Overview

History is written by the victors of any war. But what happens when the victors forget to write down their history or omit the cog of the struggle? This is the untold story of Mathare Slum that has never been told to the world: of the role it played in anti-colonial struggle and the planning ground for the Mau Mau struggle which culminated with the fall of the British Colonial Empire in Kenya in the midnight of December 12th 1963. Mathare has also played a critical role in anti-oppression struggle against the four regimes that we've had since independence and continues to do so up to date. This history has not been documented and has only been done piecemeal. This has overtime eroded the rich history of Mathare and led to a distorted history of once a planning ground and a bulwark of Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KFLA). The current generation are not cognizant with the critical role Mathare played in the independence of our country. Presently, Mathare is majorly known for all the negative reasons and its proximity to Mathari Mental Hospital has contorted its image to the outside world. My story tries to re-tell the history of Mathare from an informed insider perspective by threading the struggles from the colonial era to the present day and the role it has played in agitating for social justice. My story brings to view the past history of this informal settlement in the heart of Nairobi, the present struggle and the promising future through community organising.

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9781990263422

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Samuel Gathanga Ndung'u is a biotechnologist, a human rights defender (HRD), researcher and a community organizer with Ruaraka Social Justice Centre (RSJC) in Ruaraka Nairobi. RSJC is part of the larger Social Justice Centre Working Group (SJCWG) which is a grass movement with over 60 social justice centres in the country. Doubles up as the head for Ecological Justice Pillar, Research and Political Education at the centre level. He's a Pan-Africanist and a socialist with a lot of passion in African History, political education, ecological justice and issues of food security and sovereignty. He is also a member of Kenya Organic Intellectuals, Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) and Route To Food Alliance (RFTA).

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