Koinange wa Mbiyu (1865–1960) was a Kikuyu chief.
Koinange played a stifling role in Kenya's fight for independence movement. He was a paramount chief who helped the Colonial powers to suppress Africans that were fighting for the independence. He made his home available for meetings and was involved in providing support for the Mau Mau. [1]
Although he never learnt to read or write, he was an articulate man, politically active and influential. He led his clan from 1905, and was appointed “headman” by the Colonial administration in 1921, and Senior Chief of Kiambu District in 1938. By 1942 he was Senior Chief without location. He was then to become an adviser on African affairs to the District Commissioner who once described him as “the evil genius of Kiambu”. [1]
He retired in February 1949 as Senior Chief but remained active retaining the role of African deputy vice-president of the Kiambu Local Native Council. However in 1952 he was detained by the colonial government for eight years, being released on July 1, 1960. by this time he was 95 years of age and was quite frail. He died 19 days later. [1]
He had six wives and 34 children including Mbiyu Koinange. [1]
The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the British authorities.
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Harry Thuku was a Kenyan politician, one of the pioneers in the development of modern African nationalism in Kenya. He helped found the Young Kikuyu Association and the East African Association before being arrested and exiled from 1922 to 1931. In 1932 he became President of the Kikuyu Central Association, in 1935 founded the Kikuyu Provincial Association, and in 1944 founded the Kenya African Study Union. Opposed to the Mau Mau movement, he later retired to coffee-farming.
Koinange can refer to:
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Peter Mbiyu Koinange was a politician from Kenya. He served in the government and cabinet of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, for 16 years. During this time, he held the post of member of parliament for the Kiambaa constituency and the portfolios of Minister of State for Education, External Affairs, Pan-African Affairs, as well as Minister of State in the Office of the President.
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