My father was deployed to fight in World War II (WWII) for the colonial British – he was a newlywed with one son at the time. Fortunately, he survived the war and returned home a born-again Christian. He joined the Anglican Church and firmly believed that indulging in alcoholic drinks was a sin. He reunited with his family, and he fathered three more kids, one girl, and two boys. I was the second born son – born in 1948, followed by my sister, and my third-born brother. My father cherished me as his son, and always told me: “You are my strength and the fresh seed I brought home from war.” When I grew up I got the meaning of my father’s saying.
Not too long after, the Mau Mau war, the fight for independence in Kenya, broke out. My father did not come home from place of work from the work regularly as used to from the city of Nairobi. My mother said to us, children, my father picked from work in Nairobi and detained. We were very young at the time. We could not recognize him after seven years away from home. The detention ended and all detainees released. My mother took us to the chief’s camp or headquarter to identify her husband, my father, she had to pick him out from a long line of other detainees. She reintroduced him to us, and we believed that our mother knew her husband and would not mistakenly identify him. After the second reunion, he fathered two more sons, and our family grew to include one daughter and five sons.
A state of emergency declared during the war, and a curfew implemented to limit citizens’ movements in the country for security purposed. If a need to travel occurred, a pass issued, and on the other end, the host had a pass to keep the visitor in the home. War increased, and for the security purposes, all the people relocated to from clan land to Gitumbi village, which was built by the government. The people crammed into a single house, and two families forced to share a single home.
Later on, a new village, Kiawakara village –established, and some people relocated there. War ended, and the forced village life ended. The people returned to their farms; my family did not have house and land to return. The house burnt for safety and clan land shared among my father’s brothers and each had acquired a title deed for his piece of land. My father detained, missed his share. The colonial government established and demarcated the clan land and gave some family members land and left out others.