Sixty years ago, on December 12, 1963, Kenya gained independence after 68 years of British rule and following a decade of deadly violence. Between 1952 and 1960, the Mau Mau rebellion was one of the bloodiest episodes in the country's history. This rebel group, mainly made up of members of the Kikuyu ethnic group, organised a campaign of sabotage and assassinations against the British settlers, claiming 32 lives. The rebels' aim was to recover the land and freedom that had been stolen from them by the British colonial authorities.