Chege, Mary Wambui
Mary Wambui Chege was among the women involved in the East African Revival Movement who faced persecution for refusing to participate in the oath-taking ceremonies held in Central Province in 1969. These ceremonies were instituted following the assassination of Tom Mboya, who was Minister of Economic Planning and Development and Secretary General of KANU, the ruling party. His assassination was widely attributed to the Kikuyu-dominated government, leading to widespread unrest and riots across the country. The 1969 oathing rituals were reminiscent of those conducted during the Mau Mau movement. This time, however, the oath was intended to reinforce Kikuyu solidarity and to ensure that political power remained within Kikuyu leadership. Participants were often forced to swear allegiance to this cause, vowing that power would never leave Kikuyu hands.
Wambui, however, steadfastly refused to take any oath, even under threat of persecution or death. She had experienced a profound Christian conversion during an East African Revival Movement convention and later married Chege, who was also a committed member of the movement. Together, they rejected the oaths, believing that having partaken of the blood of Jesus Christ, they could not partake in any other ritual involving blood.
One Friday evening, the couple was rounded up along with others, transported in a lorry to Gatundu, and ordered to take the oath. When they refused to comply, they were denied food for an entire day. Afterwards, they were severely beaten, their hands and feet tied, and guards attempted to force them to drink blood. They resisted, spitting it out. Mary and other revival members were brutally assaulted and left for dead. Despite the ordeal, they remained resolute in their refusal, affirming their belief that in Christ, all barriers were broken, and that they were brothers and sisters, even with the Luos, rejecting the ethnic divisions the oath sought to reinforce.
Stephen Kariuki Apollo Warui
Source:
This collected memory was submitted in May 2025 by Stephen Kariuki Apollo Warui, a PhD student at the Boston University School of Theology and a member of both the Presbyterian Church of East Africa and the Presbyterian Church (USA).
