Before his arrest on October 1956 and his hanging months later, the British colonizers had had enough of field marshal Dedan Kimathi, the leader of the Mau Mau independence fighters.
Despite not being in good terms with General Stanley Mathenge, who was bitter with Kimathi for growing through the ranks to overtake him despite having been his clerk, the two kept the fight alive in Aberdare and Mt Kenya forests.
Unable to suppress the fighters despite even turning some locals against their fellow Africans in the name of home guards, the colonizers attempted a more friendly approach; urging the fighters to surrender in exchange for goodies.
However, having taken an anti-surrendering oath, in addition to claims that some of the surrenders were shot on sight by the guards, most of the fighters remained in the forests, choosing to die fighting instead.
This saw the British colonies go to an extra length in a bid to have the fighters abandon their fight, including scattering notes over the forests with an offer of better treatment for the fighters.
In January 1955, Sir Evelyn Baring, the governor of Kenya, sent a plane to scatter notes in the two war fronts that those who surrender would be spared and accorded food and healthcare.
But the notes clearly indicated that they would not be given their land which had been taken by the settlers back, but would be detained in detention camps.
"The Government of Kenya has offered all the fighters to come out of the forest and return to normal peaceful life. His Excellency, the Governor has given a general amnesty to all persons who have committed crimes during the emergency up to today 18th January 1955. Save your life now! Surrender your fighting weapons and you will not be prosecuted. You will be detained and receive medical treatment, food, clothing and general care," read the pamphlets as recorded in Ian Henderson's book "The Hunt For Kimathi', quoted by Daily Nation.
However, a look at the detention camps and the torture that left some dead only encouraged the fighters to push even harder from the forests.