Harry Thuku
1895 – 1970 Kenyan early nationalist, farmer
Pioneer of African protest politics in colonial Kenya whose 1922 arrest triggered a deadly Nairobi shooting, later a moderate loyalist.
- Affiliations
- East African Association, Kikuyu Central Association
Harry Thuku was one of the first Africans to organise mass political protest in colonial Kenya, founding the Young Kikuyu Association and the East African Association to oppose the kipande pass and forced labour. His arrest in 1922 sparked a crowd protest outside a Nairobi police station that colonial forces fired on, killing many. After years of detention he returned as a moderate, later broke with more militant nationalists, and during the Emergency he opposed Mau Mau and became a prosperous coffee farmer.
In the timeline
- 1921 Rise of early African political associations mentioned
- 1922 Arrest of Harry Thuku and the 1922 massacre central figure
- 1922 Harry Thuku Arrested and the Nairobi Shooting the arrested organiser
- 1922 Harry Thuku and the 1922 protest the arrested organiser
- 1922 Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru shames the men and is shot mentioned
- 1922 Harry Thuku and the East African Association central figure
- 1924 Founding of the Kikuyu Central Association early nationalist linked to the association