The Final Charge

A charismatic African politician seeks justice for the war crime perpetrated against his father in 1950s colonial Kenya. With its widespread use of torture, internment and executions it would be easy to characterise the Mau Mau Emergency as Britain's own little War on Terror, but the truth is far more complex. Set against the backdrop of the deep divisions and institutionalised corruption in present day Kenya, 'The Final Charge' explores important questions about what it means to be a minority in a society, where responsibility lies for past wrongs and who gets to decide who is condemned as a terrorist and whom lauded as a freedom fighter: themes more relevant today than ever. Retired British GP Tom Miles, on vacation in Kenya, is arrested by leading opposition politician Paul Muya and charged with a War Crime relating to the death of a freedom fighter during the fight of independence - the so called Mau Mau Emergency. That freedom fighter was Paul Muya's father, General Jembe. Miles is defended, reluctantly, by Paul Muya's white Kenyan friend, Leo Kane and British Asian War Crimes expert, Aliya Zain. Through a series of flashbacks, Tom's national service involvement in the Mau Mau period is slowly revealed. So too are the abuses of human rights in Kenya at the time, including the policy of getting the charismatic freedom fighter General Jembe 'up country and cold' - i.e. out of the capital and dead. The Acting President of Kenya was himself a comrade of General Jembe. Leo Kane however has something else on his mind: The Charge, an annual car rally across the bush which, in this its final year, he is determined to win with his two sons. Paul Muya prosecutes the case, drawing on damning evidence from long closed files, suggesting that the British establishment, whilst publicly championing Tom Miles's defence, is secretly conniving in his prosecution. Leo is attacked, and Aliya has to take over the defence of a man whose attitudes and actions she despises. In this intelligent, passionate novel, a charismatic African politician seeks justice for the war crime perpetrated against his father in 1950s colonial Kenya. With its widespread use of torture, internment, and executions it would be easy to characterize the Mau Mau Emergency as Britain's own little War on Terror, but the truth is far more complex. Set against the backdrop of the deep divisions and institutionalized corruption in present day Kenya, The Final Charge explores important questions about who gets to decide who is condemned as a terrorist and whom lauded as a freedom fighter, where responsibility lies for past wrongs, and themes more relevant today than ever.