Maina wa Kĩnyattĩ is a Kenyan Marxist historian and former political prisoner under Daniel arap Moi’s dictatorship. He is widely considered the foremost researcher on the Mau Mau in Kenya,one of the primary reasons that Kinyatti was arrested and imprisoned.
After being released from prison on 17 October 1988 (after serving six and a half years, mostly in solitary confinement), he fled the country to Tanzania, fearing a re-arrest by Moi’s government.
After a month in Dar es Salaam, Kinyatti was forced to apply for political asylum in the US.Kinyatti was awarded the PEN Freedom to Write Award in 1988.
