administer the oath. Where was his army of supporters and witnesses? Was this
a lie? How did the wife die? The story was never fully interrogated. His words
were allowed to slowly dissipate in the room without follow-up or analysis of how
this may have impacted the accusations of the witnesses. The next accused,
Mwo provided his statement:
“I did not go to the Ukamba Reserve in January. I was all the time in Nairobi.
In the twelfth month of last year I was detained at the Screening Camp. I left
the Screening Camp at Nairobi on the 23rd December of last year. I was
given a letter to take to my department at the railway and to the Police at the
railway. At the railway police I was given another letter and took it to the
office in which I worked....While I was working a railway police askari came
and arrested me. I was locked up in the railway police station. The next day I
was fetched by a European from Nairobi West. From Nairobi West I was
taken to Machakos. All that time I was in remand and under arrest. I have
nothing else to say.”92
Did Mwo know the content of the letters? What was in them? There was no
documentation of the letters in the court related files. Why were the letters not
provided to the court? Who sent and received these letters? Why was Mwo kept
in the dark about the charges until arrested? It is even questionable whether or
not they really understood what was happening and the charges against them.
Did they have time to adequately prepare? And finally, the accused, Kandu,
provided his statement:
“On the tenth day in question I was working on my shamba. I went home and
stayed and later went to bed. The next day people came to call me for
communal work. I put on my clothes and went to communal work. I was told
not to work and was kept aside from the other people. Later my hands were
tied together. I did not know the cause for that. This is all I know.”93
92 Testimony of Philip Nthekani Mwo. Case file 127 notes, KNA MLA 1/1007-CC 127/1954. Rex vs.
Harun Waau Mutisya, Philip Nthekani Mwo, and Sounsza Kandu. P 16.
93 Testimony of Sounza Kandu. Case file 127 notes, KNA MLA 1/1007-CC 127/1954. Rex vs. Harun
Waau Mutisya, Philip Nthekani Mwo, and Sounsza Kandu. P 16-17.
145