Mau Mau Insurgence. Strategic Assessment of Mau Mau - Research Paper Example

?Running Head: Mau Mau Insurgence Mau Mau Insurgence: A Reflective Paper goes here Professional Specialization of your Role of Strategic and Psychological Influence in Defeating Insurgence Historically, insurgencies are not sprung out of the blue. There is a complete buildup period during which it passes through various elementary stages. However, it might sound sudden to those who had not been watchful of public anger and frustration piling up and up. Mau Mau insurgence or Kenya emergency is formally known to begin in 1952, but the roots of this insurrection can easily be traced back in to the Kenyan history. Boulanger (2008) has point out the same fact and states, “The 1920s were years of growing resistance to colonial rule in Kenya. Kenyans were reacting to the oppressive nature of British rule, and especially to the confining boundaries that British officials had drawn for them in the political, economic, and social spheres.” The Kikuyu tribes had begun to surface their voice back in 1924 when Kikuyu Central Association (KCA) was formed to voice public anger politically. Later on, it was KCA that provided the foundations to Kenya Land Freedom Army (KLFA) or simply known to be LFA. The British settlers were blamed to exploit the powers conferred upon them through imperial rule and land acquisition of more than 43,000 square feet land from Kikuyu peasants. Forced nationalization of live stock and breach of women rights were among the major phenomenon which historically have contributed towards the formation of LFA. John Maina Kahihu from the Mau Mau's political wing said in a post independence interview, "In 1942 we had fought for the British. But when we came home from the war they gave us nothing." (Slaughter, 1999). In the backdrop of this political trust deficit insurrection and insurgence are supposed to be natural phenomenon. Moreover, the freedom of subcontinent states from British colonial rule through a long stretched political struggle in 1948 had already set a precedent for Kenyans. In 1950 Kikuyu tribes Led by Dedan Kimathi, had begun to formulate in the forests of Nairobi to start an armed resistance to British Colonial Empire. The assassination of Senior Chief Waruhui in October 1952 further deteriorated the political efforts for a peaceful solution. Governor declared the state of emergency in the country which gave unlimited powers to British authorities to detain the insurgents and put off the rebellion. The Mau Mau gang was predominately composed of Kikuyu tribesmen who were known for their brutality. To be a part of Mau Mau gang tribesmen had to take an oath to testify that they will endeavor for the ouster of British settlers and colonial rule. The gangs begin to enlarge in early second half of the 20th century. The oath was not considered a free choice by Mau Mau gangs rather they used severe atrocities against their own tribesman who refused to favour their version of British ouster. Mau Mau gangs run door to door campaigns to gather as much power as possible to launch a barbarous insurgency against the colonial rule. Such a movement, especially in a colonial state could not be tolerated long and even a strict British response to this insurgency was solicited by the Colonial Secretary and Governor. The British government planned and executed a successful counter insurgency strategy to tackle the Mau Mau. The major stakeholders of this Kenyan insurgence include the Kikuyu tribes, Dedan Kimathi, the leader of Mau Mau, other Kenyans who joined Mau Mau, the British Colonial authorities in Kenya, British settlers and British Home Office. Kikuyu tribes were gauged to be one fifth of the Kenyan population. They were the major contributor to this insurgence because they had suffered a lot in the past and had only fewer things to lose in case of a fresh bloodshed. Kikuyu tribes were the occupant of the most fertilized land in Kenya which was later on taken over by the British settlers. The president of Kenya African Union, Jomo Kenyatta tried to mollify the situation through his demands on major racial, economic, labor, and political issues. However, his suggestions in this area were not given a heedful consideration by the British settlers, Governor and Colonial Secretary. The British response to Mau Mau rebellion had begun to take shape, when Sir Evelyn Baring was appointed the new Governor of Kenya in 1952 and the British Government imposed emergency in Kenya on his advice. This was followed by several other bans on Kenyan people in general and Kikuyu tribes in particular to increase pressure on these tribes. Special, laws were passed by the Legislative Council to control the insurgency once forever. The British troops started to land on Kenya in this early phase of armed response to the insurgency. A key aspect of British response was the induction of the Pseudo Gang in the war against Mau Mau terrorists. Pseudo gangs were used as a deceptive tactics in which a gang of British soldiers disguised in tribal getup or the actual tribal with changed ‘Minds and Hearts’ would infiltrate into the Mau Mau and thereby get some intelligence or would maneuver the capture or killing of the insurgent group. The pseudo gang was supposed to be a term essentially consisting of few British disguised in tribal colors and a dominant number of actual tribesmen who were turned to lend support to British authorities. The Pseudo Gangs were design to infiltrate into Mau Mau groups through various warfare techniques like face make up to send British commandos in Mau Mau gangs to capture or kill the rebellions. The induction of Pseudo Gangs proved particularly effective in the gathering intelligence, which further assisted in controlling and eliminating insurgents. Later on, the strategy was further strengthened through formulation of Pseudo Gangs of local tribesmen who were loyal to British authorities. These indigenous Pseudo Gangs of tribesmen lend a very effective leverage to British colonial authorities in executing a historical and successful counter insurgency plan. These tribesmen were trained in various fighting arts by British forces to handle the situations to which they were exposed very often during the infiltration phase. Conclusion Although the use of pseudo gangs was not a brand new idea, yet it paid heavy dividends to British Authorities in effectively getting the job done. Counter insurgency is the most difficult form of fighting because it is a fight against indigenous but extremist elements. Therefore, it has to win the hearts and minds of people who are not insurgents and forces fighting against insurgence should not only give them the required protection but also the surety of insurgence defeat. Achieve this state of mind is not an easy psychological victory but pursuing an insurgent to change sides is perhaps the most difficult task to be accomplished. Turning an insurgent and then using it for counter insurgency is the heart and soul of pseudo gang philosophy. The other side of this tactical war is to make life difficult for the insurgents, if at all they manage to escape the counter insurgent assaults. Show of power is necessary element to get psychological superiority over the insurgents and all possible means are required to be employed to ensure this superiority. The pseudo gangs philosophy is an important tactical tool to encounter insurgency even today. It may take forms that might be useful for fighting modern insurgents but the theme remains the same that is to win heart and soul of population as much as you can and use this force of people against extremist and insurgent elements. The core to this idea remains the turning the sympathies of insurgents and to make them believe that they are on the wrong side of the war. In the process they might be persuaded to turn side and strengthen the counter insurgency in way or other. Role of media and information technology is of pivotal nature in this age. We have witnessed the changed role of media in Iraq war and fight against terror. However, still there is a lot of ground to cover before achieving true success in this domain. References Boulanger, Sara. (2008) A Puppet on a String: The Manipulation and Nationalization of the Female Body in the “Female Circumcision Crisis” of Colonial Kenya, Retrieved from http://appweb.cortland.edu/ojs/index.php/Wagadu/article/viewFile/355/673 Slaughter, Barbra. (1999) How Britain crushed the Mau Mau rebellion, Retrieved from http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/sep1999/mau-s15.shtml Mullar, AL., Seburn, Wilson., Don, Happe., & Gary, J. Humphrey. (2005). VMware ESX Server. Rockland, MA: Syngress Publishing Inc. Knowledge Base. (2011). Firewall functionality in vShield Zones 4.1 vs. vShield Zones 1.0 Update 1. Retrieved from http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1030739 VMware. (2010). What’s New in VMware vSphere ™ 4.1. Retrieved from http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/VMware-Whats-New-in-vSphere-41-ds-en.pdf Read More