The happenings that preceded Dedan Kimathi's shooting remain unclear even though it seems clear that he was shot and captured by home guards deployed by the colonialists in Tetu in 1956,
Kimathi was shot in the thigh by Corporal Wanjohi and Tribal Policeman Ndirangu, four years after the colonialists lauched a manhunt for him for engaging in "subversive activities".
But it is clear that Kimathi was being sought for his leadership of the Mau Mau fighters who were pushing to liberate the nation from the British colonialists.
It is reported that on October 21, 1956, he was spotted by the officers while climbing the banks of the forest, as he headed back into the forest.
This is where the controversy lies, as the officers said that they shot him while on the run, while Kimathi said that he surrendered and only took off after seeing one of the officers taking aim.
He also told Solicitor General D.W Conroy that the man who shot him ambushed him while he was squatting under a castor tree. He said that the shooter emerged from behind him.
"I did not know if he was a Mau Mau or government. I raised my arms and said, 'it is I Dedan Kimathi, do not kill me," he said.
But the two claimed that they first thought that it was a leopard, because of the leopard skin jacket he was wearing.
However, when he started moving across a wide ditch separating the first from a reserve, they said in statements, they realised it was a man and shot at him, getting him in the thigh.
According to a confidential profile made about him by the Special Branch, Kimathi was equally a dangerous man who was always armed with a 450 D/B sporting riffle.
Also, having served in the KAU secretary in Nyahururu in the early 50s, the British believed that he had some political muscle.
He was later arraigned before Chief Justice Kenneth O'Connor at the Supreme Court in Nyeri and sentenced to death for unlawful possession of a firearm and seven years for illegal possession of ammunition.