Declaration of War in Kenya, a Mau Mau song translated by Maina wa Kinyatti When the war was declared in 1952 Our country was turned into a huge prison. Innocent people, men, women and children, Were herded into concentration camps, Under all kinds of harsh repression. Kenyan patriots were arrested and killed, Thousands of others were subjected To slow death in Manyani And Mackinnon Road concentration camps. KAU leaders were arrested And taken to Kapenguria Where they faced a Kangaroo court. Large-scale massacres of our people Were committed across the country. Meanwhile Kimathi in Nyandarwa called for total mobilization, He told the people to unite and fight These foreign murderers with heroism And drive them out of the country. Our Independent schools, the people's schools, Were turned into gallows Where many of our compatriots Experienced untold suffering and death. Our livestock were confiscated And our crops in the fields were destroyed. All public markets were closed down And all people's newspapers were banned. Thousands of patriotic women Were locked up in prisons. Many of them, with their children, Were put into concentration camps Where they suffered all kinds of brutal tortures. Later the colonialists employed Vast numbers of Kenyans who took up rifles To fight as mercenaries in opposition to the Motherland, To kill and torture their own compatriots Leaving behind countless widows and orphans. In spite of harsh enemy repression, The revolutionary flame was maintained and developed. And people's hatred toward the British oppressors Grew from day to day, And proudly they declared: 'It would be better to die on our feet Than to live on our knees.'