Once Again, the Pistols

"Uhuru!" (Freedom) bellowed the burly, bearded African in red shirt and beaded cap. "Uhuru na ushindi!" (Freedom and victory) roared back the weaving, excited mob of 20,000 arrayed before him in Nairobi's stadium. Jomo ("Burning Spear") Kenyatta had lost none of his magic appeal with the crowds in the decade since he was jailed for leading the bloody Mau Mau rebellion. He also still had plenty of his political acumen, for Burning Spear quickly converted the happy celebration of the tenth anniversary of his arrest into a political rally to further the course of his KANU party in next year's elections.

As KANU's boss, Jomo is not only out of jail and rehabilitated, but is also the hottest prospect to be Kenya's first ruler when the colony becomes a nation, possibly within a year. So far, the electioneering has been fairly moderate, but trouble is threatened by something called the Land Freedom Army, a mysterious group of Kikuyu tribesmen with terrorist aims, who have gathered in the forests to revive the hideous Mau Mau oathing ceremonies over carcasses of strangled cats. Like the Mau Mau, they have begun slipping onto white farmers' property by night to maim cattle and terrorize the inhabitants. Once again, Rift Valley farmers strap on pistols before going out to the fields.

L.F.A. already has an estimated 2,000 members; police recently have been arresting 200 suspects a week, fearing that the whole project to give Kenya self-government will be jeopardized if mass murders begin again. Britain's Governor Sir Patrick Renison urges Kenyatta to speak out against the Freedom Army but Burning Spear shrugs the problem away, suggests that the British are merely building up a pretext to delay independence.

A crack at the British still is sure to wow the crowds. Last week, KANU's ambitious Secretary-General Tom Mboya, 32, rose at a rally to lash out at the government because it imported the Duke and Duchess of Kent to inaugurate Nairobi's new television station. "It's disgusting that they should open the center when Kenya has six million Africans with their own leaders," huffed Mboya. "All around us were white faces, and we were only little black specks on the scene."

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