Influence of reparation issues on collective forgiveness: the case of British government and mau mau fighters in Nyeri County, Kenya

Abstract

The case filed in London by the former Mau Mau fighters received a lot of global attention. It was the first time a case challenging the acts of the former mighty British Empire during colonialism had been allowed to proceed by a British court in London. As an out of court settlement, the British agreed to reparation in terms of monetary reparations, apology and memorials to be awarded to selected former Mau Mau fighters. By awarding reparation the British Government had extended an olive branch to the former Mau Mau fighters who had been bitter because of the way they were treated during the war and thereafter. This study examined the influence of reparation issues on collective forgiveness in the case of the British government and the Mau Mau fighters in Nyeri County, Kenya. The objectives were: to determine the degree to which monetary reparations awarded by the British government influenced collective forgiveness by the Mau Mau fighters, determine the effects of apologies by the British Government on collective forgiveness by former Mau Mau fighters and explore other factors that might have influenced collective forgiveness of the British government by the Mau Mau fighters. The research methodology adopted was both quantitative and qualitative comprising of oral interviews. The research design was descriptive research survey. The target population was 214 registered Mau Mau veterans from Nyeri County who had received reparation. The sample size was 135. Given the nature of the study, simple random sampling method was used and quantitative and qualitative data collected from individuals. The study was guided by two theories, incentive theory of motivation and gerotranscendence theory. Incentive Theory of Motivation is grounded on the principle of conditioning an incentive to make a person happier and satisfied. Reparation has been treated as an incentive offered by the British Government to the former Mau Mau fighters. The gerotranscendence theory is a developmental theory of positive aging. The study found out that apology had most positive effect on forgiveness by Mau Mau fighters to British government. Monetary reparations awarded by the British government did not have a significant influence on forgiveness although majority of the Mau Mau fighters said that if they were satisfied with the compensation awarded they could have forgiven the British government. The study recommends adoption of both apology and use of monetary reparations as means of seeking forgiveness to a wronged party. This would lead to reconciliation and peaceful coexistence.