Senators begin push for compensation of Muindi Mbingu descendants from British Gov’t

The Senate Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights (JLAC) has begun a push to have the British government compensate colonial hero Muindi Mbingu over historical injustices meted out to his descendants.

The family of Mbingu is demanding for compensation of 80,960 cattle that they claim were taken forcefully by the colonialists.

JLAC visited and listened to the horrific experiences that the victims of the Akamba community were subjected to by the colonial rulers in 1938. The meeting was held at Ngelani chief's camp in Machakos.

The committee, which is chaired by Bomet Senator Hillary Sigei, empathized with the inhumane torture the community's founding fathers had to bear.

The community claims the British soldiers killed their cattle, with the healthy ones forcefully taken away. They reportedly then beat up men before castrating them, something that led to the loss of a certain generation.

Senator Sigei said they will get a report from the Attorney General on those who lost their properties to colonialists, adding that there should be a law in place to see how such people will be compensated from 1938, including asking the government of Kenya to push for justice.

Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu promised not to leave any stone unturned as she called on President William Ruto and Britain’s King Charles III to see how the injustices done to the community - including some people being detained without trial, suffering economic crimes and their cows and land being taken – can be made right.

She said that some of the pregnant women were forced to lie down and before being stepped on from their backs, while others were also raped openly in front of their husbands, exposing them to psychological suffering.

Lukas Kituku Mutuma, the chair of the community comprising close to 800 members, revealed how governors in the colonial era allowed such brutalities to be meted upon the families, especially when they went to Kariokor in Nairobi to demand their cattle.

Machakos MP Caleb Mule chimed in to note that some children were left orphans and never went to school after their fathers were imprisoned, adding that many who were released came back to find their properties taken.

One of the victims, Agnes Wanza Kimeu, narrated how her father and grandfather were humiliated and killed.

The Senators now want the community to get psychological support, further demanding that King Charles III – who just concluded his Kenya visit - should offer an apology on behalf of the British government.

They presented the petition in the Senate seeking the victims’ compensation and said that listening to the experiences will help them table a comprehensive report.

Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah took issue with former regimes that should have sorted these problems saying the rights of everybody should be respected.

Omtatah compared the community with the Empakasi community of Kajiado County which is still pushing to get their colonial land that they were evicted from in Kitengela.