8 April 1953 : Kenyatta sentenced for Mau Mau uprising

In 1953 Jomo Kenyatta, leader of the Kenyan independence movement, is convicted by Kenya's British rulers of leading the extremist Mau Mau in their violence against white settlers and the colonial government. An advocate of nonviolence and conservatism, he pleaded innocent in the highly politicised trial. One of modern Africa's first nationalist leaders, Kenyatta was a great defender of Kenyan and African culture and wrote eloquently about the plight of Kenyans under colonial rule. He played little part in the Mau Mau uprising of 1952, but was imprisoned for nine years along with other nationalist leaders. Upon his release in 1961, Kenyatta became president of the Kenya African National Union and led negotiations with the British for self-rule.