Stanley Mathenge wa Mirugi (born c. 1919; disappeared 1955) was a Kenyan military leader during the
Mau Mau rebellion
The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt, or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the ...
.
Background
He was born in
Mahiga, Nyeri District.
Before the
Mau Mau rebellion
The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt, or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the ...
, he had fought in
Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
. Later he became the leader of the
Forty Group, an organisation supporting the
Kenya African Union (KAU). He also founded the ''Kenya Riigi'', a group of courageous fighters. Mathenge believed in traditional
Kikuyu 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 harmed integrity of the Mau Mau movement.
Disappearance
He disappeared in 1955 and was later reported to be allegedly living in
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. Mathenge left with his battalion to Ethiopia where he is said to have died in 2016.
His brother, Joseph Kiiru Mirugi, died in 2009 in Mahiga, Othaya and his wife, Muthoni wa Mathenge, 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 (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...
.
Later events
On May 30, 2003 a man believed to be Stanley Mathenge, living in Ethiopia, was invited to Kenya by president
Mwai Kibaki
Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013.
He served in various leadership positions in Kenya's government including ...
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
Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
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 rebellion