On 3 March 1959, the camp commandant put this plan into action – as a result of which 11 of the detainees were clubbed to death by guards.

The paper quoted the "official statement" from the colonial authorities: "The men were in a group of about 100 who were working on digging furrows.

An investigation into the deaths ensued and it was discovered that the 11 detainees did not die of drinking foul water, but as a result of violence.

Elkins, by carefully tracing available original documents and interviews with surviving Kenyans and colonial staff, indicates that part of Hola Prison was used as a remote punishment camp for 'hard core' Mau Mau insurgents who refused to recant their oaths or affiliation to the movement.

Physical and psychological abuse were used to 'break' detainees, so they could be 'rehabilitated' and moved out of the concentration camp pipeline and back to Kikuyu reservations.

Increasing adverse publicity and calls for further investigations of human rights abuses in the camps led to a reduction in UK governmental support for the Kenya Colony's administration, and resulted in accelerated moves towards Kenyan independence.

[11] The negative publicity put pressure on the British parliament to take action to salvage Britain's deteriorating image.