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Bildad Mwaganu Kaggia (1921 – 7 March 2005) was a Kenyan nationalist, activist, and politician. Kaggia was a member of the Mau Mau Central Committee. After independence he became a Member of Parliament. He established himself as a militant, fiery nationalist who wanted to serve the poor and landless people. Because of this he fell out irreconcilably with
Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigenous ...
.


Early life

Kaggia was born in 1921, at
Dagoretti Dagoretti is an area in the western part of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. It straddles the Nairobi and Kiambu County boundary with the Dagoretti Road Reserve marking the psychological border point heading Northerly and North-Easterly. Administrativ ...
, now part of
Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
, where his father had moved from his home district of
Muranga District Murang'a County is one of the counties of Kenya's former Central Province. Its largest town and capital is Murang'a, formerly referred to as Fort Hall during the colonial era. It is inhabited mainly by and is considered the home of the Giku ...
. Two years later his father moved back to Murang’a. Kaggia schooled at Santamor Estate and later at the Church Missionary Society School at Kahuhia. Kaggia did very well at the exams and was selected for the famous Alliance High School. Unfortunately, his father was not able to raise the school fee and Kaggia had to take up a clerical job at the District Commissioners' Office at Murang’a. When the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
broke out, Kaggia was moved to the military recruiting office. Despite hating war, Kaggia decided to join the army to seize the opportunity to travel to south-west Asia. When the
War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
decided to create a unit in Britain to rehabilitate captured African soldiers, Kaggia applied and got the post of company quarter-sergeant, the first African to get this post. Most of the work in the army was routine and boring. During the years in the army Kaggia engaged in many correspondence courses (journalism, trade unionism and political science) which later would serve him well during his political career. His experiences in the army made him aware of the evils from racial discrimination and colonialism. In his opinion the foreign religions in Kenya were a stepping stone to colonialism and his people had to be liberated from this as well.


Kaggia’s religion (Dini ya Kaggia)

Back in Kenya (1946) Kaggia denounced the church in the church. His objective was to create a purely African movement, divorced from European denominations and entirely independent of the European Church's doctrine. The new doctrine should include African customs and traditions. Kaggia had large followings in Central Province. This alarmed the church and their leaders asked the government for help. Subsequently, many times Kaggia and his followers were arrested and imprisoned for holding illegal meetings. Nevertheless, Kaggia's doctrine spread and he had followers from all denominations and his religion was spreading into other provinces, ultimately even reaching Nyanza. Kaggia was opposed to giving the movement a name, but, the people started calling it Andu a Kaggia (Kaggia's people). Later this became Dini ya Kaggia (Kaggia's religion). Kaggia saw that indeed his religion was liberating the minds of people. They were no longer humble, European-fearing people; now they had the courage to attack the mzungu government. Consequently, Kaggia decided to leave the religious work to others and shifted his attention from spiritual liberation to political liberation.


