Waruhiu Itote (1922 – 30 April 1993, aged 70-71), nom de guerre General China, was one of the key leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960) in British Kenya alongside Dedan Kimathi, Stanley Mathenge, Kurito ole Kisio, Musa Mwariama and Muthoni Kirima. General China was the first senior Mau Mau leader to be captured by the government, when he fell into a trap in 1954. He was jailed alongside future Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta. Because of his cooperation with the colonial government, General China's legacy is often controversial. To most of his compatriots, he was a turn-coat who saved his neck by betraying others. He is regarded one of the few moderates among the Mau Mau leadership Early life Waruhiu Itote was born into a prosperous farming family in Kaheti village, Mukurwe-ini division, Nyeri District in 1922. He received minimal education at a local Church of Scotland mission, before moving to Nairobi as a teenager to escape his father's beatings. He married his first wife, Leah Wambura, in December 1940. Itote enlisted in the British army in 1942, serving in the King's African Rifles throughout Asia, firstly at Ceylon and then in the Burma Campaign. Whilst in Burma he was promoted to the rank of Corporal. He passed up an opportunity for promotion and asked to be discharged Returning to Kenya, he became disillusioned with the lack of opportunities for black soldiers while white soldiers were being rewarded, leading him to become involved in urban politics as he joined the Kenya African Union in 1946. In the company of fellow ex-army comrades he dabbled in the criminal underworld as part of Nairobi's Forty Group, to supplement his wages as a fireman. Mau Mau Years In 1950, Itote swore the Mau Mau oath, and subsequently became responsible for oathing and was an executioner of traitors. As the police began clamping down on Mau Mau activities in 1952, Itote moved to the forests of Mount Kenya with a band of followers to join the insurgency. From here Itote began a wave of attacks on white settler farms in Nyeri and targeted loyalists in nearby villages. He soon gained a reputation as a skilled commander with an ability to organise. Capture Itote was captured by British troops on 15 January 1954 during a failed operation against a police post in Mathira. During the capture, he was shot and wounded in the neck. He