Why did some members of the Kenya African Union form the Mau Mau movement?

The Mau Mau movement was formed by a faction of young militants who split from the Kenya African Union (KAU) because they believed the party’s leadership, under Jomo Kenyatta, was failing to produce meaningful reforms through peaceful tactics.123

These members, primarily from the Kikuyu people, were driven by deep-seated grievances against British colonial rule, specifically regarding land dispossession, economic inequality, and political exclusion. While the KAU sought to challenge the colonial hierarchy, the Mau Mau advocated for a more militant approach to regain their land and freedom. By 1952, this frustration culminated in an armed rebellion characterized by sabotage and assassination, which ultimately pressured British authorities to hasten decolonization efforts in Kenya.231