Ideology: At the time it was believed they were communist. They were not  but; rather African tribesmen who were fanatical nationalistic and anti-European. The Mau Mau recruits were from the large Kikuyu tribe. Other tribes like the Embu, Meru, and Wakamba were not impressed by their nationalism and fought against them or were at least neutral. The meaning of the "Mau Mau" is not known, they called themselves the Kenyan Land Freedom Army.
    Some have theorized Mau Mau is the result of some members admiration for Mao Tse-Tung (Mao ZeDong). Weight is given to this argument by the fact that some Mau Mau had the nickname "Chinese." Most notably the famous Mau Mau commander Gen. Chinese. Also the Mau Mau used bugle calls in their attacks in a very similar way to the Chinese army at the time.

Organization: The Mau Mau was a secret society that had started recruiting members through oath takings as early as the 1940s. They revolt began in September of 1952. Imagine them as a 1950's version of the Chinese Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Like modern street gangs once you took an initiation oath you were a member for life.  The initiation ceremony seems to have varied from place to place. However Being Force fed the contents of a goats stomach might doesn't exactly inspire the best loyalty and some Mau Mau defected to British and incredibly showed a great degree of loyalty. It is important to note that being a Mau Mau was a crime punished by death so this also  may explain the large number of recruits.  These defectors formed "Counter-Gangs" if turned guerrilla. Soon the Mau Mau got on and brutal repression on defectors was enacted.

Weaponry: The Mau Mau were armed primarily with with swords(called Simis), machetes(Pangas), spears, bows & arrows and a few firearms. While this armament they were seriously lacked the firepower to fight the British and their allies. However against other Africans this was sufficient as a result more Africans were killed by the Mau Mau than Europeans.
    Mau Mau firearms deserve a more through handling in this text. In one group of 5,000 only 16% had firearms which were primairly crude home made varities. The Mau Mau also bought firearms from the criminal elements of Nairobi and Kiambu. Infact some criminal gangs were brought into the Mau Mau similiar to FNL practices in Algeria. The most armed Mau Mau were the unit leaders who carried pistols or shotguns and often various parts of a British militry or police uniform. The scarcity of bullet had bizarre consequences most firearms were restricted to one bullet per contact. Even more interesting in one case it was so bad Mau Mau units disarmed each other for weapons.

Tactics and Field Organization: The basic Mau Mau operational unit was he platoon. The Mau Mau attacked isolated police stations and isolated Europeans. The night belonged to the Mau Mau and the British were ineffective and blocking their nocturnal mobility. A British Handbook described them as "Master[s] in fieldcraft and concealment." Soon however, they were on the run and mainly terrorized their fellow Africans. At it's highest point in numbered 12,000 guerrillas. Interstingly enough theri was no real sabotage campagin launched, the guerrillas seemed to show no interest in prolonging the war in this instead they hoped armed confrontation alone would lead to victory.
    The Mau Mau were slow to develop behind the lines organization but; due to the fact they accepted "oath-takers" of both sexes they aventually were able to form a  system including clerks, scouts, spies, bodyguardsmen, a few doctors and a meager cottage industry to produce weapons and other goods. Many of their scouts and spies were female. While some Mau Mau hunted for game in the bush others did not hoping that the animals would warn them of approaching enemy.

Mau Mau Organization:
Section: 35 men
Platoons: 100 men
Company: 250
Battalion: ?????

The key to British Victory: Since the Boer War the British have had no problem transplanting people from their homes. Kenya they did just that and also established a kind've "Free Firezone." Villages were burned for hiding guerrillas. They also for the first time in the 20th century used turned guerrillas against their  former masters.  Some of their crude Guerrilla hunting tactics mirror those used for rabbits. After the war there were serious public out cry as to the inhumane way the war had been won.

Sources: Guerrilla, War in Peace Vol. 3, Mau Mau Memoirs, http://pages.hotbot.com/edu/bolekaja/MauMau.html