Waruhiu Itote
1922 – 1993 Kenyan Mau Mau commander ('General China'), later National Youth Service officer
Mau Mau commander in the Mount Kenya forests, known as General China, who was captured in 1954 and later helped lead the National Youth Service.
- Affiliations
- Kenya Land and Freedom Army
Waruhiu Itote, a King's African Rifles veteran of the Burma campaign, became the Mau Mau commander known as 'General China' in the Mount Kenya forests. Captured in January 1954, he cooperated with the colonial authorities in attempts to negotiate a mass surrender of fighters. After independence he joined the National Youth Service and wrote the memoirs 'Mau Mau General' and 'Mau Mau in Action', which remain important firsthand accounts of the uprising.
Connections
- associate of Dedan Kimathi — Fellow senior Mau Mau forest commander.
In the timeline
- 1953 The Forest Fighters and Dedan Kimathi Mount Kenya commander
- 1954 General China Captured the captured commander
- 1954 General China captured, opening surrender negotiations mentioned
- 1954 Waruhiu Itote, 'General China' central figure
- 1955 Psychological Warfare and the Surrender Appeals captured leader used in surrender talks