“Mau Mau”—to Little Rock

Abstract

From time to time, the U.S. consul in Nairobi left the charms of this inland metropolis and traveled to the countryside. Thus it was that in the late Summer of 1949 he was visiting Marsabit, about 560 kilometers from Nairobi. There he encountered an African by the name of “Masindi,” who—said Edward Groth—“headed a group of radical Africans with strong anti-European inclinations, which because of the activities of its members had to be abolished.” Arson was their specialty, which was conducted “under a religious guise.” When he met the leader of this apparent precursor to “Mau Mau,” Masindi “wanted to know whether I was an Englishman or an American and when he learned that I was the latter he smiled broadly and said, ‘the Americans are great people.’ He kept repeating this...”