Mau Mau Uprising between loyalists and Mau Mau was a product of the conflict, rather than a cause or catalyst of it, with the violence becoming less ambiguous over time, in a similar manner to other situations. Philip Mitchell retired as Kenya's governor in summer 1952, having turned a blind eye to Mau Mau's increasing activity. Through the summer of 1952, however, Colonial Secretary Oliver Lyttelton in London received a steady flow of reports from Acting Governor Henry Potter about the escalating seriousness of Mau Mau violence, but it was not until the later part of 1953 that British politicians began to accept
Mau Mau Uprising conflict, postulates that the British preferred to use the term "Mau Mau" instead of "KLFA" in an attempt to deny the Mau Mau rebellion international legitimacy. Kariuki also wrote that the term "Mau Mau" was adopted by the rebellion in order to counter what they regarded as colonial propaganda. Another possible origin is a mishearing of the Kikuyu word for oath "muuma". The armed rebellion of the Mau Mau was the culminating response to colonial rule. Although there had been previous instances of violent resistance to colonialism, the Mau Mau revolt was the most prolonged and violent anti-colonial warfare in