Why did British colonial authorities ban the Mau Mau movement in 1950?

British colonial authorities banned the Mau Mau movement in 1950 because they were alarmed by reports regarding the group's activities and its rapid growth in membership.1

The movement emerged as a militant faction of the Kenya African Union (KAU), composed primarily of Kikuyu people who were dissatisfied with the slow pace of political reform and the peaceful tactics advocated by leaders like Jomo Kenyatta. Driven by grievances over land dispossession, economic inequality, and political exclusion under colonial rule, the Mau Mau adopted a more militant approach, which included the use of traditional oaths to bind members together in their pursuit of land and freedom.123

Although the colonial government banned the organization in 1950, the movement continued to expand, eventually leading to the Mau Mau Rebellion in 1952 and the subsequent declaration of a state of emergency by the British authorities.31