Inside Kamiti Prison Where Mama Ngina and Mukami Kimathi Buried Hanged Freedom Fighters

Kamiti Prison was a place of suffering during Kenya’s colonial period, where women prisoners, including Mama Ngina Kenyatta and Mukami Kimathi, the wife of freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi, endured harsh conditions and were sometimes required to bury executed inmates.

Besides facing starvation, the women were at times called upon to bury prisoners who had been hanged. This grim responsibility exposed them to the consequences of colonial-era executions, adding to the hardships they experienced while in confinement.

Mama Ngina Kenyatta and Mukami Kimathi were among the women prisoners who witnessed these disturbing events. Their experiences at Kamiti Prison included not only the struggle for survival but also the difficult task of handling the bodies of executed inmates.

Even when mass burials were not taking place, the women could reportedly tell that a freedom fighter had been executed by listening to the hideous screeching sound produced by the improvised gallows.

The sound became an indication of another execution, reminding the women of the fate that awaited some of the prisoners held during the colonial period.

The experiences of Mama Ngina and Mukami at Kamiti Prison reveal the difficult conditions women prisoners endured, including starvation, the burial of hanged inmates and the sounds associated with executions.

https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/41522-mama-nginas-unbearable-torture-kamiti-prison