"An estimated 90,000 Kenyans were slaughtered in the Kikuyu uprising while just over a thousand were hanged on a portable gibbet. Some 160,000 were detained in internment camps where torture was routine.
"One of Britain’s victims was US President Barack Obama’s paternal grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, who was arrested in 1949, and tortured by having pins inserted under his fingernails."
Kitson brought to Belfast his experiences in Kenya, fighting the Kikuyu Land and Freedom Army (exotically dubbed the “Mau Mau” by the British) in the early 1950s where he honed a practice of using “turned” or “converted” rebels into “counter-gangs”.
"The battle of the Bogside was an important catalyst for change, triggering a determined British government intervention that ended the unionist monopoly on power. But it also marked the beginning of 30 years of violent conflict that would claim the lives of more than 3,600 people and bring untold suffering."
At least 23 people were killed & >300 people were injured, a #HumanRights group said, in demonstrations against a finance bill that President William #Ruto had championed to avoid default.
In the last two decades alone, the African lion population is estimated to have decreased by over 40% and now occupies approximately 17% of its historical range.
However, in the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem in Kenya, the story is different, with lions are roaring back thanks to unified efforts led by local communities, conservation organizations, and the Kenya Wildlife Service.
The African Baobab is a multipurpose, drought resistant, wild fruit tree, endemic to arid and semi-arid lands of Sub-Saharan Africa. Baobab populations have been showing a lack of regeneration, and therefore causes concern for the species survival.
The tree’s pulp has more protein than breast milk, more vitamin C than oranges, more magnesium than spinach, more iron than red meat and more potassium than a banana. It has become a popular additive in reinforced foods.
Researchers believe baobab has the potential to become a major regional export commodity, with Southern and Eastern African regions capable of supplying 700,000 metric tonnes of baobab fruit a year.
There are a lot of such small hotels in towns and villages we passed through during our safari. This one in Ntulelei, on the road between Nairobi and the Masai Mara National Reserve, was one of the most “attracting”.
More Grant’s zebras are in the wild than any other species or subspecies of zebras. Unlike Grevy and mountain zebras, they are not endangered.
Grant’s zebras eat the coarse grasses that grow on the African plains, and they are resistant to diseases that often kill cattle, so the zebras do well in the African savannas.
However, recent civil wars and political conflicts in the African countries near their habitats has caused regional extinction, and sometimes zebras are killed for their coats, or to eliminate competition with domestic livestock.
Elephants have to eat 5% of their body weight every day and so sleep for only 4-5 hours a day. They can drink up to 200 litres in one drinking session!
The Mara elephants have unfortunately been under threat due to poaching and human-elephant conflicts.
Elephants are highly sociable and have similar life cycles to humans. The maternity herd is very protective of young, but males are ejected at 12-15 years old, after which they become nomadic males, often associating with other males.
Elephants have strong bonds and even at 9yrs old a calf may spend over half of the time less than 5metres away from it mother.
The Mara elephants have unfortunately been under threat due to poaching and human-elephant conflicts.
Female lions are the pride's primary hunters and leaders. They often work together to prey upon antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, and other large animals of the open grasslands. Many of these animals are faster than lions, so teamwork pays off.
The Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchii), also spelled Maasai giraffe, also called Kilimanjaro giraffe, is the largest subspecies of giraffe. It is native to East Africa. The Masai giraffe can be found in central and southern Kenya and in Tanzania. It has distinctive, irregular, jagged, star-like blotches that extend to the hooves. A median forehead lump is usually present in bulls.
Newborn calves remain hidden in vegetation for the first few weeks while being nursed occasionally by the mother before joining the main herd. Older calves are held in the centre of the herd for safety.
The maternal bond between mother and calf lasts longer than in most bovines. However, when a new calf is born, the bonding ends and the mother keeps her previous offspring at bay with horn jabs. Nevertheless, the yearling follows its mother for another year or so. Males leave their mothers when they are two years old and join the bachelor groups.