Mau Mau descendants want roads named after war heroes
A painting depicting the Mau Mau freedom struggle. Now the grandchildren of the freedom fighters want major roads in Kenya to named after the war heroes. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- They want the Nairobi-Nakuru highway named Kimathi Highway.
- They want the Aberdere Ranges renamed Kimathi Ranges and Mount Kenya to be turned into a shrine.
- They also launched the Freedom Walk where they intend to walk to more than 30 nations in Africa carrying a Peace Torch.
Some of the grandchildren of Mau Mau freedom fighters now want the government to rename major roads after the war heroes.
Among the roads they want renamed is the Nakuru-Nairobi highway which they say should be called Kimathi Highway after freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi.
In a petition to the president, the more than 70 grandchildren appealed to the government to consider renaming the Aberdere Ranges to Kimathi Ranges and Mount Kenya to be turned into a shrine.
Led by their chairman Michael Kingori, they also demanded various flyovers including the Njabini-Fly-Over road to be named Mukami
Kimathi Road.
This, they argued, was the best way to honour the freedom fighters.
“Among the roads we want renamed is the Nyeri–Nyahururu road in honour of Ndung’u Gicheru, and Thika Road to be named King’oru Mbogo road,” he added.
They were speaking to the press in Naivasha where they claimed that roads in the country were now being named after strangers instead of
the deserving people.
KILLING HISTORY
“We are slowly killing our country’s history. Naming of roads and erecting statues of honour is the only way we can remember the great
freedom fighters of the country,” he added.
Dedan Kimathi Waceke, grandson of freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi, claimed that not enough was being done to honour the heroes.
“It’s unfortunate that the people that are in this generation do not realise how painful a price it was to pay. They take it for granted,” he added.
The young Kimathi recently caused a stir when he chained himself to the late freedom fighter's statue situated on Kimathi Street in Nairobi.
FREEDOM WALK
They also launched the Freedom Walk where they intend to walk to more than 30 nations in Africa carrying a Peace Torch.
“We are holding the walk that will interlink us with other nations who were inspired by Mau Mau to fight for independence. Our walk shall be
in major African countries including Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
We also want the government to gazette August 12 as Freedom Day in honour of the remaining heroes,” said Kimathi.
Kimathi also spearheaded a campaign to collect one million signatures to establish a legal committee that will foresee the acknowledgment of
the heroes by the UN Charter for Human Rights.
Kimathi added that they also intended to establish a university in Kinangop which will be called the Mau Mau University.
“We have already secured a piece of land in the area and we are appealing to well-wishers to come and help us establish the institution,” he added.
