Gitaka

Geoffrey Gitaka Kimani (born 1932, died February 21, 2001) was one of the original Kenyan freedom agitators and was born in the Rift valley province of colonial Kenya.

He moved to Nairobi in the late 1940's where he joined a cell of freedom fighters based in the African quarter of east lands. He is quoted in Fred Majdalany's State of Emergency: The Full Story of the Mau Mau as having been one of the chief African protagonist in the stand-off that culminated in the infamous Lari massacre. He got heavily involved in the Mau Mau struggle which culminated in his arrest and detention in 1952. He was initially detained for 7 years in Manyani detention camp,then was transported to the notorious death camps of Holla for 2 years. This was a direct result of his refusal to denounce the armed struggle as a legitimate tool for emancipation of the black African. He is quoted for having said that it was ultimately the wakoloni(oppressors) who had dictated the shape and direction of the ongoing struggle.

During his period of incarceration, Gitaka furthered his academic qualifications by taking correspondence courses from the Kings College London. He was finally set free in 1959. When independence came, Gitaka joined other freedom fighters in building a new nation of unity and equality irrespective of creed or color. Gitaka continued to engage in business in the growing city of Nairobi and stayed away from politics which he came to regard as full of hypocrisy and dirty tricks. He displayed a remarkable enterpreneur flare and built a sizeable estate from little.

Gitaka was brutally murdered in February 2001 near his home in Kamiti (Ruiru town). The murder remains unsolved as of August 2007.

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