The name is absent

the grave and desperate colonial situation in Kenya.⁴⁴ This particular form of oath
is the subject of this study. The oath will be analyzed from the perspective of the
oath model to understand the complex nature of the Mau Mau oathing
experience.

Conclusion

Oathing is a pervasive, dynamic, and continuous process. In this chapter
we have seen how oathing has been interpreted and examined along fixed
categories across time and geographical boundaries. Although their analysis
was indeed insightful, the complexity of oathing was suppressed. However, in
Kenya through the study of the Mau Mau oath, there is an opportunity to discern
oathing sophistication and development over time which is accomplished through
examining pre-colonial oathing. The oath during the Mau Mau revolution was
reconstituted and only limited by the mind and beliefs of those that engaged in
the activity. The oath was a product of both the past and the present. This
chapter has argued that although oathing is a widely known and used process,
scholars have minimized the oathing by failing to explore the inner structure and
meaning. Part of the problem is that up until this study, scholars have lacked the
approach and model for analyzing the complexity of the oath. With this, the next
chapter examines a model for examining the Mau Mau oath as an approach to
discussing this dynamic and involved process.

⁴⁴ The complex factors that led up to the Mau Mau movement have been the topic of many scholars and a
full treatment is beyond the scope of this dissertation. Recent accounts on the history include the works of
Caroline Elkins, Imperial Reckoning, and David Anderson, History of the Hanged. However, this study
will consider the relationship to African grievances in terms of the embedded meaning of the oathing
statements from the perspective of participants.

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