Rishi Sunak’s grandfather aided 1950s Kenyan revolt against Britishers: Report

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s grandfather reportedly helped Kenyan freedom fighters organise a revolt against British rule in the 1950s.

The Daily Mail reported that Rishi Sunak’s grandfather Ramdas Sunak was involved in training Kenya’s Mau Mau fighters and equipping them with guerrilla techniques while being on the British payroll.

Ramdas Sunak first worked as a clerk and then as a senior administrator in the finance and justice departments, the report claimed. He went to Kenya’s Nairobi from India’s Punjab when he was young and participated in the country’s freedom movement through a childhood friend named Makhan Singh who also hailed from Punjab and became a prominent trade unionist in Kenya.

Following Kenya’s freedom, Ramdas Sunak moved to the UK after facing racism in the country. He later settled in Southampton where he helped to establish the Vedic Society Hindu Temple, the report further claimed.

Who were Kenya’s Mau Mau fighters?

The Mau Mau fighters- a group of Kenyan nationalists- played a significant role in the struggle for independence from British colonial rule in the 1950s. The armed movement composed primarily of members of the Kikuyu ethnic group- largest in Kenya.

The Mau Mau uprising began in 1952 against British colonial policies. The fighters employed various guerrilla tactics which included ambushes, raids, and acts of sabotage through which they targeted both colonial officials and loyalist Africans who supported the British administration. The British declared a state of emergency in 1952 and launched military operations against the Mau Mau fighters.