Photograph — theguardian

In the past, it has been said that of all the tribes in Kenya, the Kikuyu, the largest ethnic group in the country, were the most hated. This is similar to many countries, where one tribe usually bears the brunt of undue hatred and resentment from other tribes for different reasons. However, in the 1950s, the Kikuyu tribesmen who were predominantly farmers, were at loggerheads with the white settlers who were also farmers following the Mau Mau uprising in the country. The Kikuyu have been known since colonial times as a tribe with a lot of political and economic influence in Kenya.

In 1953, 11 Kikuyu tribesmen were sentenced to death over the murder of a European farmer. According to the March 14, 1953 issue of The Mail, the governor of Kenya at the time, Sir Evelyn Baring, had said the fight against the Mau Mau terror would continue until there was peace.

The Mau Mau uprising was a military conflict that took place in British Kenya between 1952 and 1960. It involved Kikuyu-dominated groups, white settlers, the British Army, the local Kenya Regiment and anti-Mau Mau Kikuyu. However, the Mau-Mau were eventually defeated in 1956, when the rebel leader Dedan Kimathi was captured on October 21, 1956 and essentially ended the British military campaign.

However, there may be indications that some Kenyans hold the British responsible for certain deaths that occurred around that period, deaths they have claimed had nothing to do with the Mau Mau uprising. In 2014, The Independent reported that several thousand elderly Kenyans had introduced a class action suit against the British government. “Thousands of elderly Kenyans, who claim mistreatment, rape and torture by British colonial forces during the Mau Mau uprising, have launched a £200m damages claim against the UK Government,” the platform wrote.

This is not the first time a group of people are seeking reparation for wrongs done in the past against them. For instance, black people in the United States of America have been said to call for reparations for the mistreatment of their ancestors during the era of slavery in the country. In fact, in February 2016, the United Nations called on the United States government to work out some way to pay black Americans for the acts during slavery their past generations had to endure. “The working group suggests monuments, markers and memorials be erected in the United States to facilitate dialogue, and past injustices and crimes against African-Americans need to be addressed with reparatory justice,” Epic Times reports.

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