through violence—that did not make him a traitor. Other chiefs also believed that and yet were not labeled as traitors. However, this did lead to him being considered a very pro-government and pro-European chief who was opposed to the aspirations of his people and he, as a result, deserved to be killed. Although it is believed that Waruhiu was killed by Mau Mau, there is no evidence to support that claim. The white settler community gained a lot from Waruhiu’s murder as it paved the way for it to get what it had been demanding for a long time—a declaration of a state of emergency and the arrest and detention of African leaders. It is very likely that some leaders of the white settlers, working together with government officials, were probably behind Waruhiu’s murder. The police, the prosecution, and the court seemed determined to make the murder charges against the accused suspects stick in spite of glaring discrepancies and contradictions in the evidence against them. Above all, the prosecution failed to prove beyond any reasonable doubts that Waweru and Gathuku killed Waruhiu. Thus, the mystery of who killed Waruhiu and those behind his murder still remains unresolved and the perpetrators of the murder may never be known. Controversial Chiefs in Colonial Kenya presents the untold story of Senior Chief Waruhiu wa Kung'u, one of colonial Kenya's most controversial chiefs. Throughout his thirty years of service to the colonial government, he was considered loyal, obedient, dependable, responsible, efficient, and a tower of strength. However, his name has gone down in history as that of a traitor who was assassinated because he sold his country to the British colonizers. Senior Chief Waruhiu's violent death dealt his reputation a devastating blow. Although Waruhiu believed that the Africans were not yet ready for self-government-and that they could not attain it through violence -this did not make him a traitor. However, this explains why he was considered a very pro-government and pro-European chief who was opposed to the aspirations of his people and why it was thought that he, as a result, deserved to be killed. Though it is believed that Waruhiu was killed by the Mau Mau, there is no evidence to support that claim. The prosecution was not interested in proving that the accused were members of the Mau Mau or that the murder was carried out by the Mau Man. Since the white settler community gamed a lot from Waruhiu's murder, it is very likely that some of its leaders, working together with some government officials, were behind his murder. That is why the mystery of who killed Waruhiu remains unsolved and the perpetrators of his murder may never be known This book documents the life of Senior Chief Waruhiu, one of colonial Kenya’s most controversial chiefs, from his birth in 1890 to his death in 1952.