Spying on Political Activism

Abstract

A description and analysis of the spying on Kenyatta while he was resident in Britain by the British intelligence services, sanctioned by the legendary founder of MI5 (the British domestic intelligence service that also had the power to spy in the colonies). New material shows how extensive the spying was: sanctioning the opening and reading of his mail by MI5 agents; spying on his friends and colleagues; working to deny him employment in the UK; and generally shadowing him everywhere that he went. This is the period of Kenyatta as the “burning spear.” This chapter also considers Kenyatta’s enrolment and study at KUTV in the Soviet Union and its political consequences; the rise of the myth of Kenyatta as a Communist or Communist agent.