Missionaries and Mau Mau: the opportunities of rehabilitation and the NGO-isation of the Christian Council of Kenya

The Christian Council of Kenya (CCK), an ecumenical group of churches and missions in Kenya, viewed the Mau Mau Emergency as an opportunity. The CCK argued that Kikuyu detainees would face a spiritual vacuum and hoped to win converts among them. By becoming a partner in the government’s rehabilitation programme, the CCK dramatically expanded its operations and established itself as a significant body in the colony. It did not, however, win many converts. Thus, it is clear that there was an opportunity for the CCK in the Emergency, but it was not the one they had expected. Instead, the CCK itself benefitted as it underwent a process of ‘NGO-isation’. The article tracks the CCK’s growth from a minor organisation to a government partner and then to a development-focused NGO. It explores too the CCK’s connection to Christian Aid in Britain. It argues that because of the CCK’s focus on opportunities, the organisation was prepared to make ethical compromises in order to stay close with the government, largely failing to speak out against violence. The article thus contributes to a wider debate on the links between humanitarianism, missionaries, and colonial violence. It shows that colonial emergencies could prove fertile ground for NGO expansion.