Kubu Kubu (or Kubukubu), born as Njagi wa Ikutha, was an Embu Mau Mau leader and general.^[1] His nom de guerre, Kubu Kubu, means "heavy thud" in Kîembu, referencing the thud his feet made due to his heavy build.

He was the de facto Mau Mau military leader in the Embu country, and an important leader nationally, alongside Dedan Kimathi, Musa Mwariama, and Waruhiu Itote.^[2]

Kubu Kubu was revered among the Embu for defending their territory from British rule, leading the community for more than ten years, and repulsing colonial settlers from the southern Kenyan highlands.

Early life

Njagi wa Ikutha was born sometime in the late 1920s in a heavily forested area in Mukuuri, close to the current site of the Kubu Kubu Memorial Boarding Primary School, Embu County. Like many families from the colonial-era Mukuuri Native Reserve, Njagi's family later settled in the Kianjokoma area after independence.

Mau Mau revolt

During his time as Embu's independence war leader in the 1950s, General Kubu Kubu operated from Kirimiri Forest Hill, in Mũkũũrî sub-location. He spent days in the caves and nights leading attacks on colonial outposts. The heavily forested hill has an elevation of 1520 meters above sea level. In the case of an attack by the colonialists, fighters could light a fire and smoke would be seen billowing on top of the hill to act as a warning that the enemy was nearby.

He successfully raided colonial outposts in Embu and collected guns distributed to the fighters.

During his reign, Kubu Kubu allowed many old schools, including Kangaru, Kigari, and Muragari, to operate as the war was fought.

Around 1955, a breakaway group of Kikuyu and Meru Mau Mau fighters betrayed their Embu counterparts and stole many of their guns. The Embu fighters were forced to use the few remaining guns, pangas, and other crude weapons. In his book, "Mau Mau" General (East African Publishing House), General Itote writes how Kubu Kubu ruled that traitors must be dealt with ruthlessly. Kubu Kubu told Kimathi, Itote, and other key leaders that not even women and children would be spared, if they were found to be colonial collaborators. At this point, a trap was then set to arrest the general.

Capture and Murder

A colonial informer offered to assist the Embu fighters in getting pangas and other weapons. Kubu Kubu, as the leader, led a team to pick up the weapons at a place called Itundu near Runyenjes town, where the colonial soldiers shot him in the leg and arrested him.

He was frog-marched through Mukuuri and Kathande villages where all women were ordered to collect firewood, which would be used to burn him. His captors lynched him near Muragari Primary School in Mukuuri.

Colonialists made a huge pyre and set his body on fire, against Embu customs. They forced the women and children to watch the body go up in flames. They also humiliated women by forcing them to clap as their body turned into ashes.

After his death, Kavote took over as general. At the time, Kavote was one of the youngest fighters within the Mau Mau. He died in 2015.

Legacy

In 1987, former Embu North Constituency (later split into Runyenjes and Manyatta) legislator Stanley Nyagah built a modern boarding primary school in Kubu Kubu's memory where his body was burnt in 1955.

A street and a shopping centre in Embu Town has also been named after him. A road in Nyeri Town has also been named after Kubu Kubu. The main street in Runyenjes Town is also named after him, as well as the Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge, a luxury camp in the heart of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

Itote widely mentions Kubu Kubu in his 1967 autobiography, "Mau Mau" General (East African Publishing House).

References