The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is rolling out a series of educational programmes in Kenya aimed at bringing to light a chapter of history that has long gone untold — the role East Africa played in the First and Second World Wars, and the thousands of Kenyans whose ancestors were part of it.
For decades, the story of both wars in East Africa has remained largely invisible to the communities whose forebears fought, laboured, and died in them. According to the CWGC, many Kenyans are unaware that the conflicts reached their soil, and fewer still know that their own relatives may have served, died, or disappeared during the wars.
It is a gap in public memory that the Commission says it is determined to address.
Through its programmes, the CWGC is working to reconnect communities with their history, restore recognition to African servicemen who served during both conflicts, and reposition war cemeteries — historically seen as distant, foreign spaces — as accessible sites of learning, reflection, and community engagement.
The Commission acknowledges that the absence of this history from public consciousness is widespread. Many Kenyans, it notes, have never encountered these stories in school, in their communities, or within their own families — leaving generations disconnected from a significant part of their heritage.
To help bridge that gap, the CWGC actively invites members of the public to submit family names for researchers to trace through its databases and archives. The process, the Commission says, frequently leads to emotional reconnections — families discovering, sometimes for the very first time, what became of their forefathers.
Much of this community outreach is led by Education Officer Rose Maina, a trained teacher whose approach centres on empathy, storytelling, and making history relevant to young people.
Recognising that many Kenyan schools — particularly public schools and those serving informal settlements — cannot afford long trips, the CWGC focuses its school programmes on institutions near the Nairobi War Cemetery, welcoming students for free guided tours. Teachers, Rose notes, sometimes arrive apprehensive about the idea of “studying in a cemetery.” That hesitation, she says, typically fades quickly once they experience the respectful, structured learning environment the Commission has created.
Beyond history, students are introduced to horticulture, heritage care, and conflict resolution — broadening the educational value of each visit.
During her sessions, Rose guides students through the full context of both world wars — what the conflicts were about, what was unfolding in East Africa at the time, and the significant yet frequently overlooked role Africans played. She walks them through why so many soldiers never returned home, using individual stories to illustrate the human cost of war in ways that feel immediate and relevant.
A recurring message in her sessions is that although the Allies are recorded as having won the wars, no side truly wins when so many lives are lost. That reflection, she says, becomes a natural entry point into broader conversations about conflict management and peaceful problem-solving.
Beyond schools, the CWGC is also working to change how the wider public relates to its sites. Many of the Commission’s cemeteries in Kenya are commonly perceived as “European cemeteries” — spaces that locals may walk past daily without ever stepping inside.
To shift that perception, the CWGC has been opening its sites for public tours, hosting community events, training local guides, developing heritage trails, and explaining the historical significance behind the placement of each cemetery and memorial. The goal, the Commission says, is to help communities understand that these are not foreign or disconnected spaces, but an integral part of Kenya’s own history.
One aspect the CWGC addresses directly is the Nairobi African Memorial, which commemorates African soldiers collectively rather than by individual name. The Commission openly acknowledges this as a historical injustice and explains the steps it is taking to restore individual recognition to those servicemen. That transparency, it says, has been key to building trust with local communities.
Taken together, the CWGC’s educational activities — spanning school programmes, public tours, guide training, heritage trails, and community partnerships — are gradually reshaping how Kenyans engage with this period of their past.
For Rose and her colleagues, the work carries a significance that goes beyond the professional. It is, they say, rooted in restoring dignity to African soldiers, reconnecting families with histories they never knew they had, and ensuring that the sacrifices made during both world wars are not lost to future generations.
At the heart of it, the Commission says, is a straightforward but powerful message: that Kenyan ancestors had a meaningful role in some of the most consequential events of the twentieth century — a role that deserves to be remembered, honoured, and passed on.
