He is Field Marshal Musa Mwariama and this is his story. A tragedy that needs to be told a thousand times. Mwariama was a courageous leader of the Mau Mau resistance. The mere mention of Mwariama's name sent shivers down the backs of the invaders from the British Isles. Because of him, they made sure to carry their guns at all times, for no one knew the moment and time when he would suddenly spring from the air, like a ghost, and exact punishment to the British for their crimes against the black natives. As his brother Kimathi fought from the Aberdares, Mwariama led the brave Meru battalion from his bases in the thick dark forests of Nyambene in Meru.
Shocking facts about him.
Mwariama is the highest-ranking Mau Mau leader who survived the war without being killed or captured by the colonialists. My soul weeps when I remember it was a black man like him who finally put Mwariama in chains and stole his dignity.
After independence they decorated him with the national Order of Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS), a title that meant nothing to him as it did nothing to ease him predicament. Mwariama was also given a 15 acre piece of land in Timau, Meru. It was barren and in a very cold place on the slopes of Mt Kenya. It was not an act of generosity because it was a loan that Mwariama was supposed to pay back to the government. But Mwariama knew better than to complain.
Before joining the Mau Mau, Mwariama worked as a security guard in Nairobi. When Mwariama saw what the white man was doing to his brothers and sisters , his heart raged in anger. Mwariama took the oath , grew his hair long and joined the movement to fight for the liberation of Kenya from the white man who had stolen our freedom , pride and land
His stay in the dark dangerous forests sharpened his senses. In fact even after the British had packed their bags and left HE was still paranoid about his safety. Mwariama had to be. There was another oppressor in town. He was more ruthless and cruel than the white man and he was black like him.
Post-independence Kenya did not favor people like him; former freedom fighters. But despite the humiliations that Mwariama and his fellow freedom fighters faced at the hands of the local authorities, Mwariama still urged his army to accept whatever resettlement land was offered to them. Mwariama accepted the same size of land as his soldiers received.
While the others were given land and government positions in Nairobi, Mwariama was handed a pathetic job as assistant chief. HE later resigned. Mwariama couldn’t take the humiliation any more
In 1964, HE was offered 335 shillings by Kenyatta government to stand down after Kenya’s independence. But stand down for what? Heasked myself. When Mwariamaturned down the offer, Mwariama was put on an enemy list and a month later Mwariamawas charged with sedition and thrown in prison for 6 months. All because Mwariama had demanded for what was rightfully mine. After release, poverty forced him to accept the money.
One day in 1989, in the grasslands of Ukambani a friend Mwariama was travelling with was bitten by a poisonous snake. In an instant He started sucking the poison out from his leg. His friend survived, but Mwariama died that day.. Little did Mwariama know HE had a cavity in his tooth. A final act of sacrifice. His burial in Kiambogo village in Timau was a very quiet low key affair.
Mwariama died poor and his children did not even get an education. “As we fought for the nation to get independence our families were humiliated by colonialists, houses burnt and our property including cattle seized. What is more painful is that even after getting out of the forest and having the independence he had nothing to show for it.”
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