Dr. David Craig, director of the Republic's national archive, said the files were transferred in 1996 for safe keeping but, following further inquiries, the files were located on Tuesday morning.

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The hearing will have access to an archive of 8, 000 secret files that were sent back to Britain after Kenya gained its independence in 1963.

BBC: Suspected Mau Mau activists in a prison camp, Nairobi, 1953

Their diaries and notes, together with complementary files on the 2002 Golden Jubilee, now form part of a vast archive held at Sussex University.

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