Dedan Kimathi Waciuri (truly, Kimathi wa Waciuri), (31 October 1920 – 18 February 1957) was a rebel leader who fought against British colonization in Kenya in the 1950s. He was convicted and executed by the colonial government.

The colonial government that ruled Kenya at the time considered him a terrorist, as did "loyalist" Kenyans who supported the British occupation and seizure of Kikuyu lands and opposed the . According to some sources, under his leadership, the Mau Mau killed at least two thousand Kenyan civilians. The Mau Mau rebels killed only 32 European settlers, and fewer than 200 British soldiers in the eight year uprising. The British in turn killed 20,000 Mau Mau rebels in combat, hanged over 1000 suspected Mau Mau supporters, and interned more than 70,000 Kikuyu civilians for years in brutal detention camps on suspicion of providing material support for the Uprising.

In her winning book, "", the Harvard historian claimed that during the uprising the British detained over one million Kikuyu in what essentially were concentration camps, exposing them to untold suffering, torture and death. Non-loyalist Kenyans, particularly of the tribe, viewed Kimathi as a , although many on the Kikuyu reserve viewed him as a terrorist, due to the predations of the Mau-Mau on those living on the reserve and to the atrocities committed by the Mau Mau upon them. A particularly good source of turned agents for the Government forces were those former Mau Mau escaping from summary justice handed out by Kimathi, which was followed by death by strangulation. As Kimathi's own band became fewer in number and the government forces became more adept at limiting his movement, Kimathi became more and more paranoid and would execute members of his own band for almost random reasons, usually suspicion of 'spying'.

In the end the main force against the remaining Mau Mau led by Kimathi consisted entirely of who were now working for the Government. The capture of Kimathi would have been nearly impossible without their knowledge and skills because of the vast areas of rough terrain which hid the Mau Mau and Kimathi. His capture was beyond the ability of the regular forces in this region and he had a legendary and almost supernatural ability to evade capture.

His reputation as the leading fighter for Kenyan freedom remains today, and a bronze statue of "Freedom Fighter Dedan Kimathi" on a graphite plinth has been erected in central .

The Capitol Music Store was based in Nairobi and issued records from the late 50's and into the 70's. This is one of the first of a batch of 78s I have come across, and apart from the interesting subject matter the records themselves are exceedingly rare !!

A few 45's are also know by Mikah Njiru and Mugo but I can find no further information out about them.

I believe this 78 was actually pressed in 1963 (hence the catalogue number) and it appeazrs to be manufactured from a very brittle vinyl or composite rather than shellac.

More records (45's) can be found on the label here