The Young Radical

When Kenyatta was elected chairman of KAU in 1947 Kaggia joined KAU hoping that it would become more militant. However, at national level KAU was barely functioning and Kaggia shifted his interest to the trade unions. He admired the fire and militancy of leaders like Kubai en Makhan Singh. Kaggia founded the Clerks and Commercial Workers Union and in 1948 he became its chairman. This union became a member of the general union, the Labour Trade Union of East Africa. In 1950 Kaggia became president of Labour Trade Union of East Africa. The trade unions had much support in Nairobi and they took over the KAU branch Nairobi in 1951. Kaggia was elected its general secretary. Later the trade unions tried to take over the national leadership of KAU but this failed when the president of KAU, Jomo Kenyatta, changed the election procedure at the last moment. This almost resulted in a split of KAU, but the 'militants' decided to remain in KAU for the sake of unity. Kaggia started vernacular newspapers like Inoora ria Gikuyu and later Afrika Mpya to report KAU activities. These and other vernacular newspapers were instrumental in spreading the message of the militant leaders who advocated for independence. Kaggia was a leading member of the KAU Study Circle which assisted its members with drafting memoranda, resolutions and discussions papers. He was the President of the Anti Federation League. This league was set up to oppose the proposed Federation with Central Africa, which would strengthen the white settlers' political control of these territories. The Anti-Federation League succeeded in its objective as Kenya did not join the Federation when in 1953 the Central African Federation of three British colonies:
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(now
Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
),
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...
(now
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
) and
Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...
(now
Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
) was founded. As a member of the African Advisory Council, Kaggia campaigned actively against the Nairobi municipal Council apartheid by-laws, which had created separate European, Asian and African areas in Nairobi. Kaggia considered it as one of his biggest achievements that these by-laws were repealed by the Municipal Council. Despairing of constitutional change, he joined Mau Mau and sat on its central Committee. On 20 October 1952, he, along with the rest of the
Kapenguria Six The Kapenguria Six – Bildad Kaggia, Kung'u Karumba, Jomo Kenyatta, Fred Kubai, Paul Ngei, and Achieng' Oneko – were six leading Kenyan nationalists who were arrested in 1952, tried at Kapenguria in 1952–53, and imprisoned thereafter in No ...
, was arrested in Operation Jock Scott, and charged ''inter alia'' with managing Mau Mau, and being a senior member of it. He was convicted at trial, and imprisoned until September 1961. Thereafter, he was confined to his home district. On 17 November 1961, all restrictions were lifted.


Independence and after

In the 1963 elections, he won
Kandara Constituency Kandara Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of seven constituencies in Muranga County. It was one of three constituencies in the former Maragua District Maragua District was a former district of Kenya, located in the defun ...
seat on a KANU ticket, and so had the distinction of a seat in independent Kenya's first parliament. Kaggia also served as a minister in the Kenyatta cabinet; his denunciations of corruption marked him out as a member of KANU's radical tendency. When
Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigenous ...
and Mboya combined to purge the KANU left, he was one of their victims, with Kenyatta making the trip to Kandara to campaign against him. He joined
Odinga Odinga is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Jaramogi Oginga Odinga (1911–1994), Kenya's first vice-president and later opposition leader. **Raila Odinga (born 1945), Former Prime Minister of Kenya, son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga ...
's KPU, but eventually retired from active politics in 1974, after failing to recapture his seat. Kaggia was the leading Kenyan leftist of the colonial period; probably the strategic planner on Mau Mau's central committee; notably anti-racist; and uncompromisingly committed to the poor.He lived in, and campaigned for the dwellers of, one of Nairobi's biggest slums. See Adenekan.


References


Bibliography

*Adenekan, Shola. (25 May 2005) ''
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
'
Obituary
*Kaggia, Bildad. (1975) ''Roots of Freedom 1921–1963: the autobiography of Bildad Kaggia'', Nairobi: East African Publishing House. *Kaggia, Bildad M., Leeuw, W. de and Kaggia, M. (2012), ''The Struggle for Freedom and Justice; the life and times of the freedom fighter and politician Bildad M. Kaggia (1921-2005)'', Nairobi: Transafrica Press. *Kinyatti, M. (2008)'' History of Resistance in Kenya (1884-2002)'', Nairobi: Mau Mau Research Centre. *Rosberg, C.G. Jr. and Nottingham J. (1985)''The Myth of Mau Mau; Nationalism in Colonial Kenya'', Nairobi: Transafrica Press. *Spencer, J. (1977) ''The Kenya African Union 1944-1953: a Party in Search of a Constituency'',
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
:
Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...
. *Throup, D. W. (1988),'' Economic and Social Origins of Mau Mau'', Nairobi:
Heineman Heineman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benjamin W. Heineman (1914–2012), American railroad executive * Benjamin W. Heineman, Jr. (born 1944), American journalist, lawyer and business executive * Dannie Heineman (1872â ...
Kenya Limited.


External links


Bildad Kaggia Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaggia, Bildad Kenyan rebels Prisoners and detainees of Kenya 1921 births 2005 deaths Kenya African National Union politicians Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) Government ministers of Kenya Kenyan socialists Kenya People's Union politicians Kenyan expatriates in the United Kingdom