1. Mau-Mau was an uprising in Kenya against the British. Mau- Mau was an abbreviation for “Muzungu Arudi Ulaya, Mwafrika Apate Uhuru” which was translated to mean “Let the whites go back to England so that the Africans (Kenyans) get freedom”. 2. Mau-Mau was formed by the ex-soldiers of World War II in 1946 to fight Europeans. The causes were: 3. The rise of ex-service men from World War II who were determined. They inspired or encouraged people to join. 4. The rise of nationalism in Kenya after 1940’s greatly caused the Mau-Mau. 18 | P a g e 5. Need to gain independence from the British by the Kenyans, that is to say the Kenyans were not happy to be under foreign rule. 6. The British practiced racial segregation in which they looked at blacks as inferior in their own country which was greatly annoying. 7. Need to regain land forced the natives in Kenya to fight in the Mau-Mau rebellion, that is to say a lot of African fertile land had been taken away by the British and in an effort to recover the land, the Mau-Mau had to be fought. 8. Overtaxation where the British imposed very high taxes onto the Kenyan people which annoyed them because the taxes left the people completely poor. 9. Forced labour by which Kenyans were made to forcefully provide labour on European plantations. 10. The return of Jomo Kenyatta and his determination to fight British dominance in Kenya Jomo Kenyatta was highly vocal and he encouraged people to organize the Mau-Mau rebellion. 11. Denying of Africans their freedom especially by putting them into reserves that were too crowded. This left them with no option but to fight the British. 12. Africans needed to grow cash crops yet the British restricted the growing of cash crops among the Africans. This caused war hysteria or madness among the Africans in Kenya. 13. Africans were not given full opportunities in Education and yet they needed to be educated to complete with other races like Asians, Europeans in job opportunity. 14. The forceful introduction of identity card called the “Kipande system”. This limited the movement of Kenyans within their home land and was too unfair. 15. There was an increased unemployment among the Africans that plunged them into total poverty. 16. Disrespect of African cultures by the whites in Kenya greatly annoyed the Kenyans. Even the African cultural leaders were not fully respected by the British which was highly annoying to the Africans.
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