Hola massacre

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The Hola Massacre is an event that took place shortly after the end of the Mau Mau Uprising against British colonial rule in Kenya.

In the Hola detention camp, located in the Coast province, a group of detainees had declared themselves political prisoners. John Cowan, the Senior Superintendent of Prisons in Kenya was asked to write a report on how to deal with this group.

On March 3, 1959, 85 prisoners were marched outside and ordered to work. As had always been the case, they refused to take orders. There were about 200 guards, who began beating the prisoners for approximately 3 to 4 hours. When it was all over, 11 prisoners had been beaten to death and around 60 others were seriously injured.

There was a conscious effort by the Prison Officials to cover up the event at Hola. They claimed that the dead prisoners had drunk contaminated water.^[1]. The truth came out however, and in Britain there was political uproar.

The camps were closed throughout Kenya, and the prisoners were freed soon after.^[2] The massacre was one of the catalysts that led to Kenya's independence. The Hola Camp event was a reason why British Politicians, such as Harold Macmillan and Iain Macleod, saw the need to decolonise Kenya. They saw Kenya, and to an extent the Empire, as a liability to Britain’s prestige, especially in light of entering the new EEC and continuing the Atlantic Alliance with America.