Post by Mau Mau War Vets on Aug 28, 2005 15:49:31 GMT 3
MAU MAU WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION
Ardhi Kujitawala
P.O. Box 49866-00100
Tel: 0734-783788[/b]
Attention: News Editor
22 August 2005
CLEANSING CEREMONY AND PLANTING OF CROSSES IN REMEMBRANCE OF PATRIOTS HANGED AT THE
FORMER GITHUNGURI GALLOWS
Event Date: Sunday, August 28, 2005
Time: 1:00 pm
Venue: Githunguri Stadium, Githunguri Town
Departure Point: Nation Centre
Departure Time: 11:00 am
Transport: Available
Presiding Organization: Mau Mau War Veterans Association
Presiding Church: Independent Church
Partner Organizations: Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
Release Political Prisoners (RPP)
People against Torture (PAT)
Human Rights Network
As part of activities climaxing with the October 20 "Siku ya Mashujaa", the Mau Mau War Veterans Association has organized the above event at Githunguri.
The venue will be the 53-acre piece of land where Githunguri Teachers' College (and an independent church) once stood, where the late Jomo Kenyatta was the
institution's principal before arrest on October 20, 1953. Indeed, the house where Mzee Kenyatta lived and entertained Kabaka Mutesa of Uganda and other historical
figures is still very intact, though not preserved as a historical building.
The college land was bought by contributions of age groups from all over the Central Province. It was shutdown in 1952 when the British colonial government declared the State of Emergency. Shortly after, it was completely destroyed. A gallows was built on the site. An unknown number of patriots suspected of involvement in the liberation struggle were executed there. They were buried in mass graves at the site where the Red Nova Hotel and the National Housing Corporation estate stand in Kiambu town.
The ceremony will involve:
1.. Prayers for the souls of Kenyan patriots brutally tortured and killed by colonial forces;
2.. Placing of wreaths and planting of crosses with names of victims at the former gallows site
3.. Testimonies from Githunguri eyewitnesses on tribulations of patriots, both men and women
4.. Candle lighting
5.. Liberation songs and dances
6.. Declaring the place a site for a future national remembrance monument and
reconstruction of the college
7.. Speeches by Mau Mau veterans and other leaders
Signed by:
Kang'ethe Mungai for:
National Executive Committee of the Mau Mau Veterans Association
Contact: 0722-369509