Nationality Kenyan Name Musa Mwariama Children 9 | Occupation Freedom Fighter Died 1989, Eastern Province | |
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Full Name Musa M’Kirigwa Muchiri Resting place Kiambogo Village, Timau Known for Field marshal during the Mau Mau uprising Similar People Waruhiu Itote, Dedan Kimathi, George Erskine | ||
HISTORY LANE: Field Marshal Musa Mwariama With Founding Father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta
Field Marshal Musa Mwariama (1928–1989) was a leader of the Mau Mau in Meru and the highest-ranking Mau Mau who survived the war in the forests and jungles of Central Kenya from its inception to independence without being killed or captured. Together with Dedan Kimathi and Waruhiu Itote (General China) they comprised the core Mau Mau leadership.
Contents
- HISTORY LANE Field Marshal Musa Mwariama With Founding Father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta
- Early life
- Death
- References
By the time he left his bases in Mount Kenya and Nyambene Hills on the equator, he had about 2,000 fighters who had survived Operation Anvil in Kenya. He was decorated with the national Order of Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS) after independence. The most famous photograph of him is with President Jomo Kenyatta on attainment of Uhuru (independence) in 1963, and most of the postwar Mau Mau video clips show him inspecting a Mau Mau guard of honour or with President Jomo Kenyatta.
Early life
M'Kiribua M'Muchiri also known as Mbaringu also known as Muthigari Mugathe also known as Nkumbuku also known as Musa Mwariama also known as Field Marshall Mwariama was born in 1928 at Muthara in Tigania division of Meru District. According to Ameru tradition, his parents who had migrated from Nkuene in South Imenti, gave him the name Baringo. He had an older brother called Romano Ntabathia though from a different mother. Their father, M'Muchiri was a soothsayer and strict traditionalist.
Death
Musa Mwariama died in 1989 at Ukambani after he sucked the leg of a friend who had been bit by a poisonous snake. He was buried at his 15-acre farm in Kiambogo Village, in Timau, North Imenti Constituency, Meru County.