Grave site of Kenyan anti-colonial rebel hero found: family

The grave site of a guerilla leader in Kenya's anti-colonial rebellion has been discovered beneath a prison in Nairobi, a foundation set up by his family says, more than 60 years after he was executed.

Dedan Kimathi, a top insurgent in the Mau Mau uprising that spurred Kenya towards independence from British rule, was hanged in 1957 at Nairobi's Kamiti Maximum Prison.

His body was buried in an unmarked grave, the exact whereabouts of which were long unknown, despite concerted efforts by his family to identify the site.

But a nonprofit established in his name, the Dedan Kimathi Foundation, announced Friday it had found Kimathi's resting place after a years-long search.

"It is with great joy we would like to announce that... the gravesite of liberation hero Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi Waciuri has finally been identified!" the foundation's CEO Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi said in a statement.

"The development is not just great news for the Dedan Kimathi family but also the larger freedom struggle heroes' fraternity."