Stanley Mathenge wa Mirugi (born c. 1919 in
Mahiga,
Nyeri District
Nyeri County is a county located in the central region of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Nyeri. It has a population of 759,164 and an area of 2361 km2. It is currently under the leadership of H.E. Governor Mutahi Kahiga. Other gove ...
) was a
Mau Mau military leader.
Background
Before the Mau Mau freedom struggle, he had fought in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. Later he became the leader of the
Forty Group
The Forty Group was a Kenyan society or organisation of the mid-twentieth century constituted primarily of members of the Kenya African Union who joined with the aim of using violence to make their voice heard. The name is a translation of the Gĩ ...
, an organisation supporting the
Kenya African Union
The Kenya African Union (KAU) was a political organization devoted to achieving independence for British Kenya. In 1960 it became the current Kenya African National Union (KANU).
Formation
The Kenya African Union was founded in 1944 under the nam ...
(KAU). He also founded the ''Kenya Riigi'', a group of courageous fighters. Mathenge believed in traditional
Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language.
It may also refer to:
* Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya
*Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people
*Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cent ...
religion.
[Marshall S. Clough]
Mau Mau memoirs: history, memory, and politics
Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998. In May 1953 he became the leader of the newly formed Mau Mau military unit ''Nyeri District Council and Army''. His rivalry with field marshal
Dedan Kimathi
Dedan Kimathi Waciuri (31 October 1920 – 18 February 1957), born ''Kimathi wa Waciuri'' in what was then British Kenya, was the senior military and spiritual leader of the Mau Mau Uprising. Widely regarded as a revolutionary leader, he led th ...
harmed integrity of the Mau Mau movement.
Disappearance
He disappeared in 1955 and was later reported to be allegedly living in
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. Mathenge left with his battalion to Ethiopia where he is said to have died in 2016.
His wife Muthoni is still alive and resides in
Mweiga, Nyeri.
One prevailing conspiracy theory is that he was killed in his power rivalry with Kimathi, who then made up the story that Mathenge had gone to Ethiopia to seek assistance from
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
.
Later events
On May 30, 2003 a man believed to be Stanley Mathenge, living in Ethiopia, was invited to Kenya by president
Mwai Kibaki and was given a hero's welcome by the state. It was soon revealed that the man was Ato Lemma Ayanu, who himself denied being Mathenge. A
DNA test published four years later proved he was not Mathenge.
[Daily Nation, October 18, 2007]
Ayanu Fake, DNA Shows
/ref>
See also
* List of people who disappeared
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathenge, Stanley
1910s births
1950s missing person cases
Kenyan rebels
Missing people
People from Nyeri County
People of the Mau Mau Uprising