In the long and bitter fight against British colonialism in Kenya, the name General China stands out as both a symbol of rebellion and a figure of deep controversy. Born Waruhiu Itote in 1922 in Kaheti village, Nyeri District, he would rise to become one of the most prominent leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960), a brutal guerrilla war that sought to reclaim land and freedom for the Kikuyu and other indigenous communities dispossessed by British rule.
Waruhiu Itote’s early years were shaped by hardship and strict discipline. After a limited education at a Church of Scotland mission school, he fled home to escape his father’s beatings and sought refuge in Nairobi. Like many young Africans under colonial rule, he looked to the military for opportunities and enlisted in the British Army’s King’s African Rifles in 1942, serving in Asia during World War II. He fought in Ceylon and the brutal Burma Campaign, where he rose to the rank of corporal.
After the war, however, he returned home to find that white soldiers were being rewarded for their service while Africans like him were ignored and forgotten. This ill treatment planted the seeds of rebellion in his heart. By 1946, he had joined the Kenya African Union, and later, a radical urban gang known as the Forty Group, which was composed largely of unhappy ex-soldiers.
In 1950, Waruhiu Itote swore the Mau Mau oath, fully committing himself to the cause of liberating his region from the clutches of British rule. He quickly became a key figure in the movement, responsible not only for administering oaths but also for executing traitors. When the colonial government began cracking down on Mau Mau sympathizers in 1952, Itote retreated to the forests of Mount Kenya, where he began organizing attacks against white settler farms and natives who collaborated with the British.
His leadership and operational skills earned him the nickname “General China.” He led daring operations and was feared by the colonial establishment. But this phase of his life came to an end on January 15, 1954, when he was captured during a failed raid on a police post in Mathira. Shot in the neck and arrested, he became the first senior Mau Mau leader to fall into British hands.
Waruhiu Itote was charged with consorting with armed individuals and possessing ammunition, crimes that carried the death penalty under colonial law. Represented by prominent Asian lawyer A.R. Kapila, he was sentenced to hang.
However, his story took a dramatic turn. British intelligence officer Ian Henderson, the man most credited with dismantling the Mau Mau, offered him a lifeline: cooperate with the british colonial government and help bring the insurgency to an end, and his life would be spared.
Itote accepted the offer. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he began working with the British to negotiate an end to the conflict, particularly through what became known as Operation Anvil. His cooperation helped hasten the collapse of Mau Mau resistance, and for this reason, his legacy remains deeply controversial.
To many Kenyans, especially Mau Mau veterans and their families, General China was a traitor, a man who chose self-preservation over martyrdom. To others, he was a realist who sought to prevent further bloodshed and used his survival to contribute to Kenya’s post-independence future.
Following his cooperation, Itote was held in detention at Lokitaung, where he shared a cell with none other than Jomo Kenyatta, the future president of Kenya. There, Itote learned to speak and write English, and even saved Kenyatta’s life when a fellow inmate attempted to assassinate him.
He remained in detention until 1962 and was later embraced by Kenyatta’s new government after independence. He received military training in Israel and served as Assistant Director of the National Youth Service, a position he held until 1984. His commitment to youth development and national service helped reshape his public image.
In 1967, he published his autobiography, Mau Mau General, followed by Mau Mau in Action in 1979, important works that document his journey from a humble rural upbringing to becoming a key figure in the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonial rule in Kenya, and how he narrowly escaped execution by cooperating with the very regime he had once fought to overthrow.
General China passed away in 1993 at the age of 71, after suffering a stroke. At the time, he was living quietly on a farm near Ol Kalou. His life was anything but quiet, though it was a complicated journey filled with courage, controversy, survival, and a lifelong commitment to his country. To some, he was a hero; to others, a traitor. But no one can deny that Waruhiu Itote, better known as General China, left a lasting mark on Kenya’s history.
Sources:
https://antiquarianauctions.com/lots/hemingway-s-own-jungle-story-and-the-trial-of-mau-mau-general-china-2
https://archive.org/details/maumaugeneral0000unse
