Jomo Kenyatta's appeal failed.

He was never a member of the Mau Mau and his trial is generally regarded by historians to have been rigged by the British.

He completed his sentence on 14 April 1959 and was freed from all restrictions in August 1961.

On 28 October 1961 he became president of the Kenyan African National Union (Kanu).

In June 1963 Mr Kenyatta took control as the first prime minister of a self-governing Kenya.

The following year Kenya broke its last ties with Britain and became a Republic within the Commonwealth with Mr Kenyatta as its president. He remained in office until his death in 1978.

His government had included more people who had fought against Mau Mau than had participated in the rebellion.

The ban on the Mau Mau as an organisation was only lifted by the Kenyan Government in August 2003.

The Mau Mau movement was a secret society which began in 1947 among members of Kenya's Kikuyu tribe.

Their aim was to rid Kenya of thousands of white and European settlers who had arrived since World War II and seized African land. They also targeted disloyal Africans.

The Mau Mau members resorted to violent means because they felt their voices were not being heard by the colonial government.

By the early 1950s, however, the Mau Mau's activities had developed into open warfare and in 1952 a state of emergency was declared.

Hundreds, including Jomo Kenyatta, were arrested.

The group's activities gradually subsided and finally ceased in 1959.

More than 14,000 Africans and Asians and 95 whites died between 1952 and 1957 during the Mau Mau rebellion.