The name is absent

The Oath Type

Mau Mau oathing was distinct from oaths prior to 1950 because it often
involved multiple oaths related to the movement. Object 2.5 represents the type
of Mau Mau oath taken. All participants underwent at a minimum the basic oath
called the first Mau Mau oath. The Mau Mau oath was a tailored oath of
resistance designed as an African response to colonial economic, social, and
political injustices. The oath was a blend of the past with the urgency of the
present; it encompassed truth, secrecy, and unity. The first oath was vital as it
was created “to guarantee the allegiance of its members...it demanded strict
secrecy as well as total commitment...”⁷ It was also referred to as the “muma wa
uigoano” or the oath of the secret movement because of the danger and violence
required to challenge British authority.⁸

The first Mau Mau Oath was primarily an oath of truth and an oath of
unity.⁹ The oath of truth was based on traditional oathing beliefs around the guilt
or innocence of involved parties. For example, in 1913, Charles Dundas wrote
on this traditional judicial process:

“Facing the Kithito, he [the oath taker] then says what he maintains to
be the truth; and as he speaks he taps the Kithito...[saying]”...if I tell a
lie let the Kithito eat me.”...if the man dies the decision is thereby
arrived at; if not, then nothing can be proved against him.”¹⁰

This thread of truth continued in the Mau Mau oath, especially the first
oath. It was an important dimension to the Mau Mau oathing ceremony that
⁷ Bamett and Njama. Маи Май from Within, 55.

⁸ Marshall Clough, Маи Май Memoirs, 97.

⁹ Interviews, P. Musuo, J.M Malei, D. M. Mulwa, Machakos District, January 2009. Also, Interview, S.S.
Maveke, December 2008

¹⁰ Dundas, “History of Kitui,” 511. In Glossary, note the different names for the “Kithitu.” Dundas referred
to it as the Kithito.

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