18 January 1953 – Death Penalty for Mau Mau Oath

On this day in 1953 the Governor-General of Kenya, Sir Evelyn Baring, imposed the death penalty for anyone who administered the Mau Mau oath. The Mau Mau were a militant African nationalist movement active in Kenya during the 1950s whose main aim was to remove British rule and European settlers from the country. The oath was often forced upon Kikuyu tribesmen at the point of a knife, and calls for the individual's death if he fails to kill a European farmer when ordered. It would be another 11 years before independence was achieved. Find out more in the Mau Mau Rebellion Timeline...