Freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi’s grandson created a stir in June 2014 after chaining himself to his grandfather’s statue along Kimathi Street, Nairobi,
Now Dedan Kamathi Jnr says he plans to do it again. He is demanding Kimathi’s gravesite be identified and honoured. He wants the same sum spent to build the statue to be given to surviving Mau Mau fighters.
Kimathi was executed in February 1957; the site of the grave has not been identified
“I am glad I did it, though I’m not satisfied,” he said in an interview with two reporters on Monday. He said he might chain himself again “at any time”.
Kimathi Jnr spoke out at Ol Kalou on Tuesday, four and a half years after the incident. He refused to climb down until his grandmother, Mukami Kimathi, traveled all the way from Njabini to coax him down.
Kenya celebrates Jamhuri Day today to mark 54 years of independence.
The son of the third daughter of Kimathi disclosed that he acted to appease e spirits that tormented his soul.
He said the government erected the statue worth millions while the Mau Mau heroes across the country continue to wallow in poverty. He said the family should have been given the millions to better their lives.
“I felt like I am in prison given that the body of my grandfather, lies somewhere in Kamiti Maximum Prison grounds, still in chains. It bothers me greatly,” he said
The father of three left his Njabini home at crack of dawn and arrived in Nairobi at 6am. The statue was too high to climb.
He took a walk as he pondered his next move. He he ran into a friend and former fellow worker from Stima Sacco where he was a driver. Kimathi Jnr lied that he had gone to dust his grandfather’s statue.
The friend agreed to let him climb on his shoulders to reach the statue and remove some ribbons tied to it.
Once at the top, he removed a chain he had hidden in his jacket and chained himself, telling his shocked friend that he had reached his destination. His friend fled, not realising the plot.
Many people including security agencies and firefighters gathered at the scene urging him to climb down but he declined even to speak.
“A senior police officer even gave me Sh5,000 but I told him I did not need money. They asked me if they could call Mike Sonko or Raila Odinga to talk to me but I said only my grandmother, Mukami Kimathi could persuade me,” he said
Mukami Kimathi arrived at the scene at 5pm accompanied by family members and persuaded him to climb down. He did not speak to anyone or disclose his demands.
“There were also serious looking strangers wearing suits who warned me not to speak to anyone including the media. I have never done it to date,” he said.
His grandfather and others died fighting for freedom and land. He says the war veterans and their descendants do not have land. He added that instead of plunging into the Sasumua dam or taking poison when tormented, he finds peace in such missions.
Kimathi Junior wants Mau Mau heroes and their descendants to live in dignity, like the children of political leaders.
This was not the first incident. A year earlier, in June 2013, Kimathi Junior had gone missing in the Abedare ranges for six days. He had gone with friends whom he had told they were to meet European friends who wanted to go mountain climbing. The two motorbike operators were to be paid Sh2000 each for their services as guides.
“I kept lying to them the friends were on the moorland but when we got at the top I gave them Sh3,000 and told them I had arrived where I was going and they could leave,” he said. His friends informed his family and a search by villagers and wildlife rangers was launched. Kimathi said such missions are the only alternative to taking his life.
For his troubled spirit to settle, Kimathi says the government should find the body of his grandfather and give him a decent burial without chains as this would symbolise total liberation. “Even my grandmother will be happy and bless this country.”
Has has built his house in a quarter of an acre donated by his grandmother at Njabini. Former Nyandarua governor Daniel Waithaka employed him as a driver. Today he is a casual labourer.
Every three months, he said, he must apply for his contract to be renewed.