Ekeomah Atuonwu
Just as the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 70th Platinum jubilee on the throne, a woman identified as Muthoni has demanded compensation from Queen Elizabeth for the torture she and her husband went through in the hands of British troops when they were in the Maumau fighting for independence.
She painfully narrated that in 1952, the troops stormed her house searching for her husband who was a firm member of the Maumau rebel group that was in the forest fighting the British troops.
The Mau Mau were the militant wing of a growing clamour for political representation and freedom in Kenya. The first attempt to form a countrywide political party began on 1 October 1944. This fledgling organisation was called the Kenya African Study Union.
They tortured her leaving her with marks on the hands. The marks are visible up to date. Her leg on the other hand was cut twice using an axe. Due to the torture, she fled to the forest where her husband nursed the wounds. Sadly, that was the last time she saw him as he ended up losing his life to the troops while fighting for independence.
“He nursed my wounds, even the ones on my legs. If you take a look at this leg, you can see it had been cut using an axe twice,” she explained while displaying the marks.
Muthoni firmly stated that the queen should bring what belongs to her without using middlemen to reach her since she is the ruler.
The octogenarian becomes the latest addition to Kenyans seeking compensation from the British government over injustices during the colonial rule. On May 4, lawyer Joel Kimutai Bosek wrote to Prince William asking for compensation for land grabbed from Kenyans.
Bosek asked the Duke of Cambridge to facilitate the compensation of the victims, whom he claimed were violently evicted from their homes to pave way for the establishment of tea plantations by the white settlers.
The Duke of Cambridge has not yet responded directly to the petition.
