Original Research

Religion, politics and war: Recollections on General Ndaya and Kenya’s quest for independence

Julius M. Gathogo
Theologia Viatorum | Vol 48, No 1 | a266 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/tv.v48i1.266 | © 2024 Julius M. Gathogo | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 11 July 2024 | Published: 29 October 2024

About the author(s)

Julius M. Gathogo, Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; and, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Kenyatta University, Mombasa, Kenya; and, Faculty of Theology, ANCCI University, Texas, United States of America

Abstract

The mosaic law of advocating the paying of life with life, and an “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, [and] stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21:23-25), came out clearly on 15th and 16th October 1953, as the politics of land and freedom [wiyathi na ithaka] in the colonial Kenya brought their ugly faces through a deadly violence. While the 15th October saw the Mau Mau rebels attack and kill two Roman Catholic Sisters (Cecilia Wangeci and Rosetta Njeri) at the Baricho Centre, the 16th October 1953 saw the capture of the rebel’s leader (Wanjagi wa Ndegwa, also known as General Ndaya) and his subsequent killing. In trying to understand the interface between religion, politics, and war in the African context, the research article has sampled the twin issues (the battle of River Ragati and the attacks on the Baricho Catholic Church of 1953)to alert the post-colonial Africa on the dangers of conflict among the trio.

Contribution: This research article contributes to the broad scope of Theologia Viatorum journal via a multidisciplinary perspective that interfaces religion, politics, and war. It utilises a theo-historical design, and oral history techniques, such as storytelling, archival sources, personal communications with selected individuals, and through an extensive review of relevant literature.


Keywords

Battle of River Ragati; Kenya’s war of independence; land and freedom; religion and politics; war

Sustainable Development Goal

Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

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