Kenya Government Surrender Pass for Mau Mau Fighters (1955)
A red safe-conduct pass headed 'Mwigito wa Kwihonokia Ukineana' carries the same offer in English, Kikuyu and Swahili: the bearer wishes to surrender and is to get fair treatment, food and medical care, and will not be prosecuted for Emergency offences committed before 18 January 1955. Only the terms on offer are stated (detention is mentioned but not its length or conditions), and the offer is underwritten by the printed names and signatures of the Commander-in-Chief and the Governor.
- Date
- 1955
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- Kenya colonial government (Governor Sir Evelyn Baring and Gen. Sir George Erskine), printed for the Department of Information, Kenya
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Country
- Kenya Colony
- Medium
- Leaflet
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Kenya Colonial Administration
- Leader
- Evelyn Baring
- Audience
- Enemy forces
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- War and the military, Empire and colonialism
- Event
- Mau Mau Uprising
- Techniques
- Card stackingTestimonial
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Photograph CC BY 3.0 (Brigade Piron); 1955 Kenya Government print, Crown copyright expired
Photograph by Brigade Piron, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; pass printed by the Government Printer, Nairobi, 1955
Text on the object
[handwritten, upper margin, largely illegible:] Forwarded by Sgt [illegible] B.E.M. formerly [illegible] now with [illegible] Ungikoruo wonia mundu o wothe wa Mbutu cia Ugitiri Bathi ino, niekumenya urenda kwineana na niegugutuga kuringana na kiiraniro giki kieru MWIGITO WA KWIHONOKIA UKINEANA THE BEARER OF THIS PASS WISHES TO SURRENDER. He is to be given fair treatment, food, and medical attention if required. He will be detained but he is NOT to be prosecuted for any offence connected with the Emergency which he may have committed prior to 18th January, 1955. UYU UKUUITE "BATHI" ino arenda kwineana. Niatugwo wega, aheo irio na arigitwo angikoruo ni abatairio niguo. Ahingiruo na ndagacirithio ni undu wa uuru o wothe wa Mau Mau uria ekire mbere ya January 18, mwaka wa 1955. ANAYEBEBA BARUA HII ANATAKA KUJITOLEA. Mpe msaada mwema, chakula, na atibiwe ikiwa anahitaji. Atafungiwa lakini hatashtakiwa kwa ajili ya uovu wo wote wa Mau Mau aliofanya mbele ya January 18, mwaka huu wa 1955. [signature] GENERAL SIR GEORGE ERSKINE. Commander-in-Chief. [signature] SIR EVELYN BARING, Governor. PRINTED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION, KENYA, BY THE GOVERNMENT PRINTER, NAIROBI
[Kikuyu, top line, approximate:] If you show this pass to any member of the security forces, he will know that you want to surrender and ... [remainder unclear]. [Kikuyu paragraph, approximate:] The bearer of this pass wants to surrender. He is to be treated well, given food and looked after if he needs it. He will be detained and will not be prosecuted for any Mau Mau wrongdoing done before 18 January 1955. [Swahili paragraph:] The bearer of this letter wants to give himself up. Give him good help, food, and let him be treated if he needs it. He will be detained but will not be prosecuted for any Mau Mau wrongdoing he committed before 18 January this year, 1955. [English blocks are already in English.]
Photographed behind glass, so glare softens some letters; the Kikuyu and Swahili wording is transcribed as it appears and may contain letter errors. The handwritten note at the top is a later annotation in cursive and is not reliably readable. The Kikuyu translation is a rough machine rendering by Claude, not checked by a fluent Kikuyu reader; the Swahili rendering is close to the English block.
