The history of the British Empire is a sequence of one blood-chilling abomination after another, and the shocking exploitation of the Kikuyu in Kenya is one of the darker chapters. The inevitable revolt, the Mau Mau Rebellion, was defeated, but the savagery with which it was put down made the Brits so despised that their rule thereafter became untenable. It was the beginning of the end for Britain in Kenya, and paved the way for their nemesis, Jomo Kenyatta, who led his nation to independence.
One ploy used by the Brits was to create a second Mau Mau militia made up of Kikuyu loyalists. It was this bogus group which conducted a reign of terror in the countryside, and it was they who were responsible for most if not all the atrocities committed against White settlers and farmers, atrocities committed by Blacks against Whites on the order of White colonialists. These gruesome murders were then used as pretext for harsher forms of repression, including unspeakable forms of torture.
Two quick notes of interest:
1, There are those who argue that all states are repressive, they cannot help themselves because even in the normal course of administrative events, even when no nefarious intent is present, the state as a matter of course represses those who live under its hegemony. In the case above we see a reflexive, self-protective response from the British government. There is no question in this case that Britain is guilty of the charges, and it doesn't deny them, it just asserts that it is no longer responsible for what the colonial government did all those years ago. It will be to no disadvantage to Cameron's government to do the right thing here and compensate the victims of British torture, he can hardly be blamed for these despicable colonial outrages. But he heads a government, and that government is accused of wrong-doing during its years in Kenya, so he defends the government.
2, Among those traitors who sided with the British occupiers in those days was none other Barack Obummer's father. What exactly his role was is disputed, but at the very least he was an informant. (Wayne Madsen has written about this and it's worth a Google if you are interested.)
Oddly enough, Obummer's father wasn't the only intelligence operative that Obummer's mother married. Her Indonesian hubby was a spook as well and was a major player in the coup which brought the gangster Suharto to power, and it was he who was responsible for the massacres in East Timor and Aceh.
The woman had interesting taste in men.
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=25500
