Harry Thuku: Fiery freedom fighter who turned against the cause

There is a major road in Nairobi. In pre-independence Kenya, it was known as Ainsworth Causeway. Today, the road is called Harry Thuku Road.

The general understanding of the public is that this road is named after one of our foremost heroes; a celebrated and decorated freedom fighter. For one to be so boldly and famously immortalised, their contribution to the country’s fight for independence must be well documented and their deeds proportionate and commensurate with the honour.

Harry Thuku was born at Kambui, Mitahato village in 1895. He was a militant nationalist and pioneer of modern African Nationalism in Kenya. In 1920, he founded Young Kikuyu Association, a pioneer anti-colonial pressure group. In 1921 he founded the multi-ethinic East African Association to protest punitive colonial land policies. He was particularly vocal against the oppressive Kipande System (Passbook), forced labour and heavy taxation.

His anti-colonial government activism led to his arrest and was exiled to Kismayu in Somalia. March 16, 1922 witnessed the largest maandamano yet against the Colonial government. Thousands of people thronged the streets of Nairobi demanding release of Thuku. The protesters invaded present-day Central Police Station to which police and armed white civilians responded with live bullets, killing over 50 people and hundreds wounded.

When he was released from Kismayu in 1931, history records that Harry Thuku literally “walked into things”. The moment he arrived in Nairobi, some white policemen were waiting for him. Instead of arresting and bundling him into a police Land Rover to jail, as he feared, they offered him security. Upon reaching home, he walked right into another miracle. The land he had left at his Kambui village had given birth and expanded, mysteriously. His bank accounts too were suffocating with cash deposits, from unknown sources. In a nutshell, his life changed dramatically, from being a hunted-down anti-government rebel and freedom fighter to a guy wallowing in infinite luxury.

These were extremely disturbing events to “fellow” freedom fighters, who had patiently   waited for his return from exile to lead the way against colonial rule. It is said he became dodgy on the way forward. It then dawned on his “comrades” that the man who had arrived from Kismayu was not the same no-nonsense anti-colonial activist. This was a man who had not only been compromised but been inducted into becoming the most active African anti-african voice.

In 1932, with colonial prompting, Thuku took over and became president of Kikuyu Central Association, a movement founded in 1924, when he was in exile, to agitate land rights and broker independence talks with the colonial government. Unbeknown to the founders of KCA, the likes of James Beauttah, Joseph Kang’ethe, Jomo Kenyatta, Henry Muoria among others, Thuku no longer believed in the pan-African spirit.

In 1935 Harry founded Kikuyu Provincial Association with similar aspiration with the Kikuyu Central Association. In 1944 he co-founded Kenya African Study Union, a precursor of the Kenya African Union. His obsession with forming splinter organizations was at the behest of the colonial Government. The ensuing confusion paid dividends to Thuku and the colonial government.

He was vocal during the emergency, terming Mau Mau “a terrorist organisation”. He went on colonial radio to denounce Mau Mau, urging its leadership to down their arms and surrender. The imperial government celebrated him as a “hero, peacemaker and nationalist”.

It is likely that the National Museums of Kenya and the National Archives have in their collections most prized sculptures of Harry Thuku. I can imagine the curators, delivering a most distorted and non-factual history of the heroics of Thuku. I remember his predominance in my History and Civics Books.

Now, the University of Nairobi through which Harry Thuku Road traverses is supposed to be a premier research institution. How is it possible then, that the Department of History, which is a few meters away from Harry Thuku Road does not have the history of Harry Thuku, the man? This level of laziness is unbelievable.

Some characters we have immortalised as heroes of our freedom actually belong to The Kenya National Chamber of Horrors, if we had one.