the traditional oath in 1944 allowing for the oathing of women and children. This
is referred to as “oath of unity.”38 The relationship between the oaths in
Olenguruone and Mau Mau are firmly stated in Throup’s comment, “This oath of
unity, a development from the KCA oath, was the foundation of the early Mau
Mau oaths."39 Outside of this oath origination, Throup offers little more on the
topic of the Mau Mau oath.
Similarly, in her study, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, Tabitha
Kanogo addresses the Olenguruone origin of the Mau Mau oath. The book
explores tensions between Europeans and Kikuyu showing how the grievances
of squatters strengthen the rise of Mau Mau. Kanogo traces the application of
the revived oath back to 1943 a year earlier than Throup’s account.40 Although
this work does not go into great detail on oathing, it does explain how it was used
as a unifier to resist colonial injustice. Kanogo’s perspective is that the Mau Mau
oath was a grassroots effort with the oath serving as a source of unification.41
Unlike Kanogo, Frank Furedi, in The Mau Mau War in Perspective,
attributes the evolution of Mau Mau from the activities of the squatter elite and
traders. Furedi also departs from Kanogo and Throup on the radicalization of the
traditional Kikuyu oaths to form the Mau Mau oath.42 Furedi reveals most about
the Mau Mau oath literature in the following statement:
“The colonial administration can be excused [of] its obsession with rituals and
oaths, but serious scholars should be expected to look beyond surface
appearances and examine the forces beneath. The rituals and oaths used by
the movement had similarities with past customs. This is only to be expected;
38 Throup “Origins of Mau Mau”: 399-433.
39 Throup “Origins of Mau Mau”: 415.
40 Tabitha Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1987), 116-117.
41 Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 130.
42FrankFuredi, TheMauMau War in Perspective (Athens: OhioUniversityPress, 1989), 140-141.
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