The Kenya African National Union is a Kenyan political party. It ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until 2002. It was called Kenya African Union from 1944 but due to pressure from the colonial government it changed its name to Kenya African Study Union mainly because all political parties were banned in 1939 following the start of the Second World War. In 1946 it called itself Kenya African Union after Harry Thuku resigned as president due to internal differences between the moderates who wanted peaceful negotiations and the militants who wanted to use force. The militants formed The forty Group, which later became the Mau Mau. The president was then James Gichuru. After him was Jomo Kenyatta in 1947. The organisation was banned by the colonial government from 1952 to 1960. It was set up again by James Gichuru in 1960 and renamed KANU on 14 May 1960 when it joined with Tom Mboya's Kenya Independence Movement